The Surprisingly Simple way to dominate Local Competition with Customer Reviews
(and how to get them)
by Lauren Dillon
One of the most effective ways to grow your business using the internet is often one of the most ignored.
Reviews.
Every single day, your business probably has an interaction with a customer that would cause them to leave a positive review. With that in mind, why do you think it’s so hard for us to ask our customers for that valuable feedback?
Simply put, it’s just not built into our normal workflow.
We get stuck on the day-to-day task of delivering a high quality product and forget to actually ask folks to talk about the experience we so carefully delivered to them.
Today, I want to walk you through the vital reasons why Google reviews are so important to small businesses, how to get them easier, and how this can increase your sales almost overnight once you implement it.
Let’s dive in.
(be sure to make it to the end to see how businesses are using tech built into every phone to make magic happen...and it's not just a QR code, it's another magic trick)
Review Effect #1: Reviews Boosts Online Visibility.
Google reviews directly influence local search rankings. The more positive reviews a business has, the higher it appears in search results, making it more visible to potential customers.
Review Effect #2: Reviews Boost Credibility and Trust.
Positive reviews serve as social proof, increasing trustworthiness in the eyes of potential customers. People are more likely to trust a business with numerous positive reviews.
Review Effect #3: Reviews Influence Consumer Decisions.
Many consumers read online reviews before making a purchase decision. Positive reviews can sway potential customers to choose your business over competitors.
Review Effect #4: Reviews are Free Advertising.
Each review is essentially a form of free advertising, increasing the business's exposure and informing potential customers about what you offer.
Review Effect #5: Feedback and an Opportunity for Improvement.
Reviews provide valuable feedback about what your business is doing well and areas where it can improve. This can help guide business decisions and improvements.
Review Effect #6: Engagement with Customers.
Responding to reviews, whether positive or negative, shows that a business values customer feedback and is committed to customer satisfaction.
Review Effect #7: They help you Rank for valuable but obscure Keywords.
Reviews contribute to local search engine optimization (SEO), particularly when they include keywords relevant to the business.
Review Effect #8: Increases Word-of-Mouth Marketing.
Good reviews can encourage word-of-mouth marketing, as satisfied customers are likely to recommend your business to others.
Review Effect #9: Done-for-you Social Media Content.
Any review that is left can instantly be turned into social media content that will help your business grow faster.
Review Effect #10: Reviews help create a Broad Customer Base.
By improving visibility and trust, reviews can help attract a wide range of customers, from locals to tourists or people new to the area.
Review Effect #11: Long-Term Reputation Building.
Accumulating positive reviews over time contributes to building a strong, long-term reputation for the business.
Getting consistent reviews boosts lead generation and conversion up to 270% and local search rankings 20-25%.
So if it's possible to grow your business faster by generating a steady flow of Google reviews, why wouldn't all companies capitalize on this strategy?
The reason that it’s so hard for most businesses to get consistent Google reviews is that it’s actually a poorly designed process by Google.
And some business owners are scared to ask or forget to ask consistently. Or they don't realize it's most important to prioritize Google reviews (instead of hurting those efforts using a 3rd party platform).
The main problem is that it's a long and complicated process.
As it stands on the surface, people have to search the business on Google, click a "review" button, and then the "Write a Review" pop up form. While this works well for some, it doesn’t actually serve our purposes.
We want to get people to leave a review at the very moment they are feeling the most appreciative of our business. That’s typically when they are experiencing that product or service...right in front of us, or the team.
So, how do we make this easier for people?
We're going to make it easy by generating a "fast" special link to the Google review form and then we'll use tech built into every modern phone to make it easy to ask people for feedback.
(TIP: this is important....ask for feedback, not reviews)
The end result will be a Review Machine that makes asking for feedback a "Standard Operating Procedure" in our business...a habit that happens with each interaction.
So on to the 4 Part Process to building your Review Machine....
THE 4-PART PROCESS:
How to make getting Google Reviews for your business an easy task (How to Create a “Review Machine”).
Part 1:
You create a link that goes directly to the Google Review form.
(This is going to seem hard, but just follow the instructions and it’s not that bad).
A) Go to the Google Place ID finder page and type in your business’ name.
B) Copy the place id tag (it should be a long set of numbers/letters).
C) Paste that tag at the end of this url (where “REPLACEWITHTAG is currently) https://search.google.com/local/writereview?placeid=REPLACEWITHTAG
D) Keep that URL handy for the next step.
Part 2:
Create a Business Card with a QR code that leads directly to the Review Link.
(This is going to seem hard, but just follow the instructions and it’s not that bad).
A) Go to Canva.com and select the “blank business card” template.
B) Search for the QR code app inside of Canva.
C) Place the review link that we created in part one as the url.
D) Decorate the card with instructions as you see fit for your business.
(example of one of our “review machine cards” is below)
E) Print the Cards or have them printed by Canva and sent to you.
Part 3: Give every Happy Customer a “Review Card”.
A) Start looking for those customers who are having a positive experience with you in your business every day.
B) Ask them if they wouldn’t mind helping you out and if they respond with a “yes” (they always will)...
C) Give them a card and ask them to scan the code and to give your business a review when the form pops up.
You’ll have a way that any staff member in your business -- can give a customer an easy way -- to give your customers a way...to give you a Google Review (on the spot).
This causes the amount of positive reviews that you get to skyrocket and you’ll instantly start getting the 11 benefits of these reviews that we talked about above.
BONUS:
This is a great way to knock down and bury any negative reviews that your business may have gotten in the past.
Here’s my Sincere Recommendation and Request.
While this is something that you can absolutely do on your own, I know that your time is valuable. This is a task we do for our customers all the time and my team and I would love the opportunity to just do it for you.
It’s not expensive and it’s something that we can have ready for you to use and benefit from in under 2 weeks from today.
I guarantee that within 60 days of us setting up a “Review Machine” like this for your business that you’ll see a strong spike in online reviews and the benefits to go with it.
All you have to do is sign up using this link and we’ll get it built for you within 14 days. Let myself and my team get you set up and if you aren’t completely satisfied with the results of your “Review Machine” after 60 days, we’ll give you your money back.
Click Here to Sign Up Now and let us build your business with its own “Google Review Machine”.
Message Lauren, the author and
owner at OnlineKix
Call or Text me at (336) 537-5376
