Customer reviews are increasingly becoming one of the most powerful tools for businesses. After all, people want to know what other people are saying about products or services they're interested in buying, especially when it comes to offerings close to the consumer.
Since 2017, Google has been reporting on the trend of searches for "near me," and in that year alone, searches using the term "near me" grew by 75%. In other words, search engines are also guides for people to find services, products, and establishments in their area, and you need ways for the algorithm to find your business so it's visible to the public.
Without a doubt, one of these ways to expose yourself – and organically – on the network is with the help of your own consumers and their opinions about what your business offers, and that's why we talk a lot about reviews as a great driver of a successful strategy.
The relevance of reviews
Reviews are incredibly influential to a local business's reputation, especially in a world where people conduct research and want opinions from others before completing their purchasing journeys .
According to Reclame Aqui customer reviews are the source of information they trust most during their purchasing journey . Furthermore, people want to find places with reviews, and according to consumers , 63% are more likely to make a purchase on a site with user reviews.
And of course, all of this has the result that every business seeks: reviews produce, on average, an 18% increase
Reviews and local businesses
Reviews are already important for businesses as a whole, but when we talk about local businesses, they become even more powerful. After all, search engines combine different strategies to offer content, relevance, and proximity to their users.
And, if your business wants to be found by customers, especially those around you, you can no longer expect people to simply walk the streets looking for a service when you have Google to help, right?
Imagine you need a dry cleaner to take items from your home. Will you head out with a bag in hand to find the nearest place, or will you Google what's available nearby?
When searching for "near me" options, how will you choose? Surely, the feedback from those who have already brought their own clothes and tried the service will influence your decision, right? If the first options offered are nearby, have positive reviews, and seem realistic, they'll certainly be the ones you choose for your items, right?
This is exactly what we're talking about when we talk about reviews and local SEO to boost your business. It's through these reviews that a company can reach new customers and expand its customer base without spending money on advertising or making significant online efforts . After all, search engines recognize the company as a good offering because others have already commented on their experience.
How does local SEO work?
Local SEO is crucial to your local business strategy – and we're not saying you can't expand your strategy, but rather that it's essential to reach those who are close to you and who can quickly do business and build loyalty effectively.
That said, it's important to understand local SEO to help you at this point. In addition to Google's usual ranking factors, the local algorithm uses three pillars to find the best result for the user: relevance, distance, and reputation.
- Relevance: how close the result is to the words the user searches for;
- Distance: how far the user is physically from the company when they search;
- Reputation: how well your company is rated compared to its competitors.
When we talk about reputation, we're talking about reviews. After all, what better way to define whether a company offers its services well or not than its own users?
Based on the overall rating, volume of reviews, quality and freshness of reviews, and, of course, the company's response to customers, Google understands what is most relevant to offer its users, helping your company reach further and further (or closer in this case, reaching people in your region).
How to get more reviews to stand out in local SEO?
Even though it's one of the cheapest and most efficient ways to reach other consumers, we can't say that stimulating word of mouth is an easy task; after all, it depends on your customers and their willingness to express their opinion.
The good news is that people are increasingly willing to share their experiences. According to a Consumoteca study, 51% of consumers write a review about a product, brand, or store when they're satisfied with their purchase.
Therefore, the first step is a basic one, but one that many companies miss: offer quality service. Invest in experience , differentiated service, after-sales service, and monitor the entire customer journey, striving for loyalty and partnership beyond a simple sale.
Once that's done, here are some important tips to increase your relevance with reviews:
- Encourage your customers to leave reviews. Provide spaces for this type of action, whether on your website, in apps, or through email surveys or messaging apps, for example. As we said, people are willing to talk about a company, but sometimes you need to remind them!
- Share your reviews —other people and Google need them! Show others how you're being talked about to gain relevance.
- Don't censor comments. Unfortunately, not all comments will be positive, and the important thing is to show the public the reality. Use negative reviews as a point of improvement and never ignore or delete them.
- Respond to reviews and build a bond with consumers. Whether positive or negative, respond to all of them and show your audience how much your company cares about their opinion. If consumers took the time to review, the company needs to invest in getting feedback.
- Analyze reviews. Reviews aren't just for enhancing your local SEO and attracting visitors, they're also meant to be analyzed and used as a way to grow your business.
Harmo: Increase your reviews and be at the top of the search results
Receiving reviews is crucial, but local businesses can't always handle the collection, volume, responses, analysis, and evaluation of everything they receive, and this can cause the company to fall behind in its relevance.
Of course, doing this work manually becomes unsustainable as the business grows, and that's precisely why platforms and tools exist that automate, optimize, and facilitate this strategy.
Harmo is this platform and much more, making it the ideal partner to transform your customer experience and put you at the top of organic searches through our expertise in online reputation management through reviews and SEO.
How well is your business utilizing its local potential and the reviews it has? Now that you know more about this topic, schedule a demo , and find out how we can help you on this journey!
