Why Online Reviews Matter

You do business in a building, not on the web, so why does it matter what Joe B. from Anywhere, USA has to say about your company? Well, it matters a lot. Online reviews, especially on sites like Yelp and other listing directories, are where many people find the products and services they use everyday, you know, offline. While you can’t necessarily prevent bad reviews from being written, aside from providing a great customer experience to everyone who visits your shop, you can take action on reviews written by reaching out to distressed and impressed consumers.
Your actions online and off can have a big impact on your business because search engines such as Google use review information to assist in their search rankings for local results. In general terms, the better your reviews, the more business you will get. However, it is slightly more technical than that. Here are three ways online reviews impact your business.
Search Engine Ranking
When people search within Yelp or other review sites the businesses with the highest reviews tend to come up first. This is also true on Google, Bing, Yahoo and other search engines, as they factor in these scores as well. Review scores account for up to 10 percent of the search ranking algorithm for Google.
Clicks to Website
A business with highly regarded reviews and star rankings are much more likely to get clicks to their direct website than those with none or poor reviews. The more clicks you get to your website the better chance you have of converting those people into customers, rather than just looky-loo passerbys.
Purchasing Decisions
Real input from real people is an incredibly powerful selling tool for businesses. The reviews received will viewed by thousands of potential customers, all seeking the most accurate information about your services.
It is important that you monitor online reviews listed for your business, and respond in kind to those with questions, comments or concerns. Another aspect of review sites is the physical information that they provid about your business, including the name, phone number and address, as well as logos and pictures. If this information is inaccurate you could receive negative reviews for a business that isn’t even yours! Utilizing an online directory clean up service will help alleviate this issue, by ensuring all info is correct, which will also boost search rankings and click throughs. To learn more about the benefits of online reviews and directory clean up services reach out to the Internet marketing experts at MORBiZ. We would be happy to chat with you about your web presence goals. Give us a call at 1-855-2MORBiZ to get started today!









