Once upon a time, word-of-mouth was all a business needed to establish its market share. Then along came the internet and online advertising, which eclipsed the power of word-of-mouth. Luckily in 2017, advanced technology has merged the weight of word-of-mouth through online reviews into online advertising. Marketers understand the need and importance of online reviews, thus business owners need to understand how to generate online reviews, their impact on local SEO, and the power they hold in closing a sale.
Local SEO & Reviews
Google’s ever-changing algorithm has made online reviews more important than ever for a small business’ SEO. In fact, according to a MOZ report, online reviews hold nearly a 10% influence in the ranking decision. As more and more consumers are weighing online reviews into their purchase decisions, one can expect the influence percentage to increase.
Consumer Influence
Once a business has generated 5 or more online reviews to their Google page, Google rewards the company with a 5-star display to show their overall rating. Companies with positive reviews will influence consumers with their star rating full of 5 stars, whereas a business with a poor average rating will discourage consumers from visiting their company website.
A 2016 Brightlocal survey found the following in their findings.
- 84% of people trust online reviews as much as a personal recommendation
- 70% of consumers will leave a review for a business if they’re asked to
- 90% of consumers read less than 10 reviews before forming an opinion about a business
- 54% of people will visit the website after reading positive reviews
- 73% of consumers think that reviews older than 3 months are no longer relevant
- 74% of consumers say that positive reviews make them trust a local business more
- 58% of consumers say that the star rating of a business is most important
The power of online reviews clearly is a factor in local SEO and influencing consumer behavior, which begs the question, “How can a local business get more positive reviews?”
Online Reviews in 2017
Most business owners would agree that that simply asking for reviews at the point of transaction or service is too unreliable. Consumers are more than willing to verbally compliment the quality of service provided, but businesses have had difficulty capturing that highly positive testimonial into online reviews.
For this reason, business owners must find a winning formula to combat the traditional methods of asking for reviews. As Brooke Sellas, a professional marketing consultant has predicted “online reviews will dominate marketing success in 2017” and it’s no secret online reviews will continue to impact local SEO.
[tweet_box design=”box_09″ float=”none”]“Online reviews will dominate marketing success in 2017” via @madSMscientist[/tweet_box]
An Online Review Generating Survey for any Business
What if there was a solution to learning more about your consumers, how to better your services, and reap the benefits of online reviews?
Creative Click Media has crafted custom online review generating surveys designed to solve the puzzle of vetting highly satisfied consumers from displeased clients.
We embed the survey onto a webpage of your website with a specific URL, which a business shares with their consumers to begin the online review process.
How it Works
Consumers are brought to the survey page on the website. The survey is simple and requires very little time to complete. Creative Click Media crafts the survey to your target audience, except for one question:
Consumers will answer on a 1-10 scale. Consumers rating your business 1-7 stars will be directed to a screen thanking them for their time and response. However, consumers rating 8-10 stars will be directed to a screen that will forward to a pre-populated 5-star Google Review that will only require an “OK” click to post.
This process distinguishes a business’s most satisfied consumers, who will be more inclined to leave an online review when directed to the source.
Online reviews are the digital form of word-of-mouth advertising. Creative Click Media understands the importance of generating online reviews for B2B and local businesses. Our digital marketing company offers review and reputation management in NJ along with other various marketing services. Generate a custom online review generating survey today!
