Generating more Google reviews is key for your business. It increases the visibility and organic traffic whether that’s from new or old customers. Having good reviews can bring a lot of potential new buyers because they trust reviews and feedback given by strangers on the internet. Popular platforms like Facebook, Google, and yelp are known proven to generate a lot of Google reviews. Stats show that 40% of consumers in 2018 form an opinion by reading one to three reviews as oppose to 29% in 2014, and 26% of consumers say that responding to reviews in important to a local business. Other stats show that 88% of consumers trust reviews as much as personal recommendations in 2018, as oppose to 83% in 2014. As much as 95% of consumer suspect fake reviews or censorship is they don’t see a bad review and 23% will visit the business premises after reading a positive review online.
These stats are worth keeping in your mind as it shows that reviews generate traffic and increases the chance of someone buying your product. Only 23% of customers have written a review. That’s why soliciting reviews from customers should be part of the marketing process. With actively soliciting reviews you have a higher chance of getting a bad review, but that’s no big deal as will help make your business look real and not fake.
Source: reviewtrackers
The best-proven websites who have the most impact in search engines are Google My Business, Yelp, Facebook, Yellow Pages, and Better Business Bureau.
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Ask for a review
The easiest way to get online reviews is by simply asking for it. Asking your friends and family for a Google review will give you a head start. If your business involves lots of clients, make sure to ask them to leave a comment, you would be amazed at how many companies don’t ask for these. One who does ask is my barber, and he has the walls and door plastered with signs to leave a Google review.
Educate your customers
When asking for reviews, make sure to explain the process to your customers if they are not too familiar with Google reviews. A simple printout will do the trick, or if your business is online than a page or blog post on your website should be enough.
Personalize the reviews
As a business owner, you should be thankful to your customers for the business they generate. Send personalized emails to long-term customers to thank them. It would mean the world to them and also be worth for you.
Utilize third party tools
Sometimes managing all the reviews you get can be hard work, especially if you have a growing and expanding the business. You might not have time to focus on that so consider utilizing third party software like Whitespark or hire an agency that can cover the whole review part.
Source: HashMicro
Respond to reviews
A very self-explanatory tip, when a customer writes a review, you respond to them. If you answer to comments, then customers will notice that you regularly communicate and will likely want to leave a review knowing that someone read it.
Email signature
Just think about how many emails you leave each month. How about you write something like “Have feedback? Gives us a review on Google.” This can generate a lot of reviews and is short simple and says everything it needs to say.
Generating new reviews is not a painful process. Keeping it simple and casual leaves a very “cool” vibe when asking for reviews from your customers and they will most likely help you out if you ask nicely.
