How Collecting & Sharing Client Testimonials Can Help You Get More Sales
Google reviews can give businesses a significant boost in credibility without the need to spend any money. The reviews allow good businesses to prove themselves to potential customers.
Positive Google reviews are highly desired since they have unprecedented power. The power to influence local SEO, brand trust, feedback, and they ultimately push potential customers towards conversion.
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84% of people trust an online review same as a personal reference from a friend

People trust recommendations from people they know like and trust. Google reviews are typically seen as a good referral in Lieu of not having a friends or relatives recommendation readily available.

Here Are the Top 5 Benefits of Google Reviews

1. Increasing Brand Trust
Transparency is growing increasingly relevant for customers. The relevance placed on transparency can mostly be accredited to the accessibility to vast amounts of information on any business.

Today, it is actually quite common for consumers to research businesses before purchasing services or products. Consumers now regularly read reviews to determine the reputation of a local business. A significant portion of this research is usually done via Google reviews.

2. Increasing Online Exposure & Boosting Local SEO
Google reviews have an impact on Google’s local search. Moz actually estimates that about 9 percent of Google’s entire search algorithm is driven by review signals such as those found in Google reviews.
If executed the right way, Google reviews can be an incredibly successful marketing tactic since they help your business get found much more easily and quickly compared to using just traditional SEO tactics such as keyword research and blogging.

3. Gaining Customer Intelligence
One of the greatest benefits of Google reviews is the customer intelligence and feedback loop you can gain. Each Google review collected should ideally serve as a customer survey response for both your business and staff. Google reviews also alert you to the areas that you need to improve upon and areas where you have got it right.

Google reviews ultimately help you optimise different areas of your business to offer a better customer experience and be found more easily on Google.
4. Improving Click-Through-Rates
Smart businesses understand that it is critical to get customer to click on your link when it appears in a search engine. Google reviews are an effective, inexpensive, and excellent way to increase the click-through-rate when you appear in the search engines.
Your Google review rating appears next to your business name in Google, which means that a collection of mostly positive ratings is likely to increase clicks through to your website.

5. Converting More customers
Once customers click through to your website, you are about to reach the end goal. Customers that visit your website should be encouraged to buy something from your business. Having a smartly designed website and offering a great customer experience is obviously important, but Google reviews can be powerful enough to convert on their own.

It is due to this reason that all businesses with a strong Google rating should advertise it all over their website. The rating increases consumer trust even if they never actually read the reviews.

How Do I Ask Customers for a Google Review?
Now that you have a better understanding of the benefits of Google Reviews and how important they are, you are probably wondering how to get them. Fortunately, getting Google reviews is much easier than you might think.
1. Ask
It is that simple. If you want Google reviews ask your customers to leave them. 70 percent of people will actually leave a review when asked.

Take all opportunities available to ask your customers to review your business. Obviously, you should not be annoying and pressure people since nobody likes that. Just ask and you will get reviews.

2. Timing is Key
Asking customers to leave reviews is the most effective way to get reviews but you need to ask at the right time. It might seem like a no-brainer, but customers are more likely to praise your business when they are still very happy with the experience.
Even happy customers may not leave glowing reviews weeks after the service is done.

3. Ask for Feedback, Not 5 Stars
Nobody likes being told what to you, and if you beg for a 5-star review, you may leave a bad taste in your customer’s mouth.

A better idea would be to tell customers that you would appreciate it if they would leave some feedback on their experience.

4. Explain the Benefits of Reviews
Reviews obviously benefit you as a business, but they also benefit customers. Tell your customers how the review can help improve their experience the next time they visit.

5. Show them How to Leave a Review
Show your customers how to leave reviews. Some will know how to do it, but others have no idea.
The process involves signing into Google, searching for your business, clicking to leave a review, selecting a star rating, writing the review, and clicking submit.

Final Thoughts
Google reviews can drive three important areas of your business: feedback, local SEO, and brand trust. If you are not currently making use of Google reviews, you are potentially missing out on the benefits that your competitors are utilising.
Start utilising Google reviews today and you will learn that it is one of the best ways to drive leads to your business and gain trust in your area.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do Google reviews help Google ranking?
Businesses that get the most high quality reviews tend to get high Google rankings. This is due to more people clicking on a Google My Business Listing that is highly rated.
Can Google reviews be removed?
You can flag a review if you think it isn’t authentic, relevent or useful. You cannot remove a review that you just don’t like. Focus on getting more quality reviews to outweigh any negative. Google has spam detection measures in place to remove fake and spammy reviews.
Are Google reviews anonymous?
No. You have to have a Google Account or a Gmail account to leave a Google review for a business.
Are google reviews reliable?
For the most part, Google reviews can be a fair estimation of a businesses standing.
Where do I find my businesses Google reviews so I can respond?
1. Sign in to Google My Business. 2. If you have multiple locations, open the one you’d like to manage. 3. Click Reviews from the menu. (Note that your business needs to be verified in order to respond to reviews.) 4. Click Respond to respond to a customer review. 5. Write a response and click Submit.
Why respond to Google reviews?
Responding is a great way to thank your customers for leaving a review, as well as the perfect opportunity to add a personal touch that reflects the personality of your business, as well as enticing them to come back. If the review was negative, apologise, respond appropriately – never blame, and invite to take the conversation offline – Keeping it short and sweet.
I never have encouraged customers to leave google reviews but some do anyways. It is a really useful tool to gaining the trust of future customers.
great customer service and wonderful reviews have helped propel my business from starter to successful.