Reviews Up 
Google Reviews Are Better Than Gold
March 5, 2018
The first point of contact that many customers will have with your business is on the front page of Google. On this page, they’ll be able to see pictures of your business, the category of products or services you offer, the hours you’re open, your contact information, and most importantly, your reviews. All of this information is important to your local image, but reviews are the Gold that will help attract and convert many of these customers.
We’ve covered the importance of online reviews as a whole in the past, but today we want to focus entirely on Google reviews. Among many of the leading review sites, consumers still trust Google reviews heavily because they are quick and easy to access. If you haven’t given much thought to your Google reviews, here are a few ways they could help your small business.
Improve Your Local SEO
You have probably spent a lot of time making sure your website is full of SEO-friendly keywords, but your reviews on Google will help give you the competitive edge you need to soar to the top of the page! When people are looking for businesses in their town, chances are they Google “restaurants in X” first. If you have a collection of awesome reviews supporting your business, chances are you’ll pop up first!
Influence Customer Decisions
People place a lot of trust in online reviews, and if you have a better rating than your competitors, chances are they will go to your business instead! When a customer sees two businesses offering the same product or services, the difference between a 4.0-star rating and a 5.0-star rating could be all it takes for them to choose one over the other. This happens possibly dozens of times a day which could mean dozens of more sales each day! Make sure you have the 5.0-star rating and snag those customers!
Getting Started With Google My Biz
First thing’s first, you need to claim your Google My Business location. You’ll need to verify your business with Google by telephone, email, by entering the verification code that Google will send to your physical address. Note: If your business has multiple locations you will need to verify each one individually. It is important you send relevant business reviews to each of your physical locations.
Earning Reviews
Keep in mind that Google doesn’t filter or remove reviews so it is crucial that you have plenty of 5.0-star reviews to balance out the few negatives that will slip through the cracks. Encourage your loyal customers to leave reviews and possible offer incentives like exclusive discounts to boost your ranking quickly.
After that, your long-term strategy should be to consistently improve your ranking so new visitors will know how great your business is by merely looking at your Google My Business card!
If you happen to come across negative reviews, it’s on you to respond graciously and potentially try to resolve the issue and flip their review into the positive! Even if you can’t resolve the problem, by taking the time to show you care about your customers’ experiences, your sales can actually grow since customers will see your business as a member of the community and not just a faceless corporation.
Reviews are the Gold that will help attract and convert many customers.
Start Earning Reviews