Before the internet was born, businesses depended on newspaper or TV ads and word of mouth to attract new customers.<\/p>\n
The internet came and changed all that, or at least most of it. These days a lot of businesses get an ample number of clients from online reviews.<\/p>\n
And you will be wise to seek reviews.<\/p>\n
Let me tell you why\u2026<\/p>\n
Research has shown that 97% of customers search for online reviews of a business before buying from them. That is a stat too grave to ignore. But if that didn\u2019t sway you, then see this: Google reviews can boost your website\u2019s CTR by 35% and is at the top of Google\u2019s ranking factors.<\/p>\n
These numbers prove beyond doubt that online reviews are more important today than they were 15 years ago. Do you know why reviews are important?<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s one reason why\u2026<\/p>\n
Because Google is the fastest-growing review platform and outclasses every other platform in terms of sheer number of reviews. Getting reviews on Google is sure to help you build a strong online reputation.<\/p>\n
Here are 5 reasons why proactively getting 5-star reviews can help your business<\/a>.<\/p>\n Seeing that online reviews are the new word-of-mouth, what can you do get some reviews on Google?<\/p>\n Here are 7 battle-tested methods to get more reviews on Google:<\/p>\n Let\u2019s not get ahead of ourselves.<\/p>\n Every other method in this outline is hinged on this one. You can\u2019t expect reviews (good ones) without first providing excellent services to your customers.<\/p>\n Your buyer\u2019s experience is a yardstick for measuring the quality of your service. This makes customer service an important aspect of your business you shouldn\u2019t overlook.<\/p>\n If your customers enjoy doing business with you, they will automatically become brand evangelists.<\/p>\n So the trick is this: make sure your product\/service are on point. Train your staff to know the ins and outs of your product or service. And have them learn how to treat customers with respect.<\/p>\n Do these and you will give your customers something good to write about you.<\/p>\n Sometimes all you need to do to get Google reviews is ask.<\/p>\n Yes, it is that simple.<\/p>\n If your customers are happy with your services, ask them to kindly leave you a review. You should train your client-facing staff on how to ask customers for feedback.<\/p>\n There are a few ways you can do this, they include:<\/p>\n Happy customers are easy to ask for reviews. As soon as you are leaving off a conversation with a happy client, ask them for an online review. They could do it in-person or over the phone.<\/li>\n You could send review notifications to a happy customer via email. You can do this using review management platforms like ReviewTracker and TrustPilot. These platforms can be programmed to send review reminders to your customers at set intervals.<\/p>\n Be sure to keep the text short and simple.<\/li>\n Your customers could get carried away and may forget to drop you a review. This is where CTAs or pop-up notifications come in. You can use them to gently remind them to drop you a review if they are enjoying your services.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n <\/p>\n Your customer service reps are crucial to your business.<\/p>\n They interact with customers every day when they attend to complaints or answer questions about your products. Their position is key to getting reviews from clients.<\/p>\n You should try to motivate them to garner as many reviews as possible. You could do that by incentivizing them for every review collected. Or give them a tailored script to make asking for reviews easy and less sleazy.<\/p>\n To make it easy for your potential customers, include a link to your Google review form on your site or mobile app. This helps you look more credible than copy-pasting review unto your site.<\/p>\n You could use a text button or graphic that reads \u201cGo here to read our Google reviews\u201d. That would go a long way to encourage visitors to go see your reviews. And write you one, as well.<\/p>\n We all love good reviews and hate bad reviews, who doesn\u2019t?<\/p>\n But responding to all reviews is where many businesses fail. You need to reply to every single online review about your business.<\/p>\n Doing this reassures your customers and potential customers that you respect them enough to listen to their complaints. Additionally, it shows you are open to helping them with their concerns or questions.<\/p>\n One study<\/a> published by the Harvard Business Review shows that responding to reviews improves your ratings. By\u00a0 the way, look at these 5 positive ways to handle negative reviews<\/a>.<\/p>\n No, I do not mean offer them a bribe in exchange for reviews.<\/p>\n That\u2019s bad.<\/p>\n By incentivize, I mean let your customers know what they stand to gain by giving you a review on Google. You can tell them that their feedback would help you provide better services for them.<\/p>\n Hence, making them a beneficiary of their action.<\/p>\n There is one thing people love more than just shopping at their favourite store – and that’s a live event invitation. Experiential events are where they get to experience shopping for a new product or service.<\/p>\n It helps your customers form a bond with your brand. An emotionally engaged client is far more likely to leave you a review than a regular client.<\/p>\n Reviews have suddenly become powerful online business tools that help to reel in more customers and improve sales. It is important that you take advantage of this tool to build online credibility.<\/p>\n By the way, did you know you can easily ask your customers for reviews using Wi-Fi marketing & analytics platforms?<\/p>\n Using Wi-Fi marketing tools like SpotOn Wi-Fi<\/a>, you can send automated messages to your customer as soon as they make a purchase asking them to drop you a review. It\u2019s as easy as pie and works on autopilot.<\/p>\n\n
Provide A Great Service<\/strong><\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
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Ask And You Shall Receive<\/strong><\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
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Face-to-face<\/strong><\/h4>\n
Email<\/strong><\/h4>\n
Call-to-action<\/strong><\/h4>\n
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Create A Google Review Link<\/strong><\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
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In conclusion…<\/strong><\/h4>\n