Reviews are an important way for businesses to show the caliber of their products and services to potential customers and win their confidence. Yelp! Reviews are one of the go-to independent sources of reliable testimonies regarding the quality of a business. Google My Business Reviews are another commonly used source due to the prevalence of the GMB platform. Using platforms such as Yelp! and Google My Business is a great way to boost your business' visibility to customers in your area.
Ask Customers for Reviews and Respond to Them
Customers become more confident about making purchases when businesses give more information about their products and services. This includes reviews from other customers that detail their experiences with the business' product or services.
Authentic reviews will really attract customers. A local business with good reviews naturally receives more traffic because customers will see that the brand has a proven track record and can be trusted. Be sure to get reviews from your satisfied customers.
Ask or encourage your customers to share their experiences. And be sure to thank them for their reviews. Yelp 5-star reviews will convince potential customers looking for the right business to deal with. Similarly, Google My Business also actively promotes customer reviews. Businesses can send links to customers so they can input their ratings on GMB. When businesses get better ratings, they will also get higher search engine rankings.
Engagement and authenticity is key to making your business stand out, particularly Small and Medium-sized Enterprises or SMEs.
Even bad reviews from customers can provide opportunities. Businesses can engage with their customers and show how sincere and committed they are to improving customers' experiences.
According to Review Trackers, 53% of people expect responses to negative reviews and customers are 44.6% more likely to visit local businesses that engage with negative reviews. This isn't because the bad review attracts them, but because the local business is actively improving its services and communicates with customers.
After all, feedback - good and bad alike - will help businesses improve their processes and deliver better products and services.
Increase Customer Engagement with Best Practices
Platforms such as Yelp! and Google My Business do more than just show customer reviews. They are listings that contain your business' important details such as operating hours, posts with information about products and services, and more.
So it is important to optimize your Yelp! and Google My Business pages by filling them with the right information customers look for. This will naturally generate more traffic compared to competitors with sparse pages that lack details. Due to this, the search engine optimization (SEO) algorithms of platforms such as Google will recognize and favor businesses with high quality information and good customer engagement.
When setting up your pages, be sure to consider the following:
What are your customers looking for when they search for your business?
Can they get your phone number quick enough?
How easy is it for them to know your business hours, if parking is available at your store, etc.?
Your customers need to be able to get this information before they even enter your website.
By making these details more accessible and convenient, you can help more potential customers decide and purchase your products or services sooner.
Yelp! and Google My Business are valuable tools that can help businesses reach more customers and generate more revenue. Need help setting up your digital marketing campaign and establishing your business' online presence?
Reach out to Mahalo Consulting. Together we will grow your business online with digital marketing so you can reach the right audiences, highlight the products or services your business offers, and meet your business goals.
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