The Importance Of Google Reviews For Your Business

Since Google is the world's most popular search engine, having a positive online presence is vital for any business. Good online reviews help any local business to build an excellent online reputation.

Encouraging customers to review and respond to online reviews becomes non-negotiable.  Reviews not only help your customers in making their decisions but also help to improve your Google business profile. Bright Local states that 79% of consumers find Google reviews as trustworthy as a personal recommendation from a friend.

Understanding the importance of an excellent online presence is key to an excellent online reputation and a positive online footprint. 

Online Review Statistics: Reviews Matter!

Below we have listed the top online review statistics showing why reviews are crucial for online and local businesses.

• 81% of the customers evaluate businesses by looking at Google reviews.
• 93% of consumers claim that online reviews significantly affect their purchasing decisions.
• It is recorded that Yelp gets 26,830 new reviews every minute.
• As low as only 2% of customers have never seen or read an online review before purchasing.
• Customers are more motivated by an online review than a discount offer of 50%.

Why are Google Reviews important? 

1. Google Reviews Drive More Purchases

In today’s highly digitalized world, online reviews are the most prominent social proof potential customers look for before purchasing.

It is reported that 77% of consumers always read reviews when looking at local businesses, and only 3% of consumers consider buying from a business with two or fewer star ratings in 2021.

The reviews on your Google My Business account and your star rating affect the customer’s mind in their research stage.

Reviews on your Google business profile are vital to developing trust with your customers and driving sales.

2. Online Reviews Enhance Your Visibility

If you want to succeed in the online world of business, visibility is the biggest factor to consider.

Most customers look for online reviews when deciding what to purchase. Search engines such as Google or Bing have policies related to visibility and indexing businesses and pages. 

Google business reviews help drive more traffic toward your business profile and be favored by their search engine optimization algorithm.

When you rank higher on Google search results, potential customers and search engine algorithms tend to favor your website, which results in more exposure and, ultimately, increased sales.

3. Consumers trust online reviews

Online Google business reviews not only help in driving your search rankings but also help in building credibility and trust.

Businesses with a better overall rating are more likely to convert traffic to sales. Review responses from your customers are the testimonials that drive the potential customers to purchase your business.

Your company name must be attached to a bunch of positive reviews online. It will inevitably lead to more sales and a good online reputation.

4. They Expand The Talk About Your Business Name

One of the easiest ways to expand your business’s reach is to encourage your customers to leave reviews on your business profile online.

Extremely good or bad reviews are the first to spread, and they spread quickly. It can even help a small business to expand quickly.

Customers also sometimes look at sites such as Facebook and review sites such as yelp for reviews.

To maximize results, you should ensure that your business information is visible on all such sites in the business listing.

5. Reviews Facilitate Decision-Making

Almost two-thirds of shoppers believe that online reviews are an essential part of the decision-making process. Customers look at Google reviews when browsing for the best places and services.

TripAdvisor, Yelp, and Google are the go-to places for customers to look for reviews. Good and bad reviews facilitate decision-making and shorten the conversion cycle.

6. Google Reviews Affect Sales

It is repeatedly empirically proven that highly reviewed businesses have higher sales. According to a Harvard study, an increase of one star on a review site can increase sales by 5% to 9% in the short term. A very small improvement can have a huge effect on sales.

7. Reviews build communication between the brand and the customers

Online google reviews are a great way of direct communication between the brand and the customer. When customers post a good or a bad review, they want the brand to listen to them. 

Google reviews can also be a way to be frank with your customers and encourage positive reviews with gratitude and thanks.

Other than this, Google reviews also help you learn from any bad reviews and handle the bad review with Genuinity and show that you care. Whether good or bad, responding to reviews is a sure-shot way to build intimate connections with your customers and can also help your business's customer retention.

Why Getting A Negative Review Is Not A Bad Thing?

So you found a negative experience review in your reviews section, which shook you to your core, but getting a negative review may not be bad.

Why?

Reviews are an integral part of branding; you can use negative reviews to handle any grievances of the consumers and build connections.

Negative reviews also help potential customers understand what they are purchasing and get a sense of the worst-case possible. It helps them determine how much it matters to them personally.

A large number of reviews, inherently positive, can also look like fake reviews to some consumers and repel them from trusting them.

The Art Of Responding To Google Reviews

Replying and engaging with customer reviews is a great way to succeed in local search results.

Whether you get positive or negative feedback, responding ensures the customers that your business is committed to listening to them to improve the customer experience.

It has been stated by Google in their review policy that responding to reviews, regardless of good or bad, helps to enhance your rating on Google. Responding to Google reviews can be difficult and time-consuming. Here's a guide to responding to both positive and negative reviews. You should also know how to respond to both positive and negative reviews. You can also opt for response templates to make it easier.

Responding to Positive Reviews

When responding to customer reviews, the key is to be personal with the customer. When a customer leaves a positive review for your business, you don’t want your happy customers to feel unappreciated.

You must respond to the review fast, thanking the customer.

• Respond as soon as the customer leaves the review
• Use the name of the customer to make your response more personable
• Thanks to the customer and show gratitude towards them from the business owners
• Provide value to your customer
• Ask the customer to advocate your business further, e.g. ask for new reviews on your other social media accounts.
• End on a friendly note
• Record the review for future reference

Responding to Negative Reviews

As much as you might dread a negative review, you should focus on responding to negative reviews appropriately and using them to improve your business.

Here are the things to remember when responding to negative reviews on your Google account.

• Understand and assess the review on your own first before responding
• Write an appropriate review, being transparent about the mistakes
• Respond to the negative review publicly
• Give a 1:1 response to the customer
• Ask details and relevant questions where necessary
• Offer solutions to the customer
• Try to provide an incentive
• End on a humble note and sign off with your name
• Look for an update on the review later

How to Get More Google Reviews? 

Since Google reviews play such an important role in the success of your business. It is important to get as many reviews as possible. You can get more Google reviews by:

• Asking the consumers to leave a review.
• Offer a reward in exchange for a review.
• Create a Google review request shortcut to make the process of posting a review easier.
• Create a Google review page on your business website along with your company name, business location on the Google Maps app, SMS, and phone number.
• Create a footer on your website with a Google review CTA with the push button “click write a review”.
• Hand out “Leave a review” cards with orders.
• Start an email campaign for Google reviews.
• Include a “how to leave a review” guide to your website.
• Add a Google customer feedback link to your email signature.
• Add Google review links in surveys.
• Create a Google review popup for your website.

Conclusion

The bottom line is that collecting a bunch of Google reviews is a good way to gain new consumers, increase sales, build connections with your customers, and enhance your visibility on Google searches.

Unlike more extensive online marketing campaigns, Google reviews are an easy way to build your business presence online.

FAQS

1. Are Google reviews effective?

Yes, Google reviews are effective as they impact the local SEO rankings of your business profile and enhance your business rankings. More Google reviews inevitably lead to better visibility in local searches.

2. How can I encourage my customers to leave a review?

The first step is to ask the customers. Asking the customer to review your business goes a long way. You can also try to give some reward for leaving reviews.

3. How can I manage Google reviews?

You can use a Google reviews management system to manage your Google reviews. You can automate responses which will help you save time and effort.

4. How do you get 5 stars on Google reviews?

To get 5 stars on Google reviews, the positive online reviews on your Google business profile account must far exceed the negative ones. To achieve 5 stars on Google reviews, you can ask for positive Google reviews from your consumers.

5. What is a good score on Google reviews?

A rating of 4 - 4.5 is considered to be a good rating on Google reviews and is most trusted by customers.