As an independent business, having a clean online reputation is essential to your success. In particular, your Google listing should be your primary target. Claiming and updating your Google listing can make or break your business, so it is important to make sure that you are doing everything possible to rank high in the search results.
What The Heck Is My "Online Reputation"?
The term is thrown around a lot, but your online reputation is how your business is seen on the internet, and for it to remain positive you need to take action.
Managing your online reputation involves four key elements:
- Claim your Google listing
- Regularly update your listing
- Respond to positive comments
- Respond to negative reviews
- Encourage happy customers to leave more positive reviews
Claim Your Google Listing
It’s the new reality, you need to claim your review site listing and keep it updated. It’s imperative that your business is in the first page of search rankings, ideally in 1st or 2nd place when someone searches “your business type in your town”. If you aren’t ranking high on the Google search rankings, you are missing out on the best source of new customers.
To start, search for your business on Google and find the listing they have created for you.
- Look for a box on the right side of the search results that displays your business information.
- Find the box includes a button that says “Own this business?” or “Claim this business,” click and follow the instructions.
By keeping your listing current by posting updates about your business and responding to reviews, you will move up the search results, increase your star rating, attract new customers and grow your business.
Once you’ve claimed it, here’s a check list of items you can use to regularly monitor it. We recommend tracking your results each time you review it with your number of reviews, star rating, and where you come up on an organic search.
- Make sure that your listing is complete and accurate. Include all of the important information about your business, such as your hours of operation, address, and contact information.
- Add photos and videos to your listing. People love visuals, so this is a great way to attract attention to your listing.
- Encourage customers to leave reviews. Google reviews can help you attract new customers and build trust with potential customers. You need a steady flow of new positive reviews to move up the rankings and stay there.
- Respond to reviews in a timing manner, be professional and polite and if there’s a problem, offer to solve it offline.
- Keep your listing current. If you make any changes to your business, such as changing your hours or moving to a new location, be sure to update your Google Local Business Listing accordingly.
- Take advantage of Google’s “Posts” feature to regularly share updates about your business with potential customers.
Google is an important part of your digital marketing strategy. Google’s reviews and listings are free, which means they’re very cost-effective tools to get your business found by potential new customers online. By claiming and optimizing your Google listing, you can attract new customers with less effort.
Respond to Positive Reviews
Think of your reviews as a conversation. Your happy customers want to offer their appreciation, and will also appreciate you responding, which encourage future visits. This allows you to show your company culture and personality, address constructive feedback provided, and lets the reader know that you value their feedback.
It’s important that you go to your Google review site regularly and interact with those that leave reviews, both positive and negative. A simple thank you and a word or two to make it personal shows that you are paying attention.
Respond to Negative Reviews
A response to a negative review with an offer to solve the problem and make things right will help mitigate much of the potential impact.
It’s unfortunate when customers share their negative experiences with businesses, but it gives you the opportunity for improvement. Businesses should always be looking out for these posts so they can fix any problems and make sure future clients have an excellent experience!
Take a deep breath and collect yourself. You’ll be better able to handle the situation this way, rather than get defensive or angry like we so often do in these situations where our emotions take over!
Be professional, respectful and polite – these words will live on the internet. Apologize on behalf of your company, while also trying resolve any issues they may have experienced by taking steps towards improvement such as identifying what went wrong or how things could change moving forward, and solutions you will implement.
Ideally, take the conversation and solution offline. Give them a direct way to contact you so that you can resolve the issue personally. When they contact you, offer an incentive to encourage them to give your business another chance or in really concerning cases, offer a refund or exchange.
Get More Positive Reviews
Having a steady flow of positive online reviews on your Google listing is crucial for influencing potential customers to choose you. Google’s algorithms consider the quantity and quality of reviews when ranking local businesses. Regular positive reviews will improve your ranking in local searches, making it easier for people to find you.
Potential customers may be wary of businesses with only a few, outdated reviews, or businesses that have a mix of positive and negative reviews with no recent feedback.
Constantly ask you customers to post positive reviews. You can add it on their bill or invoice, post a QR code on in house signage, send email requests with links directly to your review site or ask on social media posts.
Encouraging steady, positive reviews helps balance any occasional negative feedback. It ensures that your overall rating stays high and potential customers focus more on the positive experiences shared by others.
Why This Is So Important
In the “old days” you paid good money to have an accurate listing in the yellow pages and you got to update it ONCE A YEAR! Now, with your Google listing, it’s free and you can update it as often as needed. And here is why it is important to do so:
- 97% of people learn more about a local company online than anywhere else, with Google being the primary tool for finding local businesses.
- Google holds a 92% share of the search engine market, making it the top place where customers search for businesses.
- 76% of people who search for something nearby on their smartphone visit a related business within a day, and 28% of those searches lead to a purchase.
- 78% of mobile local searches result in an offline purchase, showing the power of online search to drive real-world business.
- Businesses with complete Google listings are 2.7 times more likely to be considered reputable, which can lead to more customer trust and engagement.
- 88% of consumers trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations, making the reviews on your Google listing incredibly important for attracting new customers.
- Businesses with photos on their Google listing receive 42% more requests for directions and 35% more website clicks compared to those without.
These stats highlight why it’s so important to keep your Google business listing updated and complete to attract more customers.
The challenge of where existing customers go and how new customers find you can be daunting – what do you do when your reliable base starts to dwindle? The answer is simple: Make sure your business isn’t disappearing into the background, keep your Google listing clean, and solicit a constant stream of new, positive online reviews to keep you at the top of the review sites.
Part of Royalty Rewards® Marketing and Loyalty System is our automated Online Review Accelerator which works on autopilot, constantly at work to get you more positive reviews – if you want it done for you, book a Free Marketing Strategy Session and we’ll help you get started! Click the Button Below to book your time to find out more.
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