Word-of-mouth marketing has never been more important than today. People now have a lot more choices online and that is why they value what other people have to say about your business. This is essentially how modern businesses achieve massive success using Google Reviews.
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Which is a powerful online service where people can completely transparently review your company. This is a must have feature in order to stay relevant in today’s market. Google uses these reviews among other metrics to rank your page. That is why it is absolutely necessary to develop a good online reputation management strategy. Here is everything you need to know to effectively maintain your online reputation.
Provide correct information
The first step towards building a strong online presence along with a good reputation, is to offer accurate information on your business profile. You will be losing customers before they even had the chance to use your products, if they see that the store is closed when it clearly says online that it should still be open. After all, you will be displaying all of the information publicly so it is important to offer only the most useful and relevant details.
In addition, make sure that all of your information on Google is the same as the information on your social media and website. The most important details include: your name, phone number and address. Also make sure to avoid any abbreviations in order to avoid causing any confusion. Consider showcasing information on any special COVID 19 requirements. Allow your customers to suggest an edit, since they will be able to help you out if they notice any incorrect information.
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Post photos
The biggest reason why some businesses come across as ‘shady’ is because they do not have any pictures online. A name on its own won’t tell nearly as much. In addition to that, people have a very short attention span online, and they can easily overlook written content that has no captivating visual elements.
This certainly means that you will be missing out on a lot of potential visitors. This happens because business owners usually think that posting pictures is only reserved for Instagram or Facebook, and while that is important, they usually do not get nearly as much traffic because Google Reviews is what comes first on the search engine results page (SERP).
You can maximize your results if you apply the right image formatting principles. Make sure to choose between PNG or JPG file formats. The ideal file size should be between 10KB and 5MB. Adjust your resolution so that it fits ideally into 720×720. Lastly, do not use any heavily edited images since you want to make your business easily recognizable.
Reach out to your reviewers
One of the best ways to humanize your brand is to actually get back to your reviewers. No matter what they write it is important to respond to their reviews. This is not only going to build massive trust with the person who left the review, but also any other visitors. It has been found that people will learn a lot about a business based on how they respond to their customers.
Ideally, you should respond to people who only leave a star rating without any comments as well, since this shows that you truly care and that you want to see them again. In order to effectively keep track of all your reviews and boost your reputation make sure to use a reliable Google review management solution. This will help you to manage some of the fundamental principles such as: thanking the customers, offering genuinely helpful information, and assessing any complaints. Lastly, this will also help with boosting your local SEO.
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Use videos
In addition to pictures, people will also want to view a video description of your business. Since not many companies are using this feature, you will want to implement it as soon as possible in order to truly stand out with your Google Business profile. You do not need to invest too much money and time into making a video.
The point of a video is to primarily allow your potential customers to get to know you. You can bridge the gap between your brand and your customers by briefly introducing your product or a service. Make sure to make videos that are not longer than 30 seconds. You can upload up to 75 MB so pay attention to your video resolution settings.
Ask for genuine reviews
In order for any of this to actually make a meaningful impact you will also want to have plenty of reviews. More than 60% of people are likely to first check a business’s online reviews before actually visiting their stores. That is why you will want to have something to show. The reality is that your rating doesn’t have to be perfect.
However, your total number of all reviews is going to be more important, because a 4,8 rating is going to come across as more genuine and realistic if you have a lot of reviewers. You can do this by sending a direct link to your customers, that leads to the reviews page. In addition, make sure to include the link in all of your social media posts as well as your websites.
Conclusion
One of the most important things that you can do for a modern-day business is to maintain a good online reputation. Most of your customers will hear about your business online anyways, so it is worth following the essential reputation management tips: provide correct information, post plenty of photos, reply to your reviewers, use videos and ask for genuine reviews.