Does your business have a top-notch online reputation? Are you doing everything you can to manage, monitor and improve it?
Reviews are becoming the forefront of decision making among customers. When figuring out which product, service, or business to spend money on, customers are looking to reviews as their top guide.
We already knew word-of-mouth marketing was adequate, but reviews are a whole new playing field.
According to Invesp’s well-researched infographic, 90% of consumers read online reviews before visiting a business, and 88% of consumers trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations. Additionally, 72% of people surveyed say that positive reviews make them trust a local business more.
So not only do your prospective customers regularly read reviews before making a purchase, they trust reviews as much as their friends and family.
Reviews are powerful.
They can make or break your business online, and customers use them to decide whether or not they can trust you. So what are you doing to make sure that your reputation is being maintained online?
The Relationship Between SEO & Your Online Reputation
Not only do reviews play a huge part in consumer decision making and trust, but they also play a massive part in your SEO. When it comes to the relationship between local reviews and SEO, your business’ presence in search results depends on your reviews.
Your reviews on Google My Business are a significant factor in how well you rank in Google search results – especially the Maps listings, which are often referred to as the “local pack.” These are the listings that show up as red dots on the local map, and they are ranked by location to the searcher, in addition to ratings.
Your Google My Business reviews are front and center on Google, so it’s of utmost importance to maintain a top-notch review rating on it.
Additionally, Google monitors clicks, engagement, and time spent on your Google My Business profile. If you have great reviews, which help you to get clicked on by prospective customers, you’re going to be more likely to rank highly and show up in search results again.
If customers quickly leave
While Google My Business is a huge part of your SEO, don’t count out other major business listing websites like Yelp, Yellow Pages, and beyond to play a big role in your search engine success, too. Google takes into account your whole online presence when ranking your website in search results, so you need to make sure you are highly rated across the web.
Summary – Reviews on major business listings, especially Google My Business, affect how often and how high you show up in Google search results, so it’s important to maintain a high rating across your business listings.
Why You Need To Monitor & Manage Your Online Reputation
Monitoring and managing your reputation on Google, your social media profiles, and major business listings is highly important for your success online. While having only 5-star ratings is the best case scenario, consumers still trust businesses with 4-star ratings and above.
Minimizing negative reviews and generating lots of positive reviews is the key to maintaining a high 4-star and 5-star reputation. When you can keep your rating between four and five stars, you’ll have a better chance of showing up in search and ranking highly. highly.
While you can’t get a review removed (short of a violation of the review platform’s policies by the individual leaving the review), you can do everything you can to help rectify the situation and have the review updated or “bury it” below positive reviews and improve your overall rating.
People don’t expect perfection, and with proper monitoring and management, you can keep negative reviews from being seen without digging.
Even with a negative review or two that is properly taken care of, you can maintain a positive reputation that generates new customers and ensures that you have a strong presence in search.
Summary – It’s important to monitor and manage reviews across all of your listings online to maintain a high star rating and to minimize negative reviews. Even prompt responses to negative reviews can help when it comes to future customers.
How Do I Manage My Reviews?
You should be monitoring all of your business listings online so that you don’t miss anything. Any time that you receive a review online, you should respond to the customer. In the case of a positive review, you can thank your customer and make sure they know you appreciate them.
This proactiveness helps grow your relationships with them and also shows potential future customers that you appreciate your clientele.
If you receive a negative review, the way you respond to it is key because the reviewer can easily change their rating. If you respond quickly, are super helpful, and go above and beyond to win them back as a customer, not only could you be saving that customer relationship, it could help you to gain new customers.
People like to see that companies go above and beyond to make things right.
Additionally, you should have a campaign in place to generate new reviews from your satisfied customers. Whether that’s an email marketing trigger that happens after a customer makes a purchase, a sign in your store, or a post on your social media pages, it’s important to make sure that you are always generating positive reviews.
The more you get, the better.
Summary – You can monitor and manage your online reputation by ensuring you know when reviews are left on any of your business listings, responding to all of your reviews, and constantly generating reviews from satisfied customers.
How We Can Help With Your Online Reputation
At ATC Domain Solutions, we provide expert social media and online reputation management services for our clients. With our help, you will see growth and new business generated online by effectively maintaining your reputation. We make it easy to keep this important aspect of your online presence top-notch and under control.
Whether you’re in need of a wide range of online marketing services or you simply need help maintaining your online reputation, we’d love to assist you.
Get the conversation started.
