After working hard on your business, and gaining traffic to your website, you are pleased to see the positive reviews roll in. On the other hand, you may be wondering if all the work of mastering SEO, paying for ads, and posting content is worth it, right?
After all, what do reviews actually give you? Maybe a repeat customer? There has been some debate about whether or not reviews matter in 2019, but we are here to say they do! They matter quite a bit!
Online reviews (reviews in general) are important to any company big or small. It’s a positive “word of the web” that you run a trustworthy and reliable company. Positive reviews will also spread and turn into new leads.
Now that more than 60% of people will search for a company before they invest or buy, having reviews online is crucial for your conversion rates. Research also shows that 9 out of 10 web users feel an online review is as meaningful as a personal recommendation.
So, as we want to spread the word about keeping on top of your online reviews, we are going to explain why they are still so important.
Reviews Trump Ads and Commercials
If you watch any type of television, you know that almost all big companies have some kind of commercial, and even local businesses advertise this way. You can also attest to the fact that when you search for almost anything online you will see ads at the top of the page.
While commercials and ads are great, positive reviews weigh more heavily on the consumer’s mind. For example; approximately 90% of customers will check online reviews before they use a company, and approximately 73% of consumers stated that positive reviews make them trust a business more.
If that is not enough, people spend roughly 31% more when the business has positive reviews! If let’s say, your tree care company offers a pruning package for $100 and a planting and pruning package for $130; well positive reviews will get you an additional $30!
Conversions
As we mentioned above, people who are searching for a business or skilled trade online are more likely to interact with that company when there are positive reviews online. This is especially true for small business when first starting out.
For a small tree care company, excellent reviews can help you compete with larger corporations as customers will put their trust in the recommendations. This can open up doors to a new customer base and parlay more traffic to your site.
It is also important to note that when people have a great experience, they can spread the word through Yelp, social media, and other platforms. Word of mouth is still alive and well through the social platforms, and can attract the attention of those consumers you wish to target.
What To Do With A Bad Review?
While positive reviews can be shared, unfortunately, it is more common for people to share a negative review. The vast majority of business owners are in dread of the bad review; which is why so many are wary of Yelp; where bad reviews are notorious.
As we do not live in a perfect world, and no company is perfect, you are bound to have a dissatisfied customer at some point. When it really gets tricky is when they go right online and are very vocal about it. There is no need to panic, though. Here are some things you can do.
- Apologize- Contact the customer (on the site of the complaint if possible) and apologize.
- Make It Right- Try to make amends whether with a refund or extra work.
- Correct Issues- Indicate that you are working to correct any issues
- Report On The Fix- If you have an ongoing problem, create content on your site (or business page) about how you corrected this issue.
Most people (including search engines) understand that no company is going to be perfect. In fact, businesses with dozens of positive reviews and zero negative ones begin to look suspect. Which is why it is never a good idea to create fake reviews or pay for positive reviews online.
Ask For Help
There are many beneficial things you can get from positive reviews and even negative reviews. Knowing how to handle them comes with time, trial, and error. Just as SEO can take patience, so can navigating the online world on reviews.
At Tree Service Marketer we specialize in optimizing small business digital marketing. We are available to assist you with SEO ranking, ads, and even bad review control. Call us today for a consultation!
My name is Mike Gurung, Founder and CEO of a tree care marketing agency and author of the book “Power of Web Marketing”. Our team is passionate about helping tree service business increase their sales & grow their revenues by more effectively marketing online via SEO, Google Maps Optimization, Social Media, eMail Marketing, Paid Search and other Online Marketing channels.
