No matter what kind of business you run, Google reviews are a must-have if you are looking to get more clients.
Unlike many other marketing channels, Google reviews are completely free. They offer powerful social proof, provide peace of mind to potential and existing clients, and can enhance the visibility of your business when clients are searching for products or services on Google.
While many people recognize the value of Google reviews, not everyone understands how to make the process of gaining them easier. One of the most common questions we get from our clients is: “How do I get more reviews for my business?”
Naqvi Injury Law is a great example of a well-structured Google listing.
It wasn’t until recently that Google reviews became an urgent need for businesses trying to grow their client base. Before, consumers relied on word of mouth and recommendations from friends and family to determine whether a business offered quality service.
We pulled that statistic from an eye-opening study by BrightLocal that highlights how much consumer preferences are shifting. Here are more insights from that research:
Keep in mind, these numbers are on an upward trend, and there is still time to get in early.
These numbers should convince you why Google reviews are so important. They essentially augment and replace traditional word-of-mouth. The name of the game here is to generate high quality reviews as quickly as possible.
Here are the most popular websites that customers can leave reviews on:
You may be wondering: “What kinds of online reviews will benefit my business the most?”
In our experience, Google reviews are the cream of the crop when it comes to online reviews. Google will be the focus of this guide, but the other four sources listed above – Yelp, Facebook, Yellow Pages, and Better Business Bureau – can still bring in valuable business.
The most important thing to know about non-Google review sources is that they typically will reach less potential customers than Google reviews.
When it comes to ranking on search engines, Yelp and Facebook do not have a direct effect, but there is a small fraction of potential customers that you can gain by cultivating reviews there. Generally, potential customers will see these listings when researching your business, but they may not help you reach potential customers who are looking for services without a specific business in mind.
Yellow Pages and BBB generally will not have a strong effect for bringing in new web traffic, but can offer other benefits like accreditation in the case of BBB, and link opportunities for both, which help your business rank on search engines. Both companies also have a wealth of paid products, including featured listings, which may or may not be of interest to your business.
Google reviews are generally looked at as the most beneficial website to get reviews on. There are many ways to highlight your Google reviews in organic search results, like adding stars to your company’s listings on search engines via structured data, and having an information-rich panel on search results when potential customers search for your business.
Google is the dominant search engine, gaining a vast majority of web traffic for people looking for businesses, so a majority of potential customers are likely to find you there.
Now that we’ve established the importance of Google reviews, here are five proven ways to generate more reviews.
All client-facing roles at your business should be prepared to ask satisfied customers for reviews. While this may seem like common sense, you may find it surprising how many businesses do not ask their clients to review them.
Make sure that when clients search for your business, they see a complete listing with all your company’s information, and that your address, business name, photo, and other items that you include are accurate. This will eliminate the guesswork for clients and encourage them to leave a review if they had a good experience.
Make sure you know the process of how to leave Google reviews. Have a link to your Google review form on hand somewhere, and be ready to walk a client through leaving reviews via phone or email.
It may also be of value to take 10 minutes to write up a short guide with screenshots instructing them how to leave a review. If you have this up on your site, you can easily send clients a link to the instructions.
Our review generator will help you get more reviews for your business. This can eliminate a large portion of the manual work involved requesting reviews.
A generator makes requesting reviews a breeze, and turns a phone call or email into a simple, two-click operation, where you enter a client’s name and number, and they receive a text with a direct link to a review form. Call us at (808) 725-3633 for more information on how our review generator can help you get more clients via Google reviews.
Take five minutes to acquaint yourself with Google’s policies and instructions related to reviews. You are likely to never run into issues, but it is worth a few minutes of your time to read through their best practices.
If you take your Google reviews seriously and follow these proven best practices, you will start to see your client base grow in no time. Call (808) 725-3633 for more information on how we can help your business start to get more customers through Google reviews.
