Why Online Reviews Are Crucial for Your Small Business

Today, I would like to discuss what I think is one of, if not the most important components for local Search Engine Optimization (Local SEO) at the moment.

And here’s the good news: Today’s topic is about online reviews, and if you already have customers this might be way easier than you think. In fact, setting up a review system might be one of the easiest, most beneficial, and fun tools in your marketing arsenal.

I’m assuming you love to hear about a marketing strategy being both important and easy to carry out.

So, live for your viewing pleasure, here’s one of the most important business-building tactics you can employ right now –  getting happy customer reviews.

Yep! That’s it.

Do you have satisfied customers?

Brand advocates?

People who already tell their friends about your business because they love what you do?

Sure you do!

Talk about easy pickings! These people love you. You simply need to get them to take that happiness and share a review online – on Yelp, Google, Facebook, or an industry-specific review platform, like Angie’s List, Lending Tree, or Avvo.

What will local reviews do for your small business?

1. These reviews can have quite an impact on local search, meaning your little biz will climb in search results.

2. They help build trust around your business.

3. Online reviews bring you the social proof you need, showing that customers like, know, and trust you.

4. And best of all, the more reviews you have, the easier it is to bury those inevitable but few negative reviews. I’m sure you realize that one bad review can be disastrous.

How do you get happy customers to leave a review?

1. Ask for reviews and incorporate the review process in your marketing.

2. Make giving reviews as easy as pie for your happy customers.

3. Create a simple review funnel to streamline the process.

You can create a single web page built for your customers. A place you send the people who want to review your biz.

And here’s how you make it easy…

Don’t presume they’ll know how to leave a review on Facebook or Angie’s list. Show them the way. Be the guide. Remember the “easy as pie” part?

The review page you create needs to clearly display the most important review sites for your business.

You ask your customers to visit this page. Point each and every one of them to this review page – via email, in person, during a follow-up process. You can even print business card sized “give us a review” cards with the web address of your review page—leave these cards on display at your front desk.