Author | Chatmeter TeamDate Posted | December 21, 2018

Reviews and Their Impact on Your Business’ Searchability

It’s hard to ignore that reviews are now a significant part of any business’ success, considering they can produce an average of 18% uplift in sales, according to Nielsen. For local businesses it’s even more critical because negative reviews could potentially turn away 86% of potential customers! That statistic is scary even for big corporations; imagine that local Mom & Pop shop around the corner… This is why businesses should start focusing on reviews and reputation management.

In our society of very active social media users, businesses have been heavily impacted by online reviews. Nowadays sharing personal experiences are very popular and people are definitely listening. When you are deciding on a place to eat, what do you do? Most likely, you’ll pick up your phone or computer and use Yelp or UrbanSpoon to find a restaurant. Sixty-one percent of customers read online reviews before making a decision. The reviews on those websites are crucial to your decision because why would you want to go to a restaurant that’s unclean or provides horrible service?

Positive reviews can build trust and brand recognition among your potential customers. Just like negative reviews can turn away customers, positive ones can bring them to you! When someone expresses their happiness about your product or service, others listen. Word-of-mouth marketing has become very popular. Reviews are important, but no reviews can be just as detrimental as negative reviews. If a potential customer is searching for your company and no one is talking about you, your credibility will be questioned.

The more real and credible reviews you receive, the higher your rank in the SERPs (Search Engine Results Page) will be. That being said, you also want to make sure your reviews are diverse as well. Having 100% positive feedback can make people question the validity of those reviews. You also want to be aware of the speed of the reviews being posted. It’s a big red flag if you don’t have any reviews for the past few months and all of sudden there’s a huge inflow of comments. This might make Google think the reviews are fake and that could lead to you being penalized. Lastly, there should be new and fresh reviews about your business too. Old content can actually decrease your rankings! If you have comments that are 3 or 4 months old with no new ones, it could seem like not many people have returned to your establishment since.

All of this review and reputation management can be a little overwhelming so if you are an agency or large retail brand, please fill out this form to learn more about how Chatmeter can help you with your business reputation!