Google reviews: 4 crucial things every business should know

Reviews can make or break a business

Google reviews, in particular, provide the public with a space to share their experience and interactions with a company. Often, these reviews will influence potential customers who are looking to invest their time, money or efforts into a company. Depending on the stars given for each review, Google reviews can provide a business with the credibility boost it needs to outshine its competitors, but low ratings can negatively impact a business by pushing customers away.

Google reviews are worth their weight in gold, as you can't pay for the 5-star badge of honour. So if you’re a solid company with quality products to offer and superb internal conduct, you will reap the benefits.

The many benefits of scoring quality Google reviews include improving local SEO, being on a level playing field with competitors, boosting online reputations, and helping local businesses to thrive. So let’s take a look at this in a little more detail.

Google reviews improve local SEO and visibility

To ensure online users find the best services and products when using Google search, Google tracks the reviews and ratings of all businesses. Google then uses an algorithm to sort through local companies from best to worst. The best ratings will be boosted by Google and will be positioned at the top of an online users’ search, so the user will be provided with relevant and top-rated results in answer to their queries.

By providing online users with the most relevant and high-quality content, online users are more likely to continue using Google’s search engine. So the higher the rating of a company, the higher it will rank on Google. This is because Google recognizes good businesses over bad businesses and rewards them by improving their visibility online. It’s a win-win for Google, and it helps to improve user experience.

Having a top review rating can get your business into Google’s Local Pack. Google’s Local Pack is a section found in Google’s search results that displays the top three local businesses that best answer the searcher's query. Good reviews can get a business featured in this Local Pack, which can vastly improve click-through rates as well as leads and conversions.

Google reviews boost customer trust

The more that people use Google reviews, the more impactful their voices are on the purchasing decisions of other potential customers. A business with more positive reviews is much more credible than a business with just a few reviews. That said, if it’s a new business and their few reviews are all five stars, it’s likely that this business will, too, head in the same direction.

With the ability to see each review individually and filter by number of stars, you can gain a better understanding of each reviewer and the circumstances they found themselves in. Most of the time, it’s easy to distinguish between a customer that genuinely had issues and one that’s being unreasonable. The company also has the ability to reply to a review too, giving them the opportunity to get their side of the story heard, resolve an issue or thank a customer for their kind words.

Google reviews help to boost customer service

All businesses can learn from the reviews that their customers leave. Whether a customer has left a positive or negative review, companies can learn what they do well and what they need to improve.

Google reviews gives each business the opportunity to respond to reviews, whether it’s to thank a customer for taking the time to share their positive feedback or to ask for more detail so issues can be rectified, a timely and helpful response is recognised by Google.

By responding to your feedback with a quick ‘thank you’ or a ‘sorry to hear about your experience, how can we make this better for you?’ Google will see that the business is active and therefore of more interest to potential customers.

How to respond to Google reviews

Chances are, you read your business reviews because you’re interested in how other people perceive it. And if that’s the case, then you will certainly want to respond to those who have left both good and bad reviews. According to research, potential customers find a business more trustworthy if they see that they have responded to their reviews.

With this in mind, let’s take a look at what your responses should look like:

Positive reviews

• Thank your reviewer in good time, don't ignore their praise
• Let your reviewer know that their kind message will be passed on if they mention a name
• Tell them you hope to see them again
  

Negative reviews

• Respond in good time, don’t leave it unanswered for a couple of weeks
• Always remain professional
• Investigate their comment to ensure it is not repeated
• Offer to call them to talk about it further
• Be genuine and say sorry (if their story is, in fact, true and they did not accidentally review the wrong business - this has happened!)
  

Digital Ethos’ Digital Marketing Services

At Digital Ethos, we’re proud to offer multi-channel services to help your company thrive. Whether you’re looking for technical SEO, creative content, graphic design or something else, you can put your trust in our dedicated team to deliver.

Not sure? Conveniently, you can check out our Google reviews for yourself to see what others say about us!

Like the 5-star reviews you see? Contact our friendly digital marketing team today, we’d love to help you grow your business.