Welcome to another blog post in our "How to Increase Sales 101: Visibility in the Age of Social Media". This week we have an easy to follow guide to Google Reviews. You will learn:
- how to leave a review on Google
- how to ask customers to leave you a review (to help you get new customers)
- how to deal with negative online reviews
By the end of this series, you will become a relationship-management pro! If your first thought is 'why should I care about my reviews,' you're in for a rude awakening. Many people in skilled trades realize the importance of a personal recommendation. Now imagine there is a tool that gives recommendations for all local businesses.
The Power of Recommendations
The customer no longer needs to rely on the recommendation of just their acquaintances. Instead, anyone who has ever used the service can tell them how reliable the service is. That's precisely what Google Reviews does. And it works! Around 88% of people trust online recommendations, especially for local businesses. Online reviews heavily influence the consumer's decision to purchase a service or product.
Now, your next question very well might be, "Okay. But I can't really do anything about customer reviews now, can I?" I have both good and bad news for you. The bad: Yes, you can't really control (ethically) the type of review a customer gives for your business. But, you can certainly entice them to leave the reviews.
Social Proof
Having more reviews makes potential customers trust your business more as they have definite social proof about your service's efficiency. So, it is in your best interest to incentivize your past customers to leave those reviews!
The most common sources for finding reviews on local businesses are Google, Yelp, Facebook, and Yellow Pages in Canada. Please remember to claim or list your business on these sites. (Our previous article, "Being Searchable with Google My Business," teaches you how to create a free Google business listing.)
Google Reviews
This series deals specifically with Google reviews. Although the tips below can be used for all these platforms. (Note: if you want further information on how to claim your business or how to deal with reviews on specific platforms, leave a comment in the comments section below or email us at info@phyxter.ai)
Leaving a review on Google is very easy once you have a Google listing.
Step 1:
Search for the business on Google
Step 2:
Click on the "Write a Review" button on the listing panel on the right.
Step 3:
Leave a review – Select the number of stars, write a comment (optional but recommended), and click on 'post.'
That's it! You have left a review (and it is greatly appreciated!)
Now that you know how to leave a review, we can move on to meatier topics. In the next article we will learn how to increase your sales with online reviews, and we will give you some tips on how to deal with negative reviews.
If you have any questions or comments, leave them in the comments section below. Or feel free to shoot us an email at info@phyxter.ai
Editors Note: Article updated 25th October 2020.
Like This Article?
Sign up for our newsletter to receive notifications when we post a new article