Last Updated on October 10, 2024 by Allen

Reviews For Your Business | How Online Reviews Will Affect Your Business

Online reviews for your business can be a powerful tool in your arsenal to gain new customers or clients or simply tap into unexplored markets.

Regardless of who you are, chances are people will “google” you before they even meet you and form an opinion on you or your business. Because of this, we compiled a list of a few reasons why you should treat online reviews with respect, and how they will affect YOUR business in today’s market.

There is a popular saying around the web nowadays – “I read it on the Internet, so it must be true.” – and to some extent it is true. According to the UN, 47% of the world’s population is online. This gives you the opportunity to market your product or service to about 3.5 billion people around the globe. Chances are, quite a few of those are looking at your reviews for your business before they engage or purchase services or goods.

• Customers and clients trust online reviews – It is in human nature to share opinions and be curious about what other people think about a certain product or service. This is why a brand that has a lot of online high reviews has a higher conversion rate. If you have done a great job for other clients, odds are you will do a great job for them as well.
• Positive reviews will build trust in your prospects – Building trust is just a stop on the path to building a strong and successful brand. A lot of companies focus too much on building brand awareness and they never build trust with their customers. Chances are your business will not succeed if you don’t have returning customers or clients.
• Reviews help you rank higher on Google – Most of us click on the first page of Google results. This is why it is so important to rank higher on Google. You will get more traffic and as a result more customers or clients. In addition, a lot of reviews will help you get a Google rating and even more traffic to your funnel or website. Big brands in 2018 have spent millions of dollars on SEO services. Let Google do the heavy lifting for you by increasing your rating.
• A higher rating means more sales – Google has a system of reviews with five stars.  It is reported that a one-star increase in your rating can earn you 5-10% more sales. By simply gathering positive reviews for your business you can directly increase your sales!
• Good reviews vs Bad reviews – This is the biggest battle of online reviews. Good reviews have an immediate impact. People trust reviews more than the product description, and if a person is hesitating about a purchase, the reviews have the potential to make or break the deal. However, users will leave a bad review if they are not satisfied with the service. It is important to interact with the users who leave reviews for you, thus building your reputation and build better customer service. It is important to approach the negative reviews constructively. Don’t just answer to the person, answer to everyone on the page. Apologize for the bad service, offer correction, and you can get to turn it around. The only thing stronger than a positive review is a bad one turned into a good review for your business.

Conclusion

As a business owner, it is important to showcase your service in the best possible way to help your prospects turn into customers. Having positive reviews will surely have an impact on that process. Don’t panic if you get a bad review, engage with your audience and make things right. You can turn a bad review into a positive one, which might be even stronger than a vague positive review.

Have issues with online reviews for your business? Not getting them or having some negative? Don’t be afraid to utilize help. There are automated services that will help you with your review management, for example, Review Dingo can help you stop a bad review before it damages your online reputation along with gathering positive reviews that might have otherwise not been left.