The goal of owning and running a business is to build your brand, drive sales and increase revenue. Reviews from customers are one simple way for a company to improve both its brand and its credibility. Today, consumers browse them on Facebook, Google, Yelp, TripAdvisor and many other websites. Positive or Negative, reviews are here to stay, and here’s what you need to know about how to manage them.
How reviews improve business
Reviews are an excellent and easy way to improve local search engine optimization on Google or any other search engine.
Search results get boosted when clients leave reviews for a business. This is because they are seen as recent and up-to-date, user-generated content. Reviews account for roughly 13.1% of total ranking factors, and requires minimal effort on the business’s end. Still not convinced that reviews are essential to a business’s success? Here are a few statistics that prove otherwise:
90 percent of consumers read reviews prior to making a purchase decision
88 percent of online shoppers incorporate them into their purchasing decision
72 percent of consumers will wait until they read reviews before making a purchasing decision
Search engines such as Google want to recommend the most credible businesses to users, which is why ranking higher in an online search is crucial to driving business. Reviews can help with this.
Tips for responding to reviews
Responding to reviews helps to build credibility for your business. Whether it’s positive or negative, your business should still make an effort to respond. Here are a few tips for responding to a customer review:
Good
You might think that since you received a positive review that it all ends there- but that’s not the case. When a satisfied customer takes the time out of their day to leave a positive review of their experience with your business, it helps to acknowledge the customer. It also helps to make your business seem more human and will assist in building long-term relationships with satisfied customers.
Responses to positive reviews should be simple and unique to each reviewer. Adding a personal touch to your response only further conveys that you care about your customers and their experience. Respond using the reviewer’s name with a simple greeting such as “Hello” or “Hi.” You can also end the response with your name and title for further personalization.
Bad
You can lose up to 30 potential customers by receiving one bad review, but that doesn’t mean you can’t do anything after the review is published. Responding to a negative review demonstrates responsibility, and also has the power to change the reviewer’s mind. Statistics show that 33 percent of customers who received a response from a company after posting negative feedback turned around and posted a positive review, while 34 percent deleted the original negative comments.
When responding to a negative review, be polite and address the issue directly. Invite the reviewer to give the business another chance. From here, you have the option to provide them with further compensation such as a discount or replacement of the item purchased, but this is not always necessary. Just make sure to not get overly defensive, as this could potentially lead to other issues and might produce negative results.
Reviews have the power to impact online presence and the way that potential customers view a business. Show current and potential customers that you care about what they have to say, and you will start to see positive results.