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We all go out to eat dinner, we all stay at hotels, resorts and we all use services such as tradesmen, and ultimately our choices are either decided by personal recommendation or online reviews about the products or services which we are interested in.

All businesses have a duty to deliver the goods they promise to clients, your business is no different, and this is monitored through online reviews from people who use your services and engage with other users explaining the positives ad negatives of using businesses services.

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What online reviews do for your business

Online reviews are paramount for company growth, they are the introduction to your business from strangers before they contact you directly. Reviews are public and tend to appear along with your business name when it is googled, so unless your business is advertised through word of mouth, they are the first impression that would-be customers will see when they search for your services.

A study showed that 84% of customers have as much credence in online reviews as they do in recommendations, making them a predominant part of business growth. Studies also showed that users are three times as likely to leave a negative review as a positive one, so if your company reviews are your primary connection with customers, you should always monitor your reviews and do your best to keep them positive.

Another aptitude that reviews have over social media posts is that they have a longer shelf life, meaning that they are continuously attached to your business name on search engines such as google, whereas social media posts will fade away as you continue posting on pages such as Facebook and Twitter and the will eventually be invisible. A study by Moz claimed that the lifespan of a tweet is 18 minutes and a study by Wiselytics concluded that 75% of people on Facebook will see your post within the first 2 hours.

 

 How to Boost Positive Ratings And Reverse Negative Ratings

 

Providing a good service is the best way to gain positive reviews, but even if your service is terrific, your clients may still need a reminder to leave a review. Asking customers to leave reviews is a simple and effective way of boosting your number of reviews. You can ask your clients in person, or using things such as e-mails, text messages or even through letters. This is a good reason to have an app for your business, as you can allure users into leaving reviews through push notifications filled with promotional content or simply some kind words.

 

Deal With The Negative Reviews Personally

A substantial portion of businesses have or will experience negative reviews online, whether it be through miscommunication, unprofessionalism or just online trolling, but that doesn’t mean you should allow this to damage the reputation of your business. When you receive a negative review, it is important to question the rationality of the review and if it is possible to change the clients mind about leaving a negative review on your product or service.

By addressing these issues personally, you are choosing a righteous way to handle a grievance. If you believe the negative review is unfair, you should state this in your reply, or if there is a genuine misunderstanding, you should offer some sort of compensation to the customer to make up for the negative experience they had while using your services. A negative review does not have to be the conclusion between your business and that client because if you run a business you should do everything you can to keep customers happy while maintaining a reputable business.

 

They boost your SEO

This is perhaps the most significant reason to follow and respond to online reviews, because reviews will exceedingly boost your online presence with search engines such as Google. The more reviews your business has, the higher you will be ranked in search engines when people search for a service or product that you have to offer, which will tremendously boost traffic to your website and in return create footfall and increased sales.

An increase in SEO will elevate your business above competitors with your brand being one of the first visible when key words relating to your sector in your local area are searched, meaning that following all the above tips on improving your online reviews and correcting the negatives will have a huge positive impact on your brand growth.

Dean Lynn

Dean is the Founder of Trusted Media and has over fifteen years experience of commercial business marketing. If you ever meet Dean, you'll quickly realise how honest and straight to the point he is; something his clients love about his marketing approach. When Dean's not at Trusted Media providing marketing consultancy to clients, he can be found at home with his daughter, who loves creating (breaking) things. Dean never sits still, enjoys eating food (part-time #instafoodie), and finds his happy place in the kitchen baking or in the garden.

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