Top 3 Ways to Get More Google Reviews
If you’re a local business, then you already know how important it is to have a strong online presence. Customers trust reviews just as much as personal recommendations. Today, nearly all consumers – 99.9% – read reviews before making a purchase. Collectively, Google, Yelp, Facebook, and TripAdvisor are home to 88% of all online reviews. Google is the clear winner, housing 73% of all online reviews or more than six times as many as its closest competitors combined.
There are many reasons to invest time and resources in your Google review strategy. You can gain valuable insight into what makes your business stand out from the competition. You can also understand what might be turning people off. Google reviews can be a great way to engage past customers in conversation. But most importantly it can boost your SEO and help you show up when people are searching for relevant products and services online.
How to Get Reviews
You can’t assume people will take the time to review your business after having a good experience, you have to ask. You also have to make it easy. Here are three great ways to get more Google reviews and boost your Google rankings.
1.) Send an Email or Text Following a Service or Purchase
The best time to get a review is right after someone has a good experience. It doesn’t take long for them to forget and move on. Send a timely text or email with a link to your Google Review page and ask for a review. Assure them it will only take 1 minute to post 5 stars. You can find the quick link in your Google Profile where it says “Get More Reviews”. Some CRMs have the ability to automate these messages for you. Consider setting up this feature to ensure a timely response!
2.) Utilize Social Media
Engage your social media followers with personalized messages to leave a review. Use Facebook Messenger and Direct Messages in Instagram to share your review link and ask for reviews. Unfortunately, there is not a way to blast a message to all of your Facebook or Instagram followers so this process can be very manual. Try reaching out to a few people each day to make the task more manageable – we promise it will be worth the effort!
3.) Create an Incentive
If a personal ask doesn’t do the trick, consider a discount, gift (Starbucks gift card), or contest giveaway to incentivize your customers to leave a review. Select one review at random each month to win a prize. Promote this incentive on your website, in-store at check-out, and on social media. Positive reviews are invaluable so don’t underestimate their impact! Make it worth someone’s time and you’ll see a positive return on your investment.
Where to Start?
All of these review strategies are relatively easy to implement but can be easily overlooked. The best first step is to put a solid review strategy in place and be diligent in your solicitation. If you don’t have the time – consider outsourcing these tasks to a team who can deliver results (like Refine)!