Consider this: someone got a DUI over Memorial Day weekend and needs an attorney for the first time; someone didn’t like their last haircut and wants a new stylist or barber; the local cafe went out of business and now, there’s nowhere to get coffee. How do all of these people find a solution to their problems? They look at the Google My Business profiles and the first thing they want to see is the online reviews.
But what if you don’t have any? Then these new potential clients/customers have no idea what to make of you. How are they supposed to know how experienced and successful you are compared to your competitors without reviews? How do they know if you cut hair how people like it? Or how would someone know if your cafe makes decent coffee?
In this day and age, people take these reviews seriously, nearly 93% of consumers consider online reviews when considering a new brand. Good word-of-mouth has always been one of the best ways to convince someone to give your brand or business a try. Online reviews are just like word-of-mouth, but they’re always there for people to see. If you ever wonder why businesses you frequent always ask for a review, this is why.
What Online Review Sites Should You Pay Attention To?
There are a lot of online review sites, and when thinking in the long term, you want to be on as many of them as possible. But, if you’re just starting, there are some that you should prioritize getting your business on as soon as possible. Without them, your business could be hemorrhaging potential revenue.
- Google My Business: This review site is built into Google Search, which is the most popular search engine there is. This means it drives traffic for every kind of business there is. Whether your business is e-commerce, a physical storefront, an in-person service, or anything else, you want to be on Google My Business.
- Amazon: This may sound strange because isn’t Amazon an e-commerce site? It is a massive company that sells just about everything, but it is also a place where other businesses can sell their products. Rather than search by business type, you want to have online reviews for anyone who searches by product. This makes Amazon a review site you need to have reviews on if you have an e-commerce business.
- Facebook: Meta’s platform is more than just a social media site. With the Facebook marketplace and business profiles, it’s more than a way for old friends to reconnect. Having a business profile and listings for your products is a must to get more sales, but you need reviews to stand out.
- Yelp: Yelp is the biggest site where people go only for online reviews, and it has listings for businesses in every industry. Because of this dominance, Yelp has been accused of regularly throttling businesses that don’t advertise with them and pushing negative reviews through its flawed algorithm. Then there’s the fact that because of anonymous posting, competitors can post negative reviews on your listing. The solution is to try to fill your profile with as many positive reviews as you can. The solution is not to avoid Yelp, because Yelp also creates listings for businesses that don’t ask for one. You likely have a Yelp listing without wanting one. This means you need to have online reviews on Yelp to protect yourself more so than to advertise your business.
- Tripadvisor: For any business that thrives off tourism, or even gets a boost from it like restaurants, Tripadvisor is a must. It’s an easy-to-use online review site that lists your business next to your competitors and lets people know where they should go. A good online review goes a long way in raising your score, and you need to be better than whoever is next to you.
What No Online Reviews Says About You
If a potential client/customer comes to your business profile and sees that you have no reviews, they will consider a few things.
- That your business is new and hasn’t had many customers yet. This leads them to believe that your service or your products are unproven.
- Your clients have not been satisfied enough with your service or products to leave a review.
- Your business may be older and not tech-savvy enough to know where to send people or set up a profile. This creates an image you may not want.
- You haven’t been asking your customers to leave reviews.
Whether or not someone considers one or all of these common trains of thought, you have no idea what they will think. You’re leaving it up to chance that they may consider the best option, that you simply haven’t been asking your customers to leave reviews. There’s no guarantee, and there never will be unless you have online reviews to control the narrative about your business.
If you continue to have no reviews across your important business listings, you’ll constantly find yourself being passed over by new potential clients/customers. An online review tells someone why they should or shouldn’t look to you for a service or product.
You want to have as many of them as possible, especially if they’re good. While a bad review isn’t good, having one or two among many good reviews adds some validity to your credibility. A bad review that you answer and try to make amends with looks good because it shows new clients/customers that you’re trying to improve and value criticism.
Get Help From a Marketing Agency to Push Online Reviews
Online reviews are only going to get more and more important as technology advances. Word-of-mouth doesn’t only refer to what people say face-to-face, but what they say online. When nothing online ever disappears, the fact that you have no or few reviews stands out more. Do yourself a favor, and ask pleased customers to leave a review. That’s how you can get more.
But if you don’t understand the technical ins and outs of online review platforms, you can get a marketing agency to handle that for you. ENX2 Marketing is an agency that can handle, update, and optimize your Google My Business profile, Amazon listings, and more if you need it. We can even help you find ways to ask happy clients to leave you reviews. Contact us today for help.