Today I want to talk to you about local SEO and the importance of our online reputation. Although there are different review platforms, I will focus on Google My Business.
[su_box title=”The big leap of Google My Business”]It lost the battle of Google Plus but has managed to reinvent Google My Business profiles where now you can publish news, upload photos and videos, online store products, create coupons, 360° tours, and open a kind of Q&A chat. In other words, a social network.
In this way, it has become the central axis of any local SEO strategy. If your operating area is limited or if you sell services very locally, dedicate time and have a strategy to get positive reviews.
After all, Google remains the search engine par excellence and if people search for you and what they see are bad reviews, what do you think will happen? I remember a professor who always said that common sense is the least common of the senses. What would you do if you search for a business and see very bad reviews? So, use common sense and focus on reviews.
There are many places to leave opinions. On Facebook, for example, you can also leave a review, but which reviews do you think carry more weight? Google’s or Facebook’s? Well, it depends on how your target audience usually searches and finds you. Generally, we focus on Google reviews. For example, if you are a hotel and use Booking, those reviews are equally important. But never forget Google reviews because Google is the path to your home, which is your website. That belongs to you. A Facebook profile does not. This does not mean you shouldn’t care for other networks or search engines, but likewise, do not neglect your website and what people see about you on Google when they search for your business or products.
[/su_box] [su_box title=”Pareto Principle applied to customer reviews”]In our agency, we explain it with the Pareto Principle, also known as the 80/20 rule. What I mean is that 80% of unhappy customers will take the trouble to leave a negative review, while only 20% of satisfied customers will be proactive in saying: “I’m going to go to Google and leave a review because this business does things well.”
The consequence is that you could have a ranking far below what your business is worth. It is true that Google has incentivized this recently by giving points for reviews, so many people are now in this proactive game of rating and recommending. Nevertheless, it is never enough. You must have a strategy.
[/su_box] [su_box title=”Proactive strategy to get positive reviews”]That’s why, as I mentioned earlier, you should create a proactive strategy to ensure that the percentage of satisfied customers leaves you a review. How? Make it easy and one-click. Ask for it, listen to your client. Conduct surveys.
And once you do it and have a well-crafted strategy with good reviews and a good rating, why not display it directly on your website?
You just have to look at our website. Do you see the reviews? What do you think? Do they give you confidence to believe that we are serious, work hard, and go hand in hand with our clients?
[/su_box] [su_box title=”Recommendations for negative reviews”]If someone leaves a negative review, always respond. Even if the customer is not right, be humble and polite. A comment with a good response will minimize the damage of the review because it shows that you care about your business. Whether it’s you directly or an employee, you should have a process to give these responses. Beware of arrogant replies, which, even if you are right, could backfire and worsen the damage.
[/su_box] [su_note note_color=”#463db0″ text_color=”#FFFFFF”]On the internet, everything is about credibility and trust. You must remove objections by generating trust in your store, product, or service. Reviews, quality seals, certificates, press appearances, awards, number of fans, quality of the image we project externally…
[/su_note] [su_heading align=”left”]If you liked this post, I invite you to give me 5 stars right below the publication.
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