Before we start looking at business reviews, let’s take a look at some stats… (As ever if you have any questions please feel free to ask us on our Facebook or Twitter accounts, or contact us and we’ll be happy to help).
- 85% of consumers trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations
- Positive reviews make 73% of consumers trust a local business more
- 30% of consumers believe that responding to reviews is key when judging local businesses
- 68% of consumers left a local business review when asked – with 74% having been asked for their feedback
- Yelp & Facebook are local consumers’ most trusted review sites, followed by Google & BBB.org
- Consumers read an average of 7 reviews before trusting a business
Source: BrightLocal’s 2017 Local Consumer Review Survey
So for your business they are vitally important.
When you look at the below businesses, who would you most likely call? The business with 10 reviews? The business with 23? Or the business with 94 reviews? I’m going to hazard a guess and say that John The Plumber with his great 94 reviews is going to be the first port of call, and this is because 94 people before have recommended his services.
This is why business reviews are vitally important.
But there’s not just Google My Business Reviews (that’s where the reviews above are from) there’s Facebook, Yell, TrustPilot, Reviews and TripAdvisor etc etc – the more reviews you get across all of these then the better this is for your business – people trust reviews online nearly as much as a personal referral.
So let’s start looking at how to get people ask and get reviews.
First off you need to ensure that you have all of the below set-up for your business.
Try and fill out as much as the information as possible, pictures, logos, addresses – everything that you can to make your company look professional and established.
Once you have done that you need to start asking past customers to give you a review – it is always easier for you to be with them when they do this and you need to be familiar with the process so you can ensure it is performed correctly.
It should be a given that you provide them with a great service and/or product, you want happy customers to leave positive reviews.
How To Leave A Review On Google My Business
Google My Business would always be my first recommendation if you were to focus on one main place to get reviews, most people, when search for a local service, start off the search on Google, so the more reviews the better you have.
The best tip i could give you for getting people to leave you Google My Business reviews is 1) make sure they have Gmail 2) Follow the advice on this link and you can simply send clients an email / text / message with a link which takes them right to the review page – the more easier you can make it for people to leave reviews the better.
More Advice: https://support.google.com/maps/answer/6230175
How To Leave A Review On A Facebook Business Page
Image credit: MarketingLand
Facebook is another great place to build your reviews on, just make sure you have your Facebook Company page all set up and start asking customers for them. After a job or whilst they are in your store is always the best option, as they’ll be engaged with you then and more likely to give you a review.
All the info here: https://en-gb.facebook.com/help/271128916342286
How To Leave A Review On A Yell Business Page
Simply go to Yell.com and search for the company you would like to review, then click the “Write A Review” button at the bottom of the page. Give your reviews a short title, select the number of stars and then write the review. Once complete click submit review.
More info here: https://www.yell.com/help/reviews/faqs/
How To Leave A Review On TripAdvisor
TripAdvisor is ideal if you own a restaurant, cafe, car, hotel or guest house – so if you do then you need to make sure that you have your page under your ownership and respond to all reviews given. Take a look at the link below to walk you through how to do it.
More info here: https://www.tripadvisorsupport.com/hc/en-gb/articles/200614877-How-do-I-write-a-review-
So the next time you have a customer ask them to leave you a review on one of the above and ensure that you are building towards getting the most 5 star reviews in your area in order for you to stand out.
If you have any questions please feel free to ask us on our Facebook or Twitter accounts, or contact us and we’ll be happy to help.
