WINNIPEG, MB:  Rep.co, a locally owned review generation and management platform, is delighted to announce the addition of a new feature to its software.  Small businesses and digital marketing agencies can now respond directly to online reviews from within the Rep.co platform itself, making for an overall more streamlined and efficient user experience.  

Rep.co was founded in 2021 by Winnipeg small business owners Jacob Kettner and Nate Fischer.  After years of generating and managing online reviews for clients, they brought their combined experience together to develop a timely and much-needed product: Rep.co is a cutting-edge software platform that distinguishes itself with exceptional customization and service options.  Its core features include review generation, management, monitoring, marketing, reporting, and white-label services (services that allow other companies to customize and offer the software as their own).  

In the world of digital marketing, creating a solid online presence is paramount, and one key aspect of increasing a business’s online visibility and trustworthiness is building a positive reputation through unbiased customer reviews and testimonials.  “Having a positive reputation online has never been more important,” said Jacob Kettner, “and we are dedicated to providing an affordable and effective solution to help you attain and keep it.”  

For many businesses, keeping up with online review generation and management can be a time-consuming endeavour, which is why Rep.co offers a wealth of customizable automated solutions to get the job done effectively and efficiently.  From helping business owners keep an eye on what customers are saying about their business to offering practical metrics that make it easy to evaluate next steps, Rep.co is highly focused on streamlining complex processes.  To that end, its latest feature, which allows users to respond to reviews directly, from within the platform, is just one more refinement that saves time by keeping review management centralized and monitored from one single location.  

For more information about Rep.co and the software services it provides, visit https://rep.co.

Reviews, referrals, and word-of-mouth testimonials have always been crucial elements of establishing, building up, and maintaining your business's overall reputation in its industry or niche. That being said, in the search-engine-and-review-platform-driven reality of today's marketplace, online reviews have become an integral currency without which businesses can quickly become swallowed up into the abyss of digital anonymity.

Consider the following statistics:

• 99.9% of U.S. consumers report that they read reviews when shopping online.
• 93% of consumers say that online reviews have an impact on their purchasing decisions.
• 49% of consumers say they trust online reviews as much as recommendations from loved ones.

Such research underscores the tremendous significance of online reviews for your business. But how do you go about generating and managing online reviews? And how many reviews does your business really need in order to positively impact its revenue and growth?

At Rep.co, we field these types of questions from local businesses on a daily basis. Furthermore, as local business owners ourselves, we appreciate how demanding and time-consuming review generation and management can be. It's what motivated us to design the Rep.co platform in the first place and the reason why we're dedicated to supporting other local businesses in gaining a comprehensive understanding of the importance of review generation and management while also offering streamlined, automated, and customized solutions.

Below, we’ll explore Google (and other) reviews, consider the factors that impact how many your business needs, and offer some actionable tips for getting started. Let's dive in!

Why Google Reviews Are Important

According to the 2022 BrightLocal Local Consumer Review Survey, Google is the number one most used and trusted review platform in the world, followed by Yelp and then Facebook. 87% of consumers turn to Google when seeking customer reviews, which effectively means that Google reviews are the gold standard no matter your business's niche (though other review platforms, especially industry-specific ones, should never be neglected or overlooked).

The benefits of positive Google reviews can be far-reaching and include the following:

• Building Credibility - Real-life testimonials from unbiased consumers help boost overall trust in your business. They add authenticity to your own promotional material and give consumers the confidence to invest in your products and/or services.
• Improving Search Engine Rankings (SEO) - Genuine and positive Google reviews are an essential factor in your business's search engine rankings and overall online visibility and exposure.
• Providing Feedback - Though you hope all your business's reviews will be glowing, positive and negative reviews alike can offer valuable insights into the customer experience you are providing and help you adapt and tailor your approach accordingly.

How Many Google Reviews Should You Strive For?

If you're hoping for a magic answer to this question, there isn't one. That being said, gaining an awareness of the factors that impact how many reviews your business needs can help you be savvy about creating goals based on its unique profile. Let's take a closer look at some of these factors:

• Your Industry or Niche - Some industries, such as the hospitality industry, rely more heavily on large quantities of frequent reviews than others.
• Your Location - Where your business is located will impact the number of Google reviews consumers expect to see (i.e. businesses located in areas with higher population densities should typically have more reviews than those in less frequented locations).
• Review Sentiment - If your business's reviews are overwhelmingly positive, you may be able to get away with less of them. On the flip side, if you have a mix of positive and negative reviews (or poor reviews overall), you'll want to increase your number of positive reviews accordingly.
• Review Quality - Reviews that simply indicate a star rating or provide low-quality, generalized feedback won't drive as much traffic or sales as high-quality reviews that are specific, detailed, and well-written.
• Currency of Reviews - Old reviews are less compelling than new ones. Keep this in mind when considering your business's total number of Google reviews.
• The Competition - How many reviews do your direct competitors have? You'll want your business's quantity (and quality) of Google reviews to match or exceed theirs for optimal results.

On average, local businesses have 39 Google reviews and a 4.42-star rating, but businesses appearing in Google's top 3 local positions have an average of 47 Google reviews. At Rep.co, our general advice to local business owners is the more positive reviews, the better. But let's break it down a little more:

When your business is just starting out, hitting the 5-review mark is a great goal, followed by heading into the double digits. Most customers read an average of between 1 and 6 reviews before deciding to make a purchase, so having more than that quantity of reviews available for potential customers to peruse is recommended best practice.

In very general terms, having 20-50 (mostly) positive and relatively recent online reviews offers a solid reputation foundation for most local businesses. With this number of reviews, consumers can usually feel confident that your business is dependable and legitimate.

Is There Such a Thing As Too Many Reviews?

Yes, on occasion, there can be such a thing as too many reviews—although it's not normally a major concern for local businesses. Having hundreds (or even thousands) of reviews can actually backfire and undermine your business's credibility. Potential customers may feel overwhelmed by the sheer quantity of feedback available or may be suspicious as to why they haven't heard more about your business if it's really so popular.

What Is the Relationship Between Reviews and Google Star Rating?

Google reviews contribute to your star rating (a rating out of 5 potential stars), which is one of the first indicators that potential customers see when your business appears in a Google search. Even one single review creates a star rating for your business, which is then modified over time as reviews accumulate and move your overall star rating higher or lower.

In order for reviews and Google star ratings to be associated with your business, you must add and claim your Google Business Profile (see more below).

While many business owners dream of a 5-star Google rating, such flawless ratings can actually sometimes backfire. As with massive quantities of reviews, perfect ratings can potentially put customers on alert. Unfortunately, fake reviews and ratings do exist online, and savvy customers often prefer a business with a realistically high rating (such as 4.7 stars) than the full 5 stars. (In other words, getting a few less-than-ideal reviews actually humanizes your business to potential customers.)

Review Platforms Beyond Google

Google may be the most significant on the global review stage, but it's important for your business to cultivate a reputation on other review sites as well. Consider targeting review platforms specific to your niche or industry as well as Yelp and Facebook (which, as mentioned above, hold second and third place for the most-visited review sites after Google).

Yelp

When setting goals for your ideal number of Yelp reviews, keep in mind their quality, the number of reviews your competitors have, and the age of your business.

Facebook

With Facebook reviews, the number of reviews required will be partially determined by your goals. Businesses hoping to establish themselves will need larger quantities of current reviews, while businesses simply looking to maintain an already solid online reputation will require fewer.

Get Started Generating and Managing Reviews

Ready to jumpstart your online reputation management journey? Follow these 4 proven steps:

Claim and Manage Your Google Business Profile (GBP)

The first step to receiving Google reviews is to add, claim, and properly manage your Google Business Profile. While it's not hard to do, many businesses neglect this step and find themselves missing out. For more information about claiming and setting up your GBP, visit Google's support page on the topic.

Provide Exceptional Service

It may sound like a no-brainer, but the most important element of generating positive customer reviews still comes down to the quality of the service and/or products that you provide. Give your customers something to rave about, and they'll find a means of doing so!

Request Reviews From Clients

Rather than just assuming that satisfied customers will leave positive reviews, directly ask them to do so. There's no need to be shy about requesting feedback for a job well done. Send a text or email or ask for online feedback face-to-face or over the phone. If you're not your business's biggest advocate, no one else will be either!

Respond to All Reviews (Positive and Negative)

When you finally start receiving reviews, respond to them professionally. Potential customers like to see that you are engaged with happy customers and how you resolve issues with dissatisfied ones. For more in-depth information on how to respond to negative reviews, see our full post on the topic.

Accelerate and Streamline Online Reviews for Your Business With Rep.co

At Rep.co, we understand that the prospect of tackling online reputation management can feel overwhelming and perpetually be shifted to the bottom of your to-do list. That's why we've created an all-in-one solution to support you!

With the Rep.co platform, you'll be able to customize and automate review generation, management, monitoring, reporting, and even white-label these services if you wish. Contact us today to learn more about how Rep.co can help you get ahead of your online reputation management and streamline the process to free up more time for your other priorities. We look forward to hearing from you!

The reviews you get on Google are among the most powerful tools you have for advertising your business online.

Don’t believe us? Here are some stats, courtesy of Moz, that might change your mind:

• 96% of people read online reviews—with over half reading reviews at least once a week.
• 98% of people who read reviews consider them a signal for whether or not they trust a business—with 33% of them considering reviews the most important signal.
• 79% of respondents said that Google is their number-one source for reviews.

It’s not an exaggeration to say that basically everyone reads reviews and uses them as a way to determine whether or not a business is worth their time.

Google reviews show up in Google Search and on Google Maps. They’re a key part of the Google local search algorithm, too—so whenever you get a Google review, it builds trust with consumers and Google. 

To succeed online, your business should be generating as many positive Google reviews as possible. In this article, we’ll teach you how. 

Generating More Online Reviews on Google

When people look at Google reviews to determine whether or not your business is worth their time and money, they’ll generally take three things into account:

• How positive your Google reviews are (customers love four and five-star businesses)
• How many reviews you have (more reviews mean that you’re more popular and that the reviews are less likely to be fake)
• How often your business gets reviewed (the least important factor, but more recent reviews keep potential customers up-to-date).

As we’ve established, Google reviews can dramatically boost growth. You can generate more Google reviews by taking a few steps:

• Creating and optimizing your Google Business Profile
• Including a review link in communications with your customers
• Asking customers to leave Google reviews the day they shop with you
• Responding to each and every review you receive (even negative ones)

Following these steps isn’t just best practice for encouraging customers to leave reviews—it’s also a great way to boost search engine optimization (SEO). Your Google Business Profile is one of the most important local SEO ranking factors—that means an optimized Google Business Profile with a lot of positive reviews will make your business more likely to appear on Google’s search engine results pages (SERPs). 

Managing Your Business's Reviews

Generating reviews alone isn’t enough—you need to manage your Google reviews in order to:

• Understand which review-generating strategies are working—and which strategies aren’t
• Respond to new customers reviews
• Turn negative reviews into positive reviews
• Catch spam and fake reviews before they affect your business

Responding to each and every Google review you receive can seem daunting—especially once you start receiving dozens of reviews each week. The trick is to respond to every review as soon as possible—it’s a good idea to set aside some time at the end of each day so you can respond to every Google review within 24 hours.

You need to respond to both positive and negative Google reviews—your best bet is to encourage anyone who leaves a negative Google review to contact you personally so you can rectify their problem (and try to turn their 1-star review into a 5-star review).

Remember, though, that a good review generation strategy will net you more positive and negative Google reviews. Have faith in your business—the good reviews should outweigh the bad ones. With Rep.co, you can increase the velocity of positive Google reviews while instantly bringing bad reviews offline—more on that later. 

Dealing With Spam and Fake Reviews

Anyone can leave a Google review. That’s usually a good thing—local businesses want their reviews to come from any customer who visits them, not just from verified Google accounts.

The downside of this system is that nefarious actors can leave Google reviews just to mess with your business—a tactic competitors will sometimes use in order to dissuade customers from visiting you.

There are a few tells that a review might be fake:

• The reviewer hasn’t made any other reviews (or has made very few other reviews)
• The reviewer’s name or account is associated with a competitor
• The reviewer leaves a lot of exclamation marks or uses overly simple terms
• You don’t recognize the reviewer’s name (this is a great one for service-based businesses like hair salons or plumbers, where you’ll know your customers’ names)
• The review doesn’t have any comments attached to it (a blank 1 or 2-star review)

When you get a Google review that you think is fake or spammy, you can go onto your Google Business Profile to flag it. Google will ask you for the reason that you’re flagging the review—answer its questions.

Finally, respond to every review calmly and courteously—even fake ones. Users who are looking for a local business to buy from won’t know that a review is fake or real—so be polite at all times! 

How Rep.co Can Help Generate and Manage Your Google Reviews

Rep.co can help you generate more reviews, manage your reviews, and deal with fake and spam reviews. Our software was developed with a few goals in mind:

• To help business owners to better promote their business online through reviews
• To help you manage your online reputation
• To make monitoring and responding to reviews easier
• To generate more positive reviews for your business

Through our dashboard, you can monitor the number of Google reviews you’ve received, sort them by star rating, and even compare month-to-month review velocity (the number of Google reviews you’re getting each month).

Our review generation suite allows you to request reviews from customers automatically, either by SMS or through e-mail. You can also set review management thresholds so that it’s easy for your customers to post a positive Google review while negative reviews will be sent to an internal channel for you to handle.

Rep.co also allows you to monitor reviews through notifications, making it easy to respond to new reviews quickly and efficiently. We’ve also integrated a widget to help you market your reviews on your own website—great for building trust and boosting your conversion rates.

Online reviews are an essential part of the local search ecosystem—customers use Google and other search engines to find businesses they’ll love, and they do that by looking at reviews. With Rep.co, online review generation and management have never been easier. Try our platform—we know you’ll love the results. 

Frequently Asked Questions

Where Do I Find My Reviews on Google?

You can find your Google reviews in your Google Business Profile—they’ll also appear in Google Search and Google Maps when you look up your business. 

Do Google Guides Get Paid?

Local Guides are not paid—unless you consider getting a shiny virtual badge “payment”. Local Guides earn points and levels, but they can’t be redeemed for anything. There’s a good reason for this—paid reviews can’t be trusted, and people would be encouraged to spam reviews for money. By making reviews unpaid, Google aims to reduce bias in its reviewing system.

That’s not to say that some businesses won’t encourage high-ranking Local Guides to visit their business—for the most part, though, it’s all above board. Some reviewers might use their Local Guide status to boost their own personal platforms. Additionally, Google sometimes offers early access to features to its Local Guides. 

Can I Pay for Reviews?

Can you pay for reviews? Yes. 

Should you pay for reviews? Absolutely not.

Paying for reviews is against Google’s Terms of Service—you can end up taking a serious hit to your rankings or even become blacklisted.

That doesn’t mean you can’t spend money to get more reviews, though. Paying for reviews directly is not allowed, but asking for reviews is expected. Software like Rep.co can help you increase the number of reviews your business gets and reduce the number of negative reviews—and it’s all well within Google’s TOS. 

Am I Able To Share Reviews on My Site?

You can! Google has created an API for review data, and this allows you to embed your Google reviews onto your website. We highly encourage you to embed Google reviews onto your site—they can help you establish credibility, and these plug-ins can be great for SEO. 

We think embedded reviews are so useful that we’ve included a review widget as part of the Rep.co package. We’ll help you get more reviews, then proudly display 5-star reviews on your website—and it’s all as easy as can be. 

How Many Reviews Are Enough?

You can never have enough reviews on Google.

Google checks both review quantity and review velocity—that’s how quickly reviews are being left. High review velocity means high engagement, and a high review count means more information for Google’s users. The most famous businesses may have thousands of reviews—that’s an indicator of popularity.

In short, get as many positive reviews as possible—it can have a huge impact.

Can I Stop People From Leaving Negative Reviews?

You can’t stop people from leaving negative reviews—but you can take action to dramatically reduce the number of negative reviews you receive.

We’re not just talking about excellent customer service—even the best in the business will get negative reviews sometimes. The goal here is to take negative energy offline, so you can deal with it in person. With our review software, negative reviews are transmitted directly to you instead of being posted on Google.

Though we can’t stop them from going on Google later and posting a negative review, our software tunnels a huge number of negative reviews directly to you, keeping your reputation intact. 

Can I Find Out Who Wrote a Review?

That depends—did they leave their name? If they did, you’re in luck—you know who wrote the review!

Otherwise, you’re out of luck—when someone leaves a Google review anonymously, Google protects user privacy pretty fiercely. That’s a good thing (for the most part), but it can make it difficult to sniff out where fraudulent bad reviews might come from.

Don’t worry too much about finding the source of a fake review—just flag it and move on. 

Why Can't I See My Reviews?

There are a number of different reasons why reviews might be missing. You might not be able to see reviews because:

• Your Google Business Profile is unverified
• Your Google Business Profile has violated Google’s policies
• The review was posted on a duplicate Business Profile

You may not be able to see reviews for other reasons. There are times when specific reviews might be missing because the reviewer has violated Google’s content policies.

Do I Need To Respond to Reviews?

Responding to all customer feedback is best practice—and that includes reviews. By responding to all of the Google reviews on your profile, you tell customers and Google that your business is active—and that you care about user feedback.

By responding to a positive review, you give the reviewer a bit of encouragement for the positivity they sent your way. That gives them more motivation to become boosters for your business and may incentivize them to visit your establishment more often.

Responding to negative Google reviews can help you turn them into positive reviews. We’ve created a guide to responding to negative reviews—it’ll help you turn unhappy customers into loyal fans of your business. 

Can I Delete Reviews?

Deleting Google reviews on your profile is impossible (unless you posted the review). You can, however, flag inappropriate or false reviews. 

Other Google users can also report inappropriate or false reviews—over time, any obviously false reviews often become flagged enough that they’ll be deleted by Google. Flag and move on is the best strategy for these types of reviews.

Back in 1984, an American psychologist named Robert Cialdini coined the term social proof. At the time, he used it to describe the phenomenon of people gauging the behaviour of others to determine their own responses and ways of acting in ambiguous situations. In simpler terms, he noticed that people copy each other's actions when choosing how to behave.

Classic examples of social proofing range from the way that people imitate each other so as not to stand out in unfamiliar settings (such as at a gala or cultural event) to celebrity fashion trends, the use of canned laughter in television comedies, copycat crimes, plus many more.

Today, the term social proofing has moved into the 21st century. It's become a key concept in digital marketing that, at its root, reflects the same phenomenon as the original term but in a virtual reality. In the world of digital marketing, social proofing refers to businesses leveraging the positive experiences of satisfied customers to attract more customers and increase their sales. It includes strategies such as foregrounding glowing reviews and testimonials, shining a spotlight on positive user-generated content, soliciting endorsements from social media influencers, and highlighting existing customers, real-life case studies, awards, and more.

If you're tired of promoting your products or services singlehandedly, social proofing may be an ideal way to broaden your digital marketing scope and increase its impact. Social proofing is an effective and research-backed method of attracting new customers or clients, but you have to know how to harness its power and channel it to your advantage.

Below, we'll take a look at the most common types of social proof, why social proof is important, and some ways to leverage it in digital marketing. We'll finish off with a couple of pitfalls to watch out for and how to mitigate them.

Types of Social Proof

While there are many avenues for using social proofing in digital marketing, here are four of the most prevalent:

Customer Testimonials

Customer testimonials have been around forever as a marketing tool, and there's a reason: They can be seriously convincing and impactful. Getting satisfied customers to share their experience with your product or service can compel others to also give it a try.

Statistics reveal that 9 out 10 consumers trust what a customer says about a business more than they trust what a business has to say about itself. So, take full advantage of the power wielded by your happiest customers and start foregrounding their feedback through your various channels. Customer testimonials can be featured on your website, social media accounts, and more.

Reviews

Did you know that 98% of consumers read online reviews for local businesses, and 49% of them trust reviews as much as personal recommendations from loved ones? In 2023, it's virtually impossible to be unaware of the incredible clout that online reviews carry, but even savvy business owners may be staggered by these numbers.

At Rep.co, helping you generate and feature excellent reviews on your website is a significant part of what we do best. So you can trust us when we say that the importance of reviews for your business can not be overstated.

Of course, positive reviews are critical to the success of your business, but the way you respond to negative feedback can also win the trust of potential customers and clients and strengthen your business's reputation (see more below). Just the simple act of acknowledging and interacting with consumers can also increase your social proof—and conversion rates as well.

User-Generated Content

User-generated content is exactly what it sounds like: Content created and shared by enthusiastic customers or clients, often in the form of videos, photographs, and social media posts (or combinations of all three).

Showcasing user-generated content on your website or social platforms is a compelling way to drum up interest in your product or service, build trust within your target market, and expand your professional network. Consider encouraging customers to create and share content about your business by providing opportunities for them to be tagged and featured on your brand's account. There are few things more persuasive to potential customers than seeing a satisfied peer demonstrating your product or service in action, so don't overlook this opportunity!

Though user-generated content can be an effective marketing medium in many digital arenas, it's most popular on Instagram, a platform that inherently caters to this type of content sharing.

Endorsements From Social Media Influencers

While only 38% of consumers report trusting brand-produced content, 61% reveal that they trust influencer-generated recommendations. So, as a business owner, leverage this reality to your advantage!

Increasing sales and brand awareness by building on the relationship that consumers have built with influencers whom they trust is a digital marketing strategy that can yield significant benefits. That being said, it's important to carefully research social media influencers before approaching them for an endorsement. Which influencers does your target audience tend to follow? And are their values and messaging aligned with your brand's identity?

Why Social Proof Is Important

Social proof is important because it organically builds your customer base and helps you increase conversion rates.

Social proof equals more sales. It's as simple as that.

Consider this: Research has shown that 70% of consumers trust recommendations from people they don't know and that 92% trust advice from their peers. If you're not leveraging the potential of social proof, you're missing out on an incredible opportunity that could dramatically expand your business's reach.

How You Can Leverage Social Proof in Digital Marketing

The ways to leverage social proof in digital marketing are almost endless, but here are some of the most common approaches:

Share Customer Reviews & Testimonials

We've already highlighted the incredible benefit that customer reviews can have on building trust with your target audience and increasing sales. But if consumers have to hunt around for testimonials, they're likely not to bother—which represents a major and unnecessary loss for you.

To maximize the impact of positive reviews and testimonials, showcase them prominently on your website and social media accounts where they can't be missed by potential customers. Reaching out to satisfied clients to continually generate fresh reviews and testimonials is also highly recommended. Rep.co can help.

Write Case Studies

A case study is essentially an in-depth look at how a particular client is using your business's products and/or services. They're impactful because potential customers are typically very interested to learn how other real people like themselves are benefitting from the product or service they’re considering investing in.

Case studies can be featured on your homepage, hosted on your blog, or linked to from your social media accounts. If you want to make them easily distributable, consider formatting them as printable PDFs.

Because an in-depth case study typically requires a substantial amount of energy, communication, and time on the part of the client, it's important to be absolutely certain that they're entering into the project with 100% consent and momentum.

Advertise Your Existing Clients

If you're currently working with some exciting clients, don't keep it a secret! Broadcasting to potential customers that your business is trusted by well-known brands or individuals can help you to gain their trust and respect too. After all, you've worked hard to gain and retain your current clientele, so let that element of your marketing strategy speak for itself.

Of course, it's always important to check with clients before featuring their name or logo on your website. In some cases, clients prefer confidentiality, so it's critical to ask for their permission before fleshing out this strategy in its entirety.

Show Off Awards, Credentials, and Accolades

No one likes a show-off, but in the world of digital marketing you've got to spotlight the recognition your business has earned. If you don't, nobody else will.

Consumers are naturally drawn to a business that's professionally certified and distinguished in its niche. So much the better if it's been noticed and honoured in some respect. From a marketing perspective, it's also worth highlighting any ways your business contributes to the well-being of its employees, the community, or specific causes.

Take Advantage of Influencer Marketing

Influencer marketing is a form of social proof that can strengthen customer loyalty while also helping you expand your business's exposure. Getting your product into the hands of influencers whose target audience overlaps with yours can make a tangible difference in your business's sales and growth.

While influencer marketing is similar to user-generated content in some respects (both involve people sharing their satisfaction with your product or service), influencers generally must be compensated for their endorsements. User generated content, on the other hand, is typically free for businesses (unless you decide to offer rewards or perks for it).

Be Careful of Fake Reviews

Building social proof through reviews is an organic process that, unfortunately, doesn't happen overnight (though Rep.co can help to streamline it). But hang in there! Authentic reviews from genuinely satisfied customers are gold nuggets.

Fake or inauthentic reviews, on the other hand, are toxic and can severely damage your business and its reputation. Not only are consumers aware of and watching for fake reviews, but search engines' ability to pinpoint and penalize businesses who use them is also rapidly evolving.

Like most things that seem too good to be true, fake reviews should be avoided at all costs. Let your business's strengths speak for themselves, build an authentic and loyal customer base, and don't risk getting a penalty that may lower your website's rankings across the board.

Handling Negative Reviews

Negative reviews are one of those things that no one likes but that everyone has to deal with. No matter how hard you work and how incredible your business is, you're going to eventually get a complaint.

The good news is that negative reviews don't have to tank your business's social proof. As we mentioned earlier, negative reviews handled with proper skill and attention can actually build trust and encourage potential customers to give you their business. 96% of customers look for negative reviews specifically, so be prepared to respond to yours productively and with professionalism.

Best practice for responding to a negative review involves offering an apology, explaining how you plan to address the issue, and providing steps for a satisfactory resolution. For more ideas on how to handle negative reviews effectively, check out our in-depth post on the topic.

Levelling Up Your Social Proof With Rep.co's Review Management Software

Building your business's online presence and reputation through social proofing is a critical aspect of any digital marketing campaign in 2023. That being said, the actual process of building social proof can be time-consuming and feel overwhelming.

At Rep.co, we understand that you’re looking to streamline the processes of review generation and management while also maximizing their potential. As small business owners ourselves, we strive to offer solutions that are affordable, effective, and straightforward so that you can focus more time and energy on tasks like building your company's core vision.

How do we accomplish this? Through simple, customized solutions that allow you to automate review generation, review management, review monitoring, review marketing (repurposing positive feedback as marketing material), and reporting.

To conclude, social proof (the phenomenon of people copying each other's actions and opinions when making decisions) is a foundational element of digital marketing today. From reviews and testimonials to social media influencer marketing, there are many ways to leverage it as part of your overall marketing strategy.

Looking to reap the benefits of building your business's online reputation through social proof? Contact Rep.co today to find out how we can help.

“Negative customer feedback hurts your business. Positive feedback helps.”

That’s a false dichotomy. A bad review can actually help you grow your business—you just need to respond to it in the right way.

In this article, we teach you how. Let’s get into it:

Why you should respond to negative feedback

Negative reviews give a bad impression of your business. In responding to negative reviews, your goals are twofold:

1. To show customers who might be looking at the negative review that you take feedback seriously and that you’ll respond to concerns and complaints.

2. To convince the customer who left the negative review to continue a dialogue with you in an effort to get them to change the negative review to a positive review.

Responding to negative reviews can also give you an opportunity to showcase your brand’s personality—sometimes, responses to reviews can even go viral if they’re crafted carefully. 

Going viral isn’t always a good thing, though—if it happens because your response was tone-deaf or insulting, you might end up destroying your reputation. That’s one of the reasons we created this guide—to help you improve your reputation management strategy by giving the right responses to negative reviews. 

The positives of negative feedback

“There’s no such thing as bad publicity”. The same is true with feedback—there are negative reviews, but there are rarely bad reviews. (We’ll talk about the big exception to this rule in a bit).

Negative feedback tells you what your business can improve. Customer feedback is essential—while positive reviews tell you what you’re doing right, negative reviews from unhappy customers can teach you what your business can do better.

Maybe the service was poor one night. Maybe your product had a defect. These can be one-time issues, but if you see a lot of feedback pointing to the same issue, it might be a pattern.

Another positive is the ability to turn the customer experience around. An angry customer who tells all of their friends not to shop at your business is a huge liability—word-of-mouth still matters, even in the age of online reviews.

When that same customer posts their review online, however, you have the power to turn their negative experience into a positive one. 

Customers deserve to feel heard. Welcome all forms of feedback—positive reviews and negative ones. 

How you should respond to negative feedback

Don't take the feedback personally

You’ve put your everything into building your business, and some person who probably doesn’t know their right hand from their left has the audacity to tell you the service was bad, even though you know fully well that they were told to expect a 45 minute wait, and that they couldn’t even wait 15 minutes?!

As a business owner, it can be hard not to see a negative review as a personal attack. 

Breathe. 

Negative reviews aren’t attacks. The person who left the review might be wrong (the customer isn’t always right), but that doesn’t mean responding in kind is the right idea.

They wanted something from your business. They didn’t get it. Look at things calmly, and find a way to turn their negative experience into a positive. 

Respond in a timely fashion

You want to respond to an online review, be it positive or negative,  within 24 hours. 

The faster you respond, the better. When you respond to negative reviews in a timely manner, it shows that you care about your business, your customers, and your online reputation. 

Don't argue with the customer

Arguing with your customers is a bad idea.

You can keep things brief: “We’re sorry you had a negative experience” or “We’re sorry that our product didn’t meet expectations”. You may disagree with the customer, but don’t tell them that—at least not yet. 

Eventually, you might need to argue with your customer—it happens. Make sure these arguments take place offline, outside of the public eye. 

Personally address your customer's complaints

Negative online reviews can be short and blunt (“The service was trash”), but they can also be quite detailed. 

Either way, you’ll want to address the concerns in your response. Often, this will involve rephrasing exactly what your customer said. 

For example, a customer might say: “They told me this product would be a light green, but it’s a mid-to-dark green at best! It doesn’t match my aesthetic at all!”

You could respond with: “We’re sorry to hear the product was not the shade of green you expected.”

Often, customers will list a number of different issues in their negative online reviews. Address each of those issues in your response.

Thank the customer for taking the time to review

Remember—negative feedback is a positive thing. Be sure to thank your customer for leaving the review in the first place; think of it as them taking time out of their day to help you improve your business.

This can be as simple as starting your review with “Thanks for the review” or “Thanks for letting us know what we can do better”.

When you start your review response with a thanks, it can completely change an unhappy customer’s outlook—you’re responding with humility and telling them that you appreciate the opportunity to better your business. It’s a good look for a business owner to have, and it might lead to more productive conversations offline. 

Take the conversation offline

If you take absolutely nothing else away from this article, the single most important lesson we can teach you is this:

Take the conversation offline.

Customer complaints aren’t always right or fair. Some people make things up to try to get free products or services. Some people just have a different idea of reality than the rest of us.

You might have to debate with your customer. They might be completely in the wrong. 

Potential customers who are looking at your review responses? They don’t know that. And if you start arguing online with the unhappy customer who left a negative review, you can turn potential customers away from your business forever. 

Requests to take the conversation offline can be simple: “A member of our support team will be in contact with you to resolve this issue” or “Please call us so that we can further address your concerns”.

Bringing it all together

Here’s the review: “I am SO unhappy with X Corp. I ordered my coffee mug in what they promised was a light green but was actually a mid-to-dark green at BEST! Also, the mug they sent me wasn’t a coffee mug but a TEA mug! Unbelievable. I will NEVER buy from them again!! Avoid at all costs!!!”

You’re the business owner. You know the color of your mugs. You know that coffee and tea are just two kinds of hot beverage that can both fit in mugs. 

Breathe. Then, respond (within 24 hours):

“Thank you for your review. We’re sorry to hear the color of the mug didn’t meet your expectations. We also apologize for the confusion over coffee and tea mugs. We want to make this right. Our team will send you a direct message so we can fix this for you.”

With this response, we’ve addressed all of the main points:

• Responded promptly without taking the feedback personally
• Avoided arguing with the customer
• Gave a detailed response that addressed all of the customer’s concerns
• Thanked the customer
• Made an effort to move the conversation offline 

Obviously, this is a very generic reply to a very silly, made-up review—but it gives you a good idea of the general framework a review response should have. 

Identifying fake reviews

Spotting fake reviews can be challenging. Thankfully, there are a few tricks you can use to determine if online reviews are fake:

• Check to see if the reviewer has reviewed other products or services. Accounts with only one review are more likely to be fake than those with a history of reviews.

• Look for patterns. When a reviewer uses the same verbiage in most of their reviews, it’s likely they’re copy-pasting words and phrases

• Look at when the review was posted. When multiple reviews are posted at nearly the same time, you’re probably being review bombed. This is made even more likely if you see the patterns we described above.
• Use tools designed to help you catch fakes. Tools like Rep.co can help you organize reviews to make it easier to find patterns.
• Trust your judgment. Intuition is a powerful tool.

It’s important to know that even if you think you’ve spotted fake reviews, your potential customers can’t tell the difference. As such, it’s important to respond in a professional manner, even if you’re responding to a negative review you believe is fake. 

Examples of negative feedback responses

We’ve talked a lot about online reviews in theory—let’s take a look at a few ways to respond to reviews in practice. Here are a few negative review responses we love. Use these examples to craft your own review response when you’ve got negative feedback that seems tricky to respond to. 

A genuine response

What makes this response so genuine is that the manager offers to introduce themselves to the person who left the bad review. That tells us they really want to set things right, and they’ll put in the personal effort to do so. Great review response. 

A candid response

This is a candid response to a negative review—and it was a really bad review (so we didn’t even include it above). Without being able to verify with 100% accuracy if the negative reviewer is, in fact, a fake reviewer, they’re inviting more conflict.

It’s tempting to go viral for a pithy response (who wouldn’t want their review response to go viral in a positive way). It can backfire badly, though. Avoid this tactic. 

A humble response

Sometimes, you make a mistake. Admitting it—publicly—can show that you really care.

This response lacked speed, and we would prefer a more concrete effort to continue the conversation offline—but you can tell the owner really cares. That means a lot. 

A professional response

This response has everything we talked about. The reviewer is thanked for their negative review—we especially like the use of the phrase “honest feedback”. They address the client’s concern, make it clear that the customer’s experience does not align with the company’s values, and give them the opportunity to take it offline.

The only mistake here is that it took them two weeks to respond. 2 weeks is way too long—but responding 2 weeks after you received negative feedback is better than not responding at all.

A subtle response

Short, sweet, and to the point, this is the kind of response that’s likely to make an unhappy customer into a repeat customer. We love the last bit—it’s a fun way to encourage the reviewer to re-engage with the brand. 

An honest response

We love this response because they’re candid about the review and referral gift they offer, then they invite the reviewer to visit their clinic and pick up a gift card. You always want your healthcare providers to be honest—this is perfect. 

Conclusion

A great review response can turn a bad review into a good one. Responding to negative reviews is simple—just follow the steps we outlined—and it’s an essential part of any company’s reputation management strategy.

Finding every bad review can be difficult—especially across multiple platforms. Our reputation management software can help, alerting you whenever a negative review has been posted.

Now go out there, and turn a negative into a positive! 

As we enter the year 2023, statistics reveal that consumers continue to be less and less likely to trust traditional marketing. According to BrightLocal, 84% of consumers report that they no longer trust advertisements, and millennials, in particular, are really turned off by them (unless the advertising is coming from one of their favourite digital stars). Not only that, but the global COVID-19 pandemic has further accelerated the decline of traditional advertising and foregrounded alternative digital marketing strategies, including authentic consumer reviews.

Since the advent of the internet, online reviews have been steadily gaining significance as an integral element of digital marketing. They can dramatically impact your business's ability to attract and retain customers as well as your conversion rates (for better or for worse). Online reviews also contribute to search engine optimization (SEO).

Did you know that 93% of consumers report that they consult online reviews before making a purchase and that 94% have avoided a business based purely on its online reviews? These are powerful statistics that drive home the vital importance of review generation and online reputation management for your business.

Positive and negative reviews alike can both drive sales but must be handled differently. In this post, we're going to focus on positive reviews. Many business owners wonder if a response to a positive review is even necessary. Here, we're going to see that it most definitely is and, furthermore, how you can turn a good review into an outstanding opportunity to grow your business further.

Let's spend some time considering the elements that make a good review and how to maximize your response to one, as well as exploring some popular online review platforms. Stick with us until the end of this post, and you'll gain some important industry wisdom on how to make the absolute most of the positive reviews your business receives.

What Is a Review?

Plain and simple, a review is public feedback provided by a customer who has had firsthand experience with a particular business. A review might be the result of customer feedback specifically elicited by a business (e.g., a survey or review request) or could be left spontaneously by a customer on any number of dedicated review platforms. Excellent customer reviews are often featured on business websites but can also be found via a simple search engine query.

Reviews usually include a numerical rating (often a star rating out of five) as well as a written component. Depending on the platform, different elements of a business may be rated separately (e.g., customer service, product, price). In other cases, the business may get just one overall rating from reviewers.

In a review, customers often provide details about their experience with a business and tell other potential customers whether or not they'd recommend it.

What Makes a Good Review?

While getting a positive review is something to celebrate no matter what, there’s definitely a hierarchy within the world of positive reviews. Indeed, some positive reviews are more positive than others for a variety of reasons. Learning to recognize the standout positive reviews your business receives can help you highlight them and give them the attention they merit.

Let's take a look at some of the factors that set certain reviews apart:

It Goes Beyond the Stars

A five-star rating is a beautiful thing, but stars only tell you so much. Have you ever scrolled straight past a five-star review (or a one-star review, for that matter) that had no words to accompany it? Us too. There's not much else to do. Without some details, the number of stars is pretty void of meaning.

Numerical ratings are subjective. Even when there are words to accompany a five-star rating, they can vary drastically. One reviewer reserves their five-star rating for the top 1% of all experiences, while another includes quite a bit of criticism in theirs.

The point is that an impactful positive review goes beyond the number of stars. Look at reviews holistically, and you'll see the bigger picture.

It Describes the Customer's Experience

A really great review describes the customer's experience in detail. While hearing that your restaurant is "good" is certainly not a bad thing, you'd much rather hear about the friendly staff, prompt service, trendy decor, and tasty appetizers.

And so would your potential customers.

Capitalize on reviews that are both positive and filled with specifics.

There's Very Specific Feedback

Speaking of specifics, there's hardly anything more annoying or frustrating than a review that states that a customer had a "great experience" or a "poor experience" without elaboration. The best types of positive reviews tell you (and potential future customers) exactly what the customer loved and appreciated.

For example: "I loved the classic red leather booths and ‘50s style decor. Our waiter, Henry, was witty and helpful, and the cheeseburger was moist and out of this world!"

Now there's some specific feedback you can really sink your teeth into—metaphorically speaking, of course!

Why Good Reviews Are Important

Good reviews are important because they attract customers. When customers are searching for a product or service, they want to see what other unbiased consumers have to say. 94% of consumers report that a negative review has made them change their mind about a business. Not only that, but customers are also 21% more likely to leave a review after a negative experience. Yikes!

These statistics are a bit unnerving, but they also really underscore the counteractive potential of positive reviews and the importance of nurturing them.

Besides being a standalone testament to your business's positive attributes, good reviews are also a wonderful opportunity to engage your target audience. When you respond to an online review, you're not just responding to the reviewer. Rather, you're putting a human face on your business for all the potential customers out there.

A well-written response to a positive review develops a rapport with your customer base and can also be a great opportunity to further highlight the strengths of your business.

For example, if a customer loved your special of the day, expand on their comment by listing your upcoming specials and inviting them to return and try another one. Now the cat's out of the bag and you've hopefully piqued other potential customers' interest as well. Boom!

Popular Online Review Platforms

There are lots of review platforms out there, but statistics show that 88% of all reviews come from just 4 review sites. They are: Google (73%), Yelp (6%), Facebook (3%), and Tripadvisor (3%). Of course, many other niche review platforms may be extremely relevant for your specific business as well.

Let's take a closer look.

Facebook

Facebook is one of the largest social media platforms in the world and millions of people worldwide turn to Facebook for business reviews every day. Your business should definitely be getting a slice of that pie, so be sure to foreground Facebook as part of your review generation strategy.

Yelp

Yelp is an American company that publishes crowd-sourced business reviews. With more than 4.5 million reviews and 46 thousand annual visitors to its desktop webpages alone, it's a formidable platform and one that you want to see studded with great reviews of your business.

Google Business Profile

Formerly Google My Business, your Google Business Profile is what shows up when people search for your business on Google (by far the world's foremost search engine). Setting up your Google Business Profile is simple. It only takes a few minutes and opens the door to online reviews from anyone with a Google account. That's a whole lot of potential reviews and a lot of potential customers looking at them.

The Better Business Bureau

The Better Business Bureau (BBB) is not one of the top four global review platforms, but we've included it because it's a bit unique. In order to be approved by the BBB, your business has to be vetted and meet specific ethical and business standards. When people find your business through the BBB, they’ll automatically know that you've put in the effort to ensure it stands out from the crowd. Definitely something to consider.

Examples of Ways To Respond to Positive Reviews

We've established why positive reviews are important for your business and identified some features that make a positive review really stand out. Now it's time to consider how to respond to positive reviews.

Why respond to positive reviews?

First off, it's just the right thing to do. Someone took the time to pay your business a compliment—the least you can do is acknowledge it. If that person were standing in front of you in the real world, you'd certainly say thanks. Your courtesy on the internet should be no different. Besides, it will make that customer feel heard and appreciated—and more likely to bring their business back again.

As we mentioned earlier, responding to online reviews gives you a platform for speaking to a wider audience. You may not be able to control what a reviewer puts out into the universe, but you can certainly control your response. And that's worth a lot, so take the reins with confidence, and don't miss your opportunity to shine!

Consider how your response to a positive review can further enhance your humanity and draw in even more customers. This is an important practice and not something to overlook as a business owner. Also, don't put responding to positive reviews on your to-do list and forget about it. Customers (and potential customers) appreciate a prompt response. If you wait too long, your response will no longer be relevant.

Of course, there are many ways to respond to positive reviews, but here are three possible ideas to get you started:

Simply Thanking the Customer for Their Feedback

A thank you is better than nothing, and may be appropriate in response to a very minimal review. That being said, we don't recommend simple thank-yous overall. Generic responses are boring and lackluster. They won't garner the kind of punchy reactions you're probably hoping for.

Our advice? Respond to every positive review with a thorough and personal message that further highlights your business's strengths rather than relying on standard platitudes.

Offer a Discount Code or Coupon As Thanks

Try this on for size: Respond to positive feedback with more positive feedback and see your consumer base and future positive reviews grow. Someone left you a fantastic review? Respond by offering them something extra-special in return. Discount codes and coupons are just two examples. You could also invite them back for a free product, unique experience, or personal visit. The possibilities are pretty much endless.

Send the Customer a Personal Thank-You Note or Card

This one is perfect for building trust and setting the stage for a long-term relationship with a valued client. While a personal thank-you note may not impress the masses, it will build trust and loyalty. This may be an optimal choice if you operate a business that relies on retaining customers over time. Consider sending an exclusive invitation (or invitations) to a special event or experience connected with your business.

Positive Review Response Examples

A textbook response to a positive online review should include a few key elements. Aside from responding personally and in a timely manner, these are:

• Showing Gratitude - Tell the reviewer that you appreciate their positive feedback.
• Being Specific - Address the person who has provided feedback by name and include clear details in your response (just like you want your reviewers to do for you).
• Adding New Information - Take the opportunity to expand on the strengths of your business. Remember, you're in the driver's seat with your response.
• Inviting The Customer Back - Give positive reviewers a clear and tempting reason to return to your business again. It could be a new product/service, a discount, or a personal invitation to connect with you.

Generic Response Examples

"Hi, Jane. Thank you so much for taking the time to leave us such positive feedback. Our team always strives for excellence, and it means a lot to us to hear when we've hit the mark. Did you know that we've recently opened a new location to serve clients like you even more conveniently? Please find a link to a coupon included for the next time you require our services."

"Hello, Joe. What a pleasure to read your kind words about your experience with our business. As you have noted, we are committed to outstanding customer service, but it's always great to know we've gotten it right. Did you know that we are now reachable 24/7 to serve you even better? Please ask for me personally next time you're in the office so I can say hello to you myself. All the best until then!"

Restaurant Examples

"Jane, thanks a million for your five-star review of The Breakfast Nook. We always strive to create a cheerful atmosphere, so it sure is nice to hear that we put a smile on your face all day long. Yes, our chef's pancakes are light and fluffy indeed. But next time, you'll have to also sample his delectable Belgian waffles with fresh fruit (one of our house classics). Next time you visit The Breakfast Nook, show this discount code for a free coffee on us."

"Hi, Joe. What a pleasure to hear that our fish and chips were the best you've ever had! Thanks for motivating us by taking the time to let us know. Next month, we're having a local beer-tasting event, and we hope you'll come back for it! Bring a friend, and we'll provide a pint on the house for both of you."

Digital Marketing Agency Examples

"Dear Jane, It was a pleasure to hear that your business has benefited from our services and that our marketing team exceeded your expectations. While we always try to go above and beyond, it's really great to know when we succeed! Our team continues to provide a high level of service each and every day, and we look forward to working with you again in the future."

"Dear Joe, Thanks for your positive review and for highlighting the excellent job that Chris did in helping your business reach its goals. We’ll pass your feedback directly to him. We are fortunate to have a whole team of equally dedicated digital marketers and can't wait to serve you again."

Conclusion

As we've seen in this post, online reviews are a critical part of digital marketing in today's world, and positive reviews, in particular, must be treated with special attention.

Feeling a little daunted by the task of eliciting, reading, and responding to all your business's online reviews? Rep.co's proprietary review management software can help. For more information, contact us directly at Rep.co today!

Moving is never easy. Whether you're in the market for your dream home, hoping to sell your current property, or seeking both services simultaneously, finding a great realtor is vital.

An experienced, dedicated, and supportive real estate professional can really help hold things together during that exhausting period of showings, offers, and negotiations. They can answer all your questions, provide helpful insights, and guide you painlessly through each and every step of your purchase or sale.

On the flip side, a sub-par real estate agent can dramatically increase your stress level and leave you feeling frustrated and helpless. In the worst-case scenario, you could be left without the deal you'd hoped for and a bitter taste in your mouth.

So, how do you go about finding a top-notch realtor who will be the right fit for you and your particular set of needs?

Unless someone happens to provide you with a glowing personal referral, chances are that you'll be turning to the internet to seek out real estate agent reviews in your area.

In this post, we'll provide some key tips for narrowing down your search and evaluating realtor reviews. We'll also offer some guidance on where to turn for further information:

Where To Find Real Estate Agent Reviews

For most people, the obvious starting point is a Google search. But, while a Google search will turn up an impressive number of reviews, those reviews can be overwhelming and won't necessarily be organized according to your specific requirements. In fact, many of them may be completely irrelevant.

For this reason, it may be best to start out with a search for real estate agencies in your area (rather than jumping straight to reviews) and zero in on a few particular agents who look promising based on their professional profile pages. Once you've identified the people you're interested in working with, you can use Google (or another platform) to find more specific reviews of their work (more on this below).

When evaluating whether or not a realtor has the potential to be a good fit for your needs, consider the following:

• The neighbourhood(s) they’re familiar with (check out their past listings and sales)
• The price range of homes they deal with (consider your ideal budget)
• Their professional success (number of listings, the number of sales)
• Their years of experience in the real estate industry (keep in mind that new agents may actually have more time and energy to commit to you)
• Their availability (will they be able to accommodate your schedule)

Once you've created a shortlist of candidates, it's time to dig a bit deeper. Now is the time to get busy reading targeted online realtor reviews before making a final decision on which agent to go with.

But (and this is a big but), don't trust everything you read!

Things To Watch Out For

Just because 49% of consumers trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations doesn't mean that everything you read in them is accurate. Online reviews are subjective at the best of times, and though they’re a useful tool, you've got to be savvy when evaluating them:

Review Quality

Is the review detailed and thoughtful? Do the words seem to match the number of stars given? Is the reviewer promoting a particular agenda? There are a lot of low-quality reviews out there, so be critical about what you're reading and pay attention to the words as well as the stars/score.

Dates of Reviews

Reviews hang around on the internet forever, so try to stay current with what you're reading. The realtor in question may have changed a lot over the years!

Skills Mentioned

Look for specifics. It's nice to hear that a realtor is "great" or "awesome" but much better to read that they're an effective negotiator, punctual, organized, and personable.

Avoid Tunnel Vision

At this point in the game, don't get stuck on one particular agent. Try to sift through reviews without a specific result in mind and see who organically emerges as your best option. Consider scheduling in-person interviews with a few of your top picks!

Realtor Rating Sites

Not sure exactly where to turn for online realtor reviews? Type candidates' names into any of the following platforms and get busy reading:

Realtor.com

Realtor.com is the site officially associated with the National Association of Realtors (U.S.). With MLS-based data, its reviews are specific to the realty industry and include categories such as responsiveness, negotiation skills, and professionalism. Check out Realtor.com's agent-finding service here.

RankMyAgent.com is another real-estate-specific review site that encompasses countries beyond the U.S.

Google

Anyone with a Google account can leave a review on Google, so if you're looking for a broad selection of realtor reviews it's a perfect place to start. Google reviews can usually be found alongside Google business profiles (or by typing a specific query into the Google search bar).

Zillow

Like Realtor.com, Zillow is a review site specifically based around realtor reviews. One stand-out feature of its Find an Agent tool is the fact that it filters realtors by location (neighbourhood, city, zip/postal code, etc.).

Facebook

Many realtors now create a business Facebook page to promote their listings and garner reviews. This can be a great place to get a sense of their personality, professionalism, and client interactions.

Conclusion

Whether you're seeking a real estate agent or a different service or product, a great deal rides on online reviews. Quality online reviews can have a major impact on the success of your business, so it's worth investing in some tools that can help with review generation and management.

Are you a real estate agency (or other small business) looking to build your reputation with online reviews? At Rep.co, we offer solution-oriented reputation management software that can get you reviews that will grow your business 

Reach out to us at Rep.co today!

Pennsylvania, USA - Rep.co, one of the leading reputation management companies in the world, is delighted to announce the launch of its new TCR integration system that allows businesses who want to send targeted SMS messages to US mobile phone numbers to register with The Campaign Registry. This system is designed to improve deliverability and will be offered to customers at no additional charge. 

10 Digit Long Code (10DLC) is the new standard for Application-to-Person (A2P) text messaging utilizing a traditional 10-digit phone number. Although similar to the existing long code, 10DLC is a reliable messaging channel with throughput levels suitable for SMS campaigns and is sanctioned by the mobile operators for A2P messaging.

The Campaign Registry is the central hub for registering A2P 10DLC messaging campaigns. The registry works with North American mobile operators and companies that are in the messaging business to register Application-to-Person (A2P) text messaging Campaigns. The registry supports a sanctioned A2P 10 Digit Long Code (10DLC) text messaging Campaign ecosystem and provides visibility into the messaging source and content, allowing mobile carriers to provide a more reliable and simple messaging service for Campaign Service Providers (CSPs) and Brands.

“We are very excited about the launch of our new TCR System and the improved results we believe it will deliver for our customers,” said Jacob Kettner, owner and founder of Rep.co. “When it comes to advertising and marketing, we know that doing things properly is critical to building brand recognition and a positive reputation. It is impossible to underestimate the importance of reputation for a business, which is why our entire business model is based upon ensuring our customers have the best reputation possible. Although the new system was challenging to design and implement, we are delighted to be able to offer it to our customers without any additional expense.” 

Rep.co is a locally owned and operated company based in Pennsylvania. The company is a market leader in online brand management and is committed to delivering results for its clients on a daily basis. With a long track record of success and a commitment to innovation and research, Rep.co is the company you can trust with your reputation management needs. For more information about the company and the services it provides, visit its website at https://rep.co.

Back in the pre-Internet days, recommendations were based solely on word-of-mouth. People would ask their friends and family for referrals to trusted businesses. While this is still applicable today, it’s becoming less popular in light of a virtual alternative: online reviews. As much as 76% of consumers trust online reviews equally as referrals from others. If your business wants to make more sales, then keep reading - we’ll explain how reviews affect your conversion rates.

You might already know that landing pages are an important part of making sales. But what about adding testimonials from your customers? Without them, customers might click away from your page to see what your rating is on Google or Yelp - but if the reviews are front-and-centre on your landing page, there’s no need to. The longer that customer remains on your site, the better chances are that you’ll have a conversion. Combined with your other marketing techniques, reviews can give the push consumers need to make a purchase. 

You probably wouldn’t buy a car without taking it for a test drive, or purchase a home without taking a tour, and the same goes for online products and services. Consumers want to see proof of the claims on your website, and reviews do just that. They act as evidence that your business is authentic - one study found 83% of customers thought that landing pages with reviews were more trustworthy. When consumers trust your business, they feel more inclined to buy from you.

Since online reviews have been around for a while, customers can sometimes be skeptical of them. If your website only includes 5-star reviews, readers might be suspicious that they’re fake; it might make them think that those claims are too good to be true. If you have a negative review, responding to it can increase conversion rates by up to 30%. Instead of only displaying the most positive reviews, consider showing some with 4.5 or 4-stars; it will add credibility to the claims.

When it comes to displaying reviews, it’s “the more the merrier”! Having even just one review has been shown to boost conversion rates by 10%, while up to 100 can increase them by 37%. Now that you know how influential testimonials can be when making conversions, the next step is gathering them to post on your landing page. It can be challenging to gather this many ratings when your business is just starting out. How do you prompt customers to leave feedback and take control of your online image?

RepCo offers reputation management software that will help grow your business. You’ll be able to monitor and respond to reviews as they’re received, and compile them for easy analysis. Customers will be contacted on a drip schedule via SMS and email, which will automate the review generation process. You will be notified as soon as new reviews come in so that you can respond to them quickly and appropriately. With RepCo, you’ll soon have a landing page full of reviews, and that can increase your conversion rates significantly. 

To click, or not to click - that is the consumer’s question. CTR, or click-through rate, refers to the number of customers who decide to click on your business among a list of search results; it’s calculated by dividing total clicks by impressions. For consumers to contact your business and make purchases, they need to visit your website, so this statistic is especially important for the success of your company. Up to 56% of consumers choose to click a business because they have a high rating and positive reviews. When someone clicks your website, there’s a chance that they’ll be converted into buying customers. For your business to make sales, your website needs a high CTR, and online reviews play a significant role in generating clicks.

There are all types of tactics you can use to increase your CTR - and no, we’re not talking about click-bait. It’s important that businesses utilize captivating content, clever titles, and meta descriptions to make a reader curious enough to click. One factor that plays a vital role in CTR is online reviews, and they’re not as easy to control as the other methods. Studies show that the more stars your business has, the more clicks you get: 5-star businesses get 69% of clicks, while 3-star ones get 44%. This goes to show that positive reviews can increase CTR.

Negative reviews have another impact on CTR. Consider this dilemma from the perspective of a customer: would you trust a business that had no reviews, or only 1 and 2-star reviews? You’d probably feel more inclined to click on the website that had a rating of 4 to 5-stars. If your business has negative reviews, this can dissuade people from clicking your listing; they’ll choose a competitor with a more positive rating. 

CTR has been a contentious topic when it comes to search engine optimization. Google is notoriously elusive about which factors affect SEO, or how highly websites are ranked in their search algorithm. Even though the company has denied that CTR is a factor, other studies point to its significance. Whether it is or isn’t a ranking factor, it definitely plays a role in the success of your business. CTR indicates whether your company persuaded a customer to follow through to your website - it can make or break a sale.

Click-through rate is an important measure for your website. Positive reviews build trust and authority for your business, and entice consumers to click to your website over your competitors’ -  they are an extremely influential factor. If you want to increase your CTR and boost your sales, then you need a way to stay on top of online reviews. That’s where reputation management software comes in. 

RepCo offers a tool that will allow your business to take control of your online presence. Never be surprised by a bad review again - you’ll be alerted the moment new reviews are received so that you can monitor and respond to them. Start generating reviews with our automated request system, which will contact your customers on a drip schedule. Then, gain valuable insight from the feedback you’ve received to improve your business. Reputation management can help increase your website’s CTR, and in turn, boost your sales.