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Expert Answers to Biz Questions
Listen in! Pick up some expert advice to a reader's question that we selected from CyberSchmooz.
Why Reviews are Vital for Your Business
In 2018, how your business looks online is by far the most important factor for success. Statistics show that the vast majority of customers will consult online reviews of any business, whether it's a restaurant, hotel, car dealership, clothing shop or bingo hall, before they consider spending their money with them.
Ensuring you have plenty of positive online reviews from genuine customers is absolutely essential to business growth, and should be a significant priority for businesses large and small. Just as important as having positive reviews is having a large number of them, as this will affect how your business appears online (known as Search Engine Optimization, or SEO). Reviews matter more than anything, here's the how and why.
Reviews Increase Trustworthiness
If you're thinking of going to a restaurant and your choice is between one with a few average reviews and one with many positive reviews, which would you pick? The answer is obvious. Getting your business listed in directories and guidebooks is one thing, but the only thing that customers truly trust is other customers. A staggering 84% percent of consumers report trusting online reviews as much as they trust a close friend, so the value of these for your business is incalculable. Large business realized this a long time ago, which is why major players like Skype actively encourage and incentivize positive reviews. Just remember, the only way to get good reviews is to deliver a good service.
Reviews are a Valuable Marketing Tool
Reviews have huge value outside the confines of Google and Tripadvisor. They should be a central asset for your marketing strategy. Some of the most successful businesses in the UK take advantage of their positive reviews to promote their business in their marketing materials, such as the hipster beer giant Brewdog. Businesses also use online reviews effectively on their own websites, an example being the national bingo chain Buzz Bingo, which uses Google reviews as a technique to promote their clubs through search engine result pages. Companies do this, as people want to know they're making the right decisions with how they spend their money, so you should be milking your good reviews for all they're worth in order to push customers in the right direction.
Reviews Will Heighten Your Visibility
This is the more technical side of it, but one that you cannot afford to overlook. As mentioned above, good reviews are nice, but lots of them is best. The higher number of reviews you have, the higher up your business will move in search engine rankings. This means that if you own say, a shoe shop and you have plenty of good reviews, the site for your business will appear higher up in the results whenever someone googles "good shoe shop near me". This has the potential to draw in literally millions of potential customers and can make or break a business. Reviews affect algorithms significantly; did you know for example that if a book receives 10 or more reviews of 3.5 or higher on Amazon, certain algorithms will kick in to move it to the top of the list on the bookstore.
Reviews are what you need, and these are best cultivated through service that is good enough to prompt people to take time out of their day to write a good one for you, so remember, the customer is always right.
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