Everyone wants that perfect rating on Yelp and Google, but many people do not understand what it takes to get there and how it can help or hurt your business. The great reviews go a long way with your business, but the negative reviews can put a damper on the business. The reality is that you just can’t please everyone and from time to time there will be people that are not satisfied. Best thing to do is focus on the positive reviews and continue working hard on growing your business.
4 Ways Reviews Can Help Your Business
It’s easy to think that not having any reviews will help grow your business, but think about how many times you’ve gone online to check out reviews for a business. You’ve probably done this more times than you can count. Although many of us want to avoid reviews altogether, having those positive reviews can help your business in more ways than one and here’s why.
Search Engine Optimization
Reviews help you get found. Plain and simple. When we search for a business, the first thing that comes up are reviews for businesses somewhere on the first page. Reviews are considered one of the most important ways to bump up your SEO rankings. Make sure to always be responsive to positive and negative reviews and stay up to date with your profile by making sure all content is filled out appropriately.
Build Trust
The community you build around your business will only help create trust between yourself and your clients. Once they have left a positive review and become loyal customers, the trust will soon be built. Respond to any and all questions asked and make sure to thank them for leaving the review whether it be positive or negative. Give it time and you will see just how much your clients will appreciate the freedom they have to speak highly about your business.
Feedback
Getting feedback is not a bad thing. In fact, you should welcome all feedback when starting a business. Even when you’ve put in 10+ years to the business you should be welcoming feedback. You just never know what else is out there. There is a lot to learn from the feedback in reviews and although some might be harder to hear, it could very well help you in the long run.
Content
Using reviews as content is a great way to promote your business. Essentially, you are allowing old clients to assist you in obtaining new clients by sharing their words. Using reviews will be the most effective marketing tool if you do it right. Try adding the reviews to your social media channels and see the response you get from your followers. You might be surprised to see just how well reviews do as content for your business.