Why Online Reviews Matter for Your Small Business

Business reviews are a huge customer motivator, while many of us hat YELP, online reviews matter, here’s why.

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The increased access to the internet globally has radically changed the way people shop. From electronics to medical services, consumers rarely make purchase decisions without reading online reviews.

According to a study, 97% of shoppers read at least one online review before making their purchase decision. Most importantly, 94% of shoppers reported that negative reviews are enough to convince them to avoid ordering or visiting a business.

While there will always be a few disgruntled customers who will leave negative reviews from time to time, positive reviews can go a long way in promoting your small business. Read on to learn why online reviews matter for your small business and why they should be part of your marketing plan. 

1. Credibility

During a time when most shoppers research products and services before they even leave their homes, customer reviews are powerful tools for creating your business’s online identity and credibility. A stream of positive reviews can make your brand look trustworthy and credible. These consumers are interested in customer reviews to ensure they get value for their money.

Historically, word-of-mouth recommendations have been a powerful marketing resource for small businesses, and the internet has expanded on that. Research indicates that almost 90% of consumers trust online customer reviews as much as they trust word-of-mouth recommendations. 

In addition, online review sites have made a big push to keep reviews credible in the past few years. For instance, Yelp displays a warning on a page that has been soliciting reviews from customers. However, you can still get positive reviews on these platforms without asking for them outright. Click here for Yelp review tips. 

Keep in mind, while getting review is essential, getting fake reviews is dangerous. Avoid buying reviews, click here to find out why.

2. Reviews make your business more visible

Most shoppers turn to search engines like Google and Bing when looking for a product or service provider. While these search engines have different ways of indexing and surfacing content, they all value unique and fresh content, and reviews help to feed the content machine, helping to keep your business favored by algorithms. Customer reviews provide a steady flow of unique content that is highly valued by search engines when choosing which results to return. 

For more information about using customer reviews to build brand visibility, click here.

3. Improve Click-Through-Rates

As a business, one of your main goals is to get users to click through to your website when you appear on search results. According to a recent study, 56% of customers click on brands that have reviews. 

4. Understand your customers

There is a lot you can learn from the feedback that customers leave, which helps you improve your business. Customer reviews help you to know the positives and negatives of your business, helping you to improve when you take this feedback in stride. 

In addition, you can use negative reviews to your advantage. While sometimes it might be tempting to humble an arrogant customer by leaving a snarky reply, it does more harm than good. Instead, you can take that opportunity to turn a negative review into a positive one by leaving an apology along with a solution to their problem. 

What About Negative Reviews

A 2017 report by Spiegel Research Center testifies the fact. This only proves that consumers are more aware of the purchase decisions than ever before. However, this piece of information only increases the worries of brand owners.

While the positive reviews of a product or service can boost its credibility, the negative reviews can do the exact opposite. In fact, a significant number of negative reviews can force a business to shut down its operation.

It’s scary, right? Click here to learn how to defend your reputation.

Endnote

Online reviews are a powerful marketing tool for small businesses. They help to boost your site SEO ranking, enhance your credibility and provide crucial feedback about your business. 

For some innovative ideas on how to get more great reviews for your business, click here.