Reviews

You Deserve More from Your Google My Business Listing

Google My Business is an effective tool that allows many, many companies to garner views from the vast throngs of online viewers. GMB, however, is only as powerful as you allow it to be. When you invest the time and effort it takes to optimize your GMB profile, you exponentially increase your chances of unleashing the power of GMB at full throttle. Because the devil’s in the details, invest some time and forethought in the creation of your profile and watch your world expand from there. Yes, GMB is powerful, but without your well-crafted input, it remains unplugged.

Customer Feedback That Gives Back

When it comes to your online business, stellar customer reviews are the gold standard. If you don’t have firsthand knowledge of a company’s wares and services and you don’t personally know anyone who’s already taken the plunge, there’s no better way to assess what a company has to offer than to read up on what their customers have to say. Because it’s gotten to the point that many of us go online for everything from toothpaste to legal services, savvy shoppers are in the habit of regularly perusing customer reviews when they’re in the market for just about everything.

Building Brand Trust in the Digital Age

The best relationships are solidly forged on a framework of trust. In fact, the only relationships worth having, in the long run, are trust-based. The fact is that this truth about interpersonal relationships also applies to your brand’s relationships with your customers and potential customers. The good news is you can use the same principles of trust that apply to your close personal relationships to your brand’s relationships – and can reap the rewards in the process.

Everything You Ever Wanted to Know about Customer Reviews

You know that customer reviews matter in some capacity, but how much do they matter and why? For content marketers, search performance is king, but do customer reviews really have much influence? The fact is that yes, they certainly do. Google itself confirms that positive, credible customer reviews lead to both enhanced visibility and higher conversion rates. To better understand what customer reviews mean to your business, it’s important to distinguish between the objective and subjective responses your potential customers encounter during their search queries. Objective Responses When a potential customer goes online to inquire about a business, they encounter objective information that you generally control. You are the master of your own marketing content, and no one is better qualified for the position. Objective information generally includes information about: The products and/or services that you offer Your company’s history Your team Contact information While this represents the nuts and … Continued

Your Helpful Guide: Yelp’s New Review Solicitation Policy

Yelp recently announced that it will be more aggressively enforcing its “Don’t Ask” policy, penalizing companies that show signs of “organized review solicitation.” Specifically, companies that Yelp believes to be actively soliciting reviews are now at risk of having their pages demoted in the platform’s search results as well as having a “Consumer Alert” warning placed on their Yelp business page. A Yelp spokesperson explained the company’s reasoning for its “Don’t Ask” policy stating, “A business is more likely to ask their satisfied customers to write reviews, and when businesses heavily solicit or offer freebies or discounts in exchange for reviews, that puts other businesses that play by the rules at a disadvantage.” Whether or not Yelp’s policy is a sound business decision is yet to be seen. In the meantime, business owners need to figure out their next move. If you’re working on your own to collect more reviews … Continued

User Reviews are The King

Did you know that positive online reviews produce an 18% average uplift in sales? Or that consumers are likely to spend 31% more with businesses that have excellent reviews? How about that 59% of consumers say that review sites have the most influence on their booking decisions when traveling? Online reviews have become an important part of how consumers make decisions, whether it’s what to eat, watch, buy, or sell. See below for even more industry-specific information and statistics. The facts and impact of online reviews are real. What are some effective strategies you’ve used to garner positive online reviews for your business? Image Credit: Website Builder

How Do I Respond to Google Reviews of My Business? #FAQuesday

With a sleek, professionally designed website and a plethora of Google reviews brimming with positive accounts of your service, your company is way ahead of the curve when it comes to digital marketing. If you’re not responding to those reviews, however, you could be missing out on opportunities to directly connect with potential lifelong customers.

Should I Respond to Customer Reviews? #FAQuesday

Word of mouth travels much faster these days with the dawn of the digital age. Reviews can spread like wild fire and do wonders for your online presence. That’s why we at The Web Guys put so much emphasis on our clients inspiring customer reviews. Not only do good reviews attract new customers and leads, they can lead to higher rankings on Google and other search engines. Recently, Google added a snippet to their “Improve Your Local Ranking” support page that highlights how important it is to respond to all customer reviews. While it’s always been important to respond to negative review, this new update from Google solidifies just how important customer reviews are for your business. Let’s go over some best practices when it comes to writing responses. Stay Brief Get in, say thanks, get out. There’s no need to get long winded, even if it’s in response to … Continued