Importance Of Google My Business (GMB) Reviews

​Getting your customers to post reviews about your products and services can be one of the most beneficial ways to increase your ranking on Google and boost sales. Many business owners feel that reviews don't do much for their business and focus on other marketing activities.

However, almost 80% of potential customers will look up a company’s website, read its reviews, and check its star rating before making their purchase decision. This fact makes it very important for you to encourage your customers to post reviews after they have purchased your product or service.

By Alain Houle, Alco Web Design LLC

Importance Of Google My Business (GMB) Reviews

​Customer Reviews- How You Benefit

There are three key benefits of customer reviews:

1. You can use these reviews to market your business.
2. Reviews also give you the chance to understand better what is going well and what things you are doing right. Even negative reviews and criticism from customers are an opportunity for you to determine what needs improvement.
3. Customer reviews also significantly boost the visibility of your small business on Google. There is an ever-increasing need to encourage honest and genuine reviews for your products and services, on GMB.

Although you may have various other aspects of your local search and marketing strategy covered, you should never underestimate the power of review data. 

​Why Do Reviews Matter So Much?

​Google always focuses on delivering the most beneficial & relevant results for all local searches. Not only are they interested in knowing what your business does, but how your customers perceive it. To a great extent, they determine this by the number of reviews you have overall and what your average star rating on GMB is.

Very recently, Google has also updated its online map searches layout to display reviews and ratings very prominently. When it comes to Local SEO rankings, the quantity and quality of reviews become vital ranking factors. Business listings with a higher number of reviews are perceived as more credible than businesses with fewer or poor reviews.

​How To Encourage Customers To Post Reviews

​One of the best ways to maintain control over your reviews and maximize their effect is to encourage customers to post reviews about your business, on your Google+ Local page. This aspect is something you need to prioritize. It's also crucial that you source reviews ethically and efficiently. Here are some ways to do that:

• Offer excellent customer service. Happy and satisfied customers translate to better reviews and ratings.
• Set a strategy in place so that customers feel encouraged to post reviews; don’t just wait for things to happen.
• You can start with requesting family and friends that use your products or services, to post their reviews.
• Following a purchase, make it a point to ask new and existing customers to write reviews.
• Make it very easy for your customers to leave reviews. You can include a link on your website that leads them to your GMB page.

It’s never a good idea to solicit reviews by offering incentives and promotions. If this comes to light, it can affect your ranking on Google. For more information about how you can ethically build your presence on GMB with positive customer reviews, contact us Alco Web Design; we will respond promptly.