As a local business owner online reviews mean a lot to your business and its rankings in the search engines. However, how do you get those pesky reviews? And how can you ensure they’re mostly positive? A negative review can actually do a lot of damage, so these will want to be avoided as much as possible.
Below you’ll find our strategy on how to obtain more reviews for your local business, which will lead to more traffic and customers.
Understanding Google My Business
Google My Business was introduced by Google in June of last year. Essentially, it’s a tool that simplifies how you setup your business in the local listings. Since Google is a powerhouse when it comes to search engine traffic you’ll want to ensure your business is listed properly through this tool.
In fact, most local businesses have not claimed themselves using this tool. Which leaves the potential traffic from listing your business up for grabs.
So far, getting reviews on Google is much smaller than Yelp. But, since getting Google reviews has more potential to increase your business rankings in the future it’s important to plan ahead.
Setting Up The Service
In some cases your business might already have a listing. See if your business name comes up with your location. If it doesn’t then go here (http://google.com/business) and claim your business name and location.
When you set up your listing you can also set up a storefront or a service page, so you can tailor it to your specific style of business.
How To Get Reviews
Google reviews doesn’t allow you to offer incentives to get a review. But, they do allow you to ask for a review. For instance, if a customer says they love your service you could simply ask them to write what they said in the form of a review.
You’ll also want to make it as easy as possible for a customer to leave a review. For example, you could use a QR code that automatically links to your review page.
Dealing With A Bad Review
On occasion bad reviews to do happen. However, this shouldn’t stop you from seeking out reviews in the first place.
1. Bad Review From A Competitor
Sometimes a competitor might post a bad review on your page, just to drag your business down. However, no matter who the review is from it’s important to respond in a amicable manner and try to build a relationship with the disgruntled reviewer.
2. Poor Review From A Customer
On occasion a customer might not be satisfied with your service and will in turn leave a poor review. Luckily, reviews on Google and Yelp can be edited by the reviewer, so if you attempt to forge a relationship with the person, instead of resounding negatively then they might change the review for you.
Overall, the best possible defense from poor reviews is to build up a ton of positive reviews.
If you’re looking for a local seo strategy that will help to grow your rankings, then get in touch with our Jacksonville SEO team today.
