When it comes to local business, the competition can be stiff. As a business owner, you manage a lot of moving parts: you train and monitor staff, maintain the quality of your products and/or services, and aim to operate as efficiently as possible. But a factor that can greatly influence the success of your company doesn’t exist within your brick and mortar store; instead, it takes place entirely on the Internet. We’re talking about online reviews - which 82% of consumers read. With everything that you have to juggle, your online reputation might fall by the wayside. Considering how important reviews are to your customers, you should be aware of how influential they are - their impact on your business cannot be overstated. 

When customers search for local businesses, they turn to directories like Google, Yelp, or Facebook. If they find your company on one of these review sites, the next thing they’ll see is the conversation surrounding it. Are customers having positive or negative experiences with your goods or services? They will consider this information and compare it to other businesses in your area. The content of your online reviews can persuade consumers whether or not to choose your company.

Competing with other local businesses is tough. If you’re familiar with SEO (search engine optimization), then you know how ranking higher in Google can increase your traffic by up to 36.4%. It’s a way to get a leg-up on your competition. Reviews play an important role in SEO; one study shows how Google reviews are a significant ranking factor for SEO. A higher ranking in search results can make the difference between a customer choosing your business, or a local competitor’s. Online reviews can increase the visibility of your business and persuade customers to choose you over lower-ranked alternatives. 

You understand how positive reviews affect your business - but what about negative ones? The numbers show that a single negative review can deter 22% of customers. That’s bad news for you, and great news for your competitor. But, if you respond to your reviews, you can earn up to 35% more than your average revenue. It’s important to be aware of your online presence so that you can proactively manage these issues. The next time your business receives a negative review, consider writing a thoughtful and considerate response. 

Small, local businesses need to utilize online reviews for their success - they’re a way to persuade consumers to trust your business and purchase your products or services. You know that reviews have a significant impact on your company, but it may seem like something beyond your control. With RepCo, you can take hold of your online image. 

For your local business to stay competitive, you need a way to generate reviews from your customers, monitor incoming reviews, and analyze feedback for insights - what you’re looking for is reputation management software. RepCo offers a powerful tool that can increase the trustworthiness of your business, setting you apart from the local competition. Automate the process of contacting customers, requesting reviews, and receiving alerts when new reviews arrive. Reputation management software can take your business above and beyond your competitors. 

As a local business, you are likely familiar with your closest competitors; it’s an ongoing challenge to outrank them and be listed first in search results. How do you get an edge in this never-ending battle? Online reviews are playing an increasingly important role in SEO - their impact on rankings can’t be ignored, especially if you’re a local company that’s trying to optimize your website. We’ve listed a few reasons why your business should include online reviews in its SEO strategy:

• They’re a significant ranking factor. One report showed that online reviews made up 7% of organic search result rankings. Along with content, links, and citations, online reviews are a crucial aspect of SEO. The quantity and quality of your reviews will make an impact on your website’s rankings. Google pays attention to customer testimonies, which means that you should too.

• With positive reviews, your business will persuade more customers to click your website. Data indicates that organic CTR influences rankings, so the more customers that click your website, the better you’ll rank. If your business has limited or negative reviews, few customers are likely to click through to your website; it makes your business appear untrustworthy. Consumers can even filter search results by their rating, so your business won’t show up if it isn’t above 4-stars. Glowing testimonies make users more likely to click your website, which can positively impact your rankings.

• They provide content for Google to crawl. Google loves content; it gives its bots text to crawl, which helps them discern the quality and relevance of your website. Online reviews are free content that is full of relevant keywords to supply these text bots. With more testimonies, Google will have an easier time determining your website’s ranking, which can help your SEO.

• A lack of reviews can hurt your SEO. A case study examined the effect of removed reviews on the rankings of several companies. A Google update in 2012 removed all anonymous reviews, which resulted in many businesses losing dozens or even hundreds of reviews. The results? They fell multiple ranking spots. Ratings can not be ignored when you’re trying to be a competitive local business.

• Online reviews influence Google’s local pack results. One study showed that review signals comprise 13% of local pack ranking factors. Being listed as one of the three results in Google’s local pack makes your business highly visible. If you achieve a higher star rating than the other listings, you’ll likely be clicked on more than your competitors will be. 

The number and rating of your reviews have a substantial impact on your local SEO. To take hold of your online presence, you need reputation management software by RepCo; it’s an essential component of a search engine optimization strategy. This software will allow your business to generate reviews, monitor new reviews, and analyze the data for valuable insights. Gain control of your reputation using RepCo’s management tool.  

Despite what we’d like to believe, not many people will do something to help you for free. They usually need an incentive of some sort before they’ll go out of their way for you. This poses challenges for businesses that need more reviews: how do they get customers to take the time out of their busy days to write one for them? Many consumers need review incentives to motivate them to do so. 

People value reviews when they’re shopping: 95% of consumers read them. As important as they are, not many consumers leave positive feedback of their own volition. The old saying “the squeaky wheel gets the grease” is accurate in this case because customers are more likely to leave reviews of their negative experiences. If you want to fill your website with positive  customer testimonies, you might need to offer some incentives:

1. Give them a discount on their next order. Let’s say your business sells hair products, and you email a customer asking them to leave you a review. You write that you’ll offer them a discount on their next purchase if they follow through. This comes with the bonus of prompting them to order again if they otherwise would not have. When they run low on product, they’ll take to the Internet to write about their experience with it, and save money on their next purchase.

2. Offer a free product or gift card. A great way to encourage reviews is to supply a cash or product reward for it. Customers who enjoy your products will love getting more of them in exchange for their feedback. 

3. Add them to a draw to win a prize. Create a sweepstake where each reviewer has their name entered once. With this incentive, you can collect reviews from multiple customers, while only needing to supply one prize.  

4. Make it easy for them to leave reviews. This isn’t exactly an incentive, but it will help streamline this process for your customers. If you send them an email that asks for reviews, be sure to include links to relevant websites. 

One distinction that’s worth making is the difference between incentivized reviews and positive incentivized reviews. Many review sites have strict penalties against bribing customers with gifts for them to leave high-star ratings. You can ask customers to leave feedback, but offering them cash in exchange for good reviews can get you penalized. Be careful with incentives; you want to encourage reviews but without manipulating customers into misrepresenting their experience.

Is it always profitable to offer incentives? Businesses must weigh the pros and cons. While online reviews increase consumer trust, boost conversion rates, and improve your SEO, some companies are unwilling to give customers cash for reviews. Rather than use your resources for incentives, it may be a wiser investment to seek out a review management software.

The process of sending out review requests can be time-consuming and tedious. Wouldn’t it be more efficient if there was a way to automate it? Thanks to RepCo’s reputation management software, there is - your customers can be contacted on a drip schedule via SMS or email. This makes the process of generating reviews easy, so your business can grow and reap the rewards.

You might already understand the value of online reviews: positive testimonies make 91% of customers more likely to buy from a business. But one or two reviews may not make a huge difference - how do you amass enough to positively affect your conversion rates? The answer is online review syndication; it increases the number of reviews your business has across multiple websites. We’ll give you an example to help you understand what it is, and how it can help your business:

Online review syndication maximizes the value of your customers’ testimonies. It’s the process of taking reviews from your website and sharing them with other retailers. For example, what if your winter boots have 100 reviews on your brand’s website, but 0 on another retailer’s website? The likely outcome is that customers won’t be persuaded to buy them from that retailer - data shows that 92% of customers are hesitant to purchase items without reviews. Syndicating those reviews ensures that customers find the feedback they’re looking for. It supplies the missing content on other websites so that consumers can make an informed choice. The more reviews that customers have access to, the more sales you’ll make: one study found that 200 reviews caused a 44% increase in sales.

Review syndication lets you reach more customers across a wider range of websites. Considering the high search volume on Google, syndicating your reviews to other platforms can create more brand awareness. It lets the content from your customers influence future consumers. Any other website which sells your products will be synced with your existing reviews so that they’re displayed on multiple domains. 

Increasing the volume of your reviews will have a positive impact on the consumer’s perception of your brand. 50% of customers reported that they pay attention to the number of reviews when judging a business. The more reviews that you have, the more legitimate your company appears to them. 

When your business has reviews that are syndicated across numerous websites, consumers will have increased trust, which can lead to more sales. When you look at the numbers, it’s clear that more online reviews will help your sales and your brand. You know the advantages to syndicating reviews, but what if you lack reviews to post in the first place? RepCo offers reputation management software that can help you generate reviews, grow your online presence, and scale your business. Using our review tools, you can monitor your incoming reviews and analyze them for insights; this can help you improve your customer’s experience. You’ll be notified as soon as new reviews come in so that you can respond to them immediately. Our software will help you request reviews from customers to improve your star ratings.

If you own a business, then you know how challenging it can be to increase your CTR (click-through rate). It’s measured by dividing the total clicks by the number of impressions, or people who viewed your listing but didn’t click it. CTR is an important measure when it comes to SERPs (search engine result pages), which come up anytime someone enters a query. The success of your website depends on organic traffic that results when you’re listed on the first page of Google. One way to increase this metric is by encouraging your customers to leave you review videos.

A study that measured the effect of videos on email marketing found that they improved CTR by 65%. This information can be applied to the metrics of your website - the sincerity of a video review can encourage more people to click your business. It sets your business apart from competitors with text-only reviews.

When shoppers are on their smartphones, they spend most of their time reading or looking at photos. A video is a medium that’s a welcome change of pace from the norm, with moving visuals and audio. Consumers are sometimes wary of online reviews because they believe that they may be fake. This won’t be a concern with a review video, which has an undoubtedly honest testimonial from a real customer. There won’t be any doubts that this review was typed by someone who works at your company because the user can see their face. 

With such an overwhelming amount of products and services to choose from, consumers use reviews to filter their results. One study showed that 76% of shoppers found reviews as trustworthy as personal recommendations from people in their life. The value of video reviews is clear: they’re even more reliable than written ones. People can come across videos on multiple platforms - there’s the video hosting website, the review website, and your landing page. This all leads to more clicks to your website, thereby increasing your CTR. 

It’s enough of a hassle to ask consumers to leave a written review - how do you convince them to make an entire video about your product? RepCo offers reputation management software that can help. You can request video reviews from customers using our drip schedule service, which sends direct messages via SMS or email. This will automate the process of contacting repeat customers who enjoy your services and/or products. Video reviews will make consumers more trusting of your business. For greater control over your online presence, contact RepCo about our reputation management software.

When you search for a business, you’ll typically find their address, contact information, and description; the goal of search engines is to compile all relevant information on one page. Sometimes, you’re also able to see their reviews. This is due to a piece of code called review schema, a marketing tool that can help improve your website’s SEO and increase consumers' trust in your business.

Where do you see review schema? Think about the last time you looked up a restaurant or hair salon on Google. When they showed up in your search results or local pack, you might have noticed that their reviews were also listed - that’s what review schema looks like. These rich snippets are in a highly visible area where customers will see reviews from other shoppers. They will appear either under your website’s title tag or within the details of your local pack listing. This can help your business because consumers will perceive you as more trustworthy, an important part of the sales process.

Review schema has been shown to boost CTR by 63%, and it’s no wonder why. Wouldn’t any consumer choose to click a website with visible 5-star rankings? It signals to customers that your website is trustworthy and high-quality. This code can show shoppers what others think of your products or services. 

But the process of getting review schema implemented on your website is more technical than you might think. Certain rules must be adhered to or else you risk violating Google’s terms of service. For review schema to work, the website must have some authority; it also can’t contain testimonies that are curated by the owners themselves. You need to code the schema in a specific way so that your structured data is in the right location. To add review schema to your website, you may need to contact an experienced coder.

Once your review schema is functional, the last thing you want is for it to display negative reviews. How do you keep track of the new feedback that your business receives? RepCo offers reputation management software that can help. With this tool, you will receive alerts whenever reviews are posted so that you can monitor and respond to them accordingly. You’ll also be able to collect more reviews using our contact system, which automatically prompts your customers. When the data’s in, you’ll be able to analyze the data and find useful insights to improve your business. Reputation management software can increase the quantity and quality of your online reviews.

Even as a highly-rated business, you’re faced with one reality: you can’t please everyone. Top-end companies still suffer from the occasional negative review. It may not have been through a fault of their own; maybe the customer was having an off-day, or there was a miscommunication. Regardless, a negative review is an issue that must be addressed - it has a greater impact on your business than you might think. The way you respond to it will set your company apart and can serve to improve your online reputation. 

If you receive a negative review, don’t panic. Why not look on the bright side? It looks suspicious to consumers when a business only has positive reviews; a mix of both can make 68% of customers trust reviews more. As long as you manage the situation, a negative review can actually be beneficial. The key to turning this situation around is responding appropriately - one survey revealed that a response from the company convinced 30% of customers to alter their initial review. Here are some approaches to take when you’re managing negative reviews:

1. Take accountability. No matter how strongly-worded that review might be, customers don’t want you to invalidate their experience. It will put a sour taste in their mouth, as well as any future clients who come across your insulting response. Whatever the issue may be, make sure to address it directly and take responsibility for it. Include a sincere apology in your response and mention ways that you plan to improve the issue.

2. Offer a monetary reward. There’s nothing like a freebie to cure a bad mood. When you respond to a negative review, offer them something to compensate for their experience. Depending on your industry, this might entail a complimentary meal, a free service repair, or a discount on their next purchase.

3. Emphasize the positives. Use your response as an opportunity to bring forward the strong points your business has. As you mention the topic of concern, write about how your business is usually known for its excellent customer service or high-performing products.

4. Show that you appreciate their feedback. Your customer has taken the time to write a review of your business, even if it doesn’t put you in a positive light. Respond with your appreciation for their constructive criticism. This approach will demonstrate to other consumers that you are receptive to feedback.

5. Open the conversation for further discussion. At the end of your reply, you can give them your phone number and offer to solve the issue over a conversation. You can take the conversation offline and arrange for a meeting to discuss the problem in-person. This gesture can prove your sincerity and may persuade them to edit their review. 

The faster you respond to negative reviews, the greater the chances are that a customer will alter their existing review; it shows that you are concerned about the consumer’s experience. If you want to change their mind, write a reply. It’s more than likely that it will be seen since 97% of reviewers will read the business’s response. Since it’s highly visible, take the time to craft a thoughtful and considerate reply to customer concerns to show that your business values their experience. 

Even though you understand how important it is to manage negative reviews, the other challenge is staying on top of them. As you juggle your business operations, you don’t have time to check review websites every single day. How do you do it? With the help of our reputation management software, you’ll be able to take control of your online image. RepCo offers a powerful tool to help businesses manage incoming reviews; you’ll be alerted the moment they’re posted so that you can respond immediately. 

In the past, competition between businesses used to exist only in the physical world - now, a large part of who succeeds is dependent on the Internet. When it comes to online shopping, reviews from other customers are key; they’re used as research by 82% of consumers. For your company to thrive, you need to develop strategies to generate more reviews from your customers. 

Customers want to read more than one review about your business; they’d prefer to read at least 10 before they’ll trust you. It’s difficult enough to ask one customer to leave you feedback - how do you get dozens more? An effective review generation strategy can give your company the competitive edge it needs in the local market. Here are a few ways to produce more reviews for your business:

Find which websites you want to target. There are a few review website giants that you shouldn’t ignore, like Google, Yelp, and Facebook. Depending on your industry, there may be other niche directories that consumers will browse; doctors use HealthGrades and lawyers use Avvo. It’s very important to claim your listings so that you can respond to reviews that are posted. The websites with a high volume of visitors are ideal places to focus your efforts. Split your focus between niche and general sites to see the greatest impact.

Be mindful of each website’s terms of services. Not all sites are willing to let businesses ask their customers for reviews. Even if you don’t offer a monetary reward or ask specifically for a positive rating, contacting customers for feedback may violate a website’s terms of service. When you’re developing your strategy, read up on review guidelines for the websites you’re targeting. 

Contact your loyal customers for feedback. For accurate and representative reviews, you need to reach out to those who have experiences with your business. There are a few ways you can go about this, so take the approach that suits your management style. For one, you can contact them via email. This method allows you to send a massive amount of requests all at once; it’s time and cost-effective. Another option is to ask them in-person the next time they visit your business. Data shows that it’s 34 times more successful to approach them rather than ask online. The best time to ask for a review is when your customer has just had a positive experience with you - for a hairdresser, this might be after you unveil the final result, or for a restaurant, after they finish dessert.

Display reviews on relevant pages. Now that you’ve collected valuable customer testimonies, put them up where they’ll be seen by other consumers. Prospective customers will be persuaded by the quantity and quality of reviews featured on your website’s homepage. Your business will appear more credible when it features feedback from returning customers. 

Use reputation management software. With more reviews, your company will appear more trustworthy to consumers, have increased web traffic, and see higher conversion rates. RepCo offers reputation management software to help your business consistently generate reviews. For more information about how this tool can grow your company, contact us today.

Have you ever searched a local business, only to find a barrage of negative reviews? If so, you probably decided to call their competitor who has a 5-star rating. Considering that 82% of people read reviews, your online presence is integral to your success. Implementing a strategy to manage your online reputation can help your company thrive. Even though you can’t control what customers write about your business, you can control your response. Review management is a way for companies to get a better grasp on their reputation - but what does it look like? We’ve outlined a few ways that your business can take hold of its online image:

Find out where your business is listed. When you identify the websites where your business has a profile, make sure to claim those listings and update them with the most up-to-date information, such as your address and phone number. Some of the most popular review websites (Google, Yelp, Facebook) see millions of visitors each month, so don’t underestimate their impact. Once your listing is claimed, you can easily find where customers leave you reviews most often. 

Respond to reviews promptly. Whether a review is positive or negative, customers will appreciate a response - the more timely, the better. It shows that your business is genuinely concerned about how customers experience your services and/or products. When you take the time to reply to reviews, consumers will feel heard; it might even convince them to upgrade the star rating of their initial write-up.

Add customer testimonials to your website. Have you received a number of glowing reviews? If so, take the opportunity to show them off. Place them on your website’s homepage to show shoppers that your products and services have been raved about by customers. Not only will it increase your trustworthiness, but more reviews can boost your conversion rates by 4.6%.

Request reviews from returning customers. If you’re lucky, you have a set of regular customers with whom you’re familiar; you may even enjoy casual conversation with them when they enter your store. The next time you speak with them, you can ask them to leave a review about their experience of your services and/or products. If you don’t see them in-person, consider sending an email to your clients with this request. Let them know that their feedback is valuable to you and attach links to review sites so that the process is as easy as possible for them.

Take action against fake reviews. It’s impossible to remove negative reviews from websites, but you can report any write-ups that violate a platform’s terms of service. Flag any reviews that contain content that’s inappropriate, false, or suspicious. This will help narrow down your reviews to ones that are authentic and sincere. 

Use reputation management software. You’re sold on the benefits of review management, but there’s one problem: what business owner has the time to track all these websites? For that, you’ll need reputation management software; it’s an innovative tool by RepCo that can help you keep an eye on all these moving parts. It combines everything you need to manage online reviews in one great system. Generate more reviews with our automated contact system that prompts your customers to leave you feedback. You’ll receive notifications when new reviews are posted so you can respond right away. Get in touch with RepCo to learn more about the benefits of reputation management software.

They say you can’t teach an old dog new tricks, but we believe that it’s a matter of patience and perseverance. An experienced business owner is used to relying on recommendations, quality customer service, and reliable products for their success. The power that Internet reviews hold may not make sense to your clients immediately. It’s not always easy to teach businesses about their virtual reputations - online reviews are relatively new, but they are shaping the standards of the business world. To help your clients see the benefits of review management, they need to understand the impact that reviews actually have on their business. Make the process as simple to understand as possible by outlining the pros, cons, and creating a plan of action: 

Explain the benefits to them. It’s best to start with the good stuff - basically, how more online reviews can generate additional customers for their business. When surveyed, 91% of people claimed that they are more likely to use a business with positive reviews. You may already know how powerful recommendations can be; people trust word-of-mouth feedback from friends and family. But did you know that 76% of people find online reviews as trustworthy as referrals? Based on these numbers, it becomes clear that reviews play an integral role in the success of a business. Sharing facts like these with clients will show them evidence that online reviews are important to consumers. If your client is dealing with a close competitor, the difference in sales may have a lot to do with their online reputation. Start the conversation by detailing the ways that positive reviews can help their business.

Warn them about the risks of not using review management. After you explain the benefits to your clients, they may still be skeptical about how this process can be helpful. Educate them about what happens when reviews aren’t managed. Negative reviews can severely impact sales - one survey found that after reading a negative review, 82% of customers are less likely to call that business. A low-star rating costs your business customers every day. You can ask them about their own experiences searching for local companies online. Did they choose the business with the highest-star rating? Have they ever found a negative review and decided to select a different company? These common experiences happen to customers every day, which means that if your company isn't managing reviews, you’re losing business.

Reach out to them. Your clients may not be sold on review management initially; it can be a complicated topic. Give them some time to sit with the ideas, then follow-up with an email. You can include images of their reviews and suggest ways that they could respond to them. Helping your clients understand the impact of their online reputation will show them the power of review management. 

Create a detailed plan. After your client is educated about what review management has to offer them, make a plan of action. Show clients what this process entails with a schedule that outlines the components of it. It involves requesting reviews from customers, responding to feedback on various websites, and taking action against fake reviews. Tell them about the outcomes of taking this approach: it will increase their website’s visibility, boost consumer trust, and lead to more conversions. 

Recommend a high-quality software. RepCo makes it easy to manage your online reviews. Our reputation management software gives your business the tools to generate more reviews, manage incoming posts, and analyze your data to improve your operations. Stay on top of review responses with our system that notifies you whenever they are posted. If you’re looking for a review management software to recommend to your clients, contact RepCo.