The internet has changed the way people shop, and probably the biggest way is online reviews. Google in particular has started to dominate the industry when it comes to online reviews for local businesses. Amazon and other online stores have reviews as well, but when it comes to local businesses such as restaurants, law firms, lawn care companies, web design companies, etc. Google reviews are easily the most important.
Online reviews are the BEST way to build trust with your potential customers – but they’re also the best way to destroy a brand when you get bad reviews. Since Google is the biggest player, here are 5 reasons why getting 5 star Google reviews are so important.
1. Google My Business
When potential customers do a Google search for “lawn mowing near me”, the top results will probably be directly from the Google My Business (GMB) directory. A lot of times the paid ads will actually have the highest position, but right after that is the GMB listings. GMB listings, especially if you’re one of the Big 3, is an EXCELLENT way to get leads for your business.
2. Reviews give your GMB page visibility
The best way to rank well with your GMB page is to have a lot of reviews. There are a lot of ways to improve your ranking, but reviews is the best way. Build up more reviews than your competitors, and as long as you’re doing the basics correctly, you have an excellent shot at ranking at the top.
3. Users respect reviews
Users are generally pretty trusting of online reviews. And they can usually spot phonies pretty quickly as well – because there are people that pay for fake reviews. But in general, a bunch of really good 5 star reviews on a business listing is enough to get the user to pick up the phone and call. For our business, it’s a constant stream of potential customers who call us from our GMB page. When we ask them how they found us, they often say they saw our reviews and thought it was pretty impressive.
4. It makes you stand out from the competition
If you manage to get in the top 3 of GMB listings, and all 3 are generally the same, you have a 33% chance of getting a call. But if you have significantly better reviews than the other two, your odds are much higher. So it doesn’t really matter how many reviews you have, but what does matter is how you compare to your competition.
5. Reviews are great content
Whether you’re doing email newsletters, Facebook posts, videos, or other forms of content, a 5 star Google review is a great thing to talk about. You can post it loud and proud for all to see, plus always make sure to thank your customers when they do leave a review because it really helps your business.
If you need any help generating Google reviews, give us a call!
