Online reviews are important. It can improve trust with your users, provide social proof of your brand’s authenticity, and even help with your SEO efforts.
The focus of reviews in SEO tends to be on the impact reviews have on rankings, but rankings are only a small part of why reviews are important for local SEO.
Benefits of a healthy review profile include increased leads, social proof, customer service opportunities, and increased customer loyalty and engagement.
Why is this important?
Both great and bad reputations spread quickly. You don’t want to be known for your bad reputation, but you also don’t want your brand lost in the shuffle.
Reviews are a free way to influence brand awareness, reputation for responsiveness and excellent customer service, positive exposure, SEO benefits, and purchasing decisions with potential clients.
Even negative reviews offer opportunities. Show potential customers how you respond or deal with complaints (every reasonable customer knows things can go wrong sometimes). They also provide free feedback on which aspects of your business could be improved.
Improve your service and client experience with critical reviews. This will show up in your overall review profile over time and will quickly translate into client satisfaction. If all customers hate coffee in the lobby, change it.
Get local business reviews
So how do we collect reviews?
One of the most common questions I get from clients regarding local business reviews is how do I encourage customers to leave reviews without annoying them or risking negative feedback in general? Is it good?
Here are some important tips on how to secure local SEO reviews.
Ask
Simple, isn’t it? ask, and ye shall receive.But
“Someone You Already Know” asks
Good sources of online reviews are:
- client.
- client.
- colleague.
- business partner.
- Personal contact information (depending on platform).
This is a great way to collect reviews. If you ask someone you know and are friendly with, they’re more likely to have an established relationship, and they’re more likely to leave you a great review.
Google doesn’t allow reviews from non-customers, but Facebook doesn’t limit reviews to paying clients or customers. Industry partners, neighbors, and even postmen are welcome to leave reviews.
However, authenticity is key here, so don’t ask them to lie. If not a client or customer, ask reviewers to talk about your integrity, professionalism, personality, or character and brand-specific experience.
ask verbally
Asking verbally, like someone you already know, can help you determine if someone would be a good candidate for a positive review.
You can ask a passing customer or answer the phone to make a call. If you call them, the best way to start the conversation is to thank them for their business and ask for their feedback to let them know you care about their experience with your brand.
“Digital” Ask
Digital Ask allows you to choose who you want to receive reviews from. Digital asks can also be delivered directly via email, text message, or social channels.
Not everyone you ask will take the time to reflect on their experience with you. However, it’s a great way to get positive results that are easy to achieve.
“Passive” Ask
It provides a great opportunity to provide QR codes that link directly to reviews in reception areas, flyers, and other printed materials.
Add social proof, such as an image of one of your best reviews, a star rating, or a phrase about why you want people to scan your code to encourage participation.
Review request tips
- Make sure to add a real human personal contact to your message.This gives you an opportunity to talk to disgruntled customers and smooth things over Before They share public reviews.
- Keep it simple! People don’t have time to read his five-paragraph essay on why you’re asking for a review. Respect their time and get to the point quickly.
- If they don’t review you, it’s okay to follow up in a few weeks, but be careful not to get annoyed. Someone reviews your business when they’re mad at you I don’t want to.
- If you can add personal details without being too heavy, that’s great! Be careful to avoid embarrassing or overly personal information. (The words “I’m so happy to get rid of bed bugs in my hotel!” don’t work)
You can request, edit, and respond to online reviews using a variety of review management tools.
If you use third-party tools to request or reply to reviews, make sure they are not engaging in questionable tactics to view or manage review content.
The review management platform was recently accused by the FTC of “avoiding the collection or publication of negative reviews” in violation of FTC guidelines.
NearMedia’s Mike Blumenthal has been following recent FTC case and guideline updates and has done a great job explaining them on the Near Media blog.
Strategies to ensure a positive review profile
- Always reply to reviews (positive and negative): Showing current and potential customers, business partners, and community members that you care and actually care about what people are saying goes a long way in building a positive review profile and brand reputation. It helps a lot.
- know your customers: Not only does this foster good customer relationships, it also helps you quickly spot fake reviews from disgruntled employees and competitors. Knowing your customers also helps you successfully plan initiatives, promotions, and offers that are popular with your customer base.
- Keep it Easy – Give Instructions When Needed: If your customer base isn’t tech savvy or has difficulty submitting online reviews, help them out. Create easy-to-follow instructions that walk you through the process. This can be digital or printed. Bonus points for visual aids and clickable links or scannable QR codes.
- encourage honest feedback: Do not bribe people or feel guilty leaving positive reviews. Encourage them to be honest in their reviews so they know their strengths and weaknesses alike.
- Make sure your request is personalized: Before you request a review, whether you send an email or ask a question in person, let your customer know who they are and that you care about their experience with your brand. Asking how your child’s sporting event was or whether your spouse is enjoying their new job can go a long way in fostering a positive, long-term relationship.
What Not to Do When Asking for Local SEO Reviews
- Agnostic to one platform: Meet where your audience is. Because if they frequently use her Yelp to leave reviews, other customers may be looking for information about your brand. You don’t want to overwhelm people with choices and paralyze their decision-making, but give review sites two or he three choices.
- Do not pay for or encourage reviews: Until now. Never, never, never.
- Do not ask people to leave fake reviews: This is sticky, bad business and will keep coming back to bite you.
- Do not leave fake reviews for competitors: Just like requesting a fake positive review, leaving a negative review that is not accurate or true does not work. don’t do it
- Don’t Ignore Feedback Received: We view negative reviews as an opportunity to provide our customers with a better product, service, or experience. If we don’t take feedback and learn from it, we will continue to repeat the mistakes of the past.
- Do not use Facebook autoresponders for reviews: People can say that and you will lose their trust.
- Please do not delete negative reviews: Take feedback seriously and use it as a tool to show current and potential customers that you’ve improved your business.
Local Business Online Reviews: Conclusion
Why are reviews so important?
Both great and bad reputations spread quickly. While I don’t want to be known for having a bad reputation, I also don’t want to get lost in the shuffle.
Reviews are a free way to influence brand awareness, reputation for responsiveness and excellent customer service, positive exposure, SEO benefits, and, of course, purchasing decisions with potential customers.
Even negative reviews offer opportunities. This shows potential clients how you respond and handle frustration (all reasonable clients know things can go wrong sometimes). They also give us free feedback on which aspects of our business can be improved.
Improve your service and client experience with critical reviews. This will show up in your overall review profile over time and will quickly translate into client satisfaction. If all customers hate coffee in the lobby, change it.
Online reviews are great for lead generation, have SEO benefits, show what your customers really want and expect from your business, inform you of areas of your business that could be improved, and drive conversions. don’t forget to help.
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the guest author and not necessarily Search Engine Land. Staff authors are listed here.
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About the author
Erin Jones has been working in digital marketing and SEO since 2005. She specializes in local SEO, social media, and brand reputation. She works for Starling She Sky and is also a faculty member at the local university. Erin is passionate about community and loves helping brands connect with their ideal audiences both online and in person.
