Google reviews are one of the most important ranking factors for local SEO. In fact, a recent study showed that businesses with more than five google reviews have a significantly higher chance of ranking in the top three positions on Google Maps. So, if you’re not actively working on getting google reviews, you’re missing out on a major opportunity to improve your local SEO. In this blog post, we’ll share our top tips for getting google reviews, so you can start taking advantage of this ranking factor and boost your local SEO.

Why are reviews important?

There are a few key reasons why online reviews are important for local SEO:

1. They help potential customers make informed decisions about whether or not to do business with you.
2. They improve your search engine visibility, leading to more website traffic and, ultimately, more customers.
3. They give you an opportunity to showcase your customer service skills and build trust with potential customers.

In short, online reviews are an essential part of any good local SEO strategy. If you’re not actively working to get them, you’re missing out on a valuable opportunity to reach new customers and grow your business.

How to get more reviews

If you’re looking to improve your local SEO, one of the best things you can do is get more reviews. Google reviews can help show potential customers that your business is trustworthy and reputable. Plus, they can also help improve your ranking in search results.

There are a few different ways to get Google reviews. You can ask customers to leave a review after purchasing or having had a positive experience with your business. You can also include a call-to-action on your website or social media channels.

Another great way to get Google reviews is to offer incentives. This could be anything from a discount on their next purchase to entering them into a contest for a chance to win a prize. Whatever you decide, make sure it’s something that will entice customers to leave a review.

Finally, always respond to reviews, both positive and negative. This shows that you’re engaged with your customers and care about their feedback. It also helps build trust and credibility with potential customers who see how you handle customer service issues.

Why you shouldn’t buy reviews

There are a few reasons why you shouldn’t buy reviews for your local SEO. First, it’s against Google’s terms of service to do so. Second, even if you could get away with it, buying reviews wouldn’t be an effective use of your money. Third, there are plenty of other ways to encourage customers to leave reviews that don’t involve breaking the rules.

Here’s a more detailed explanation of each point:

1. It’s against Google’s terms of service to buy reviews. This should be enough to discourage anyone from doing it since breaking the rules can lead to all sorts of penalties from Google. 

2. Buying reviews is not an effective use of your money. The quality of the reviews you would get would likely be poor, and they would not be coming from real customers who have had a positive experience with your business. In other words, they wouldn’t do much to improve your local SEO.

3. There are plenty of other ways to encourage customers to leave reviews that don’t involve breaking the rules. For example, you could offer them a discount or incentive for leaving a review or make it easy for them by providing links directly to your Google listing or Yelp page.

What to do if you get a negative review

A negative review can be unsettling, especially if you’re a business owner. Google reviews are one of the main ways customers research a company before doing business with them, so it’s important to take steps to mitigate the damage of a negative review.

Here are some tips for what to do if you receive a negative review on Google:

Respond publicly and professionally. Acknowledge the customer’s concerns and take responsibility where appropriate. 

Encourage other customers to leave positive reviews. Use social media, email marketing, or in-store signage to ask customers who had a positive experience to leave a review.

Monitor your reviews regularly. Set up alerts so you can quickly respond to any new reviews. This shows potential customers that you’re actively engaged with your online reputation.

Take steps to prevent negative reviews in the future. Evaluate what went wrong and put procedures in place to ensure it doesn’t happen again. You may also want to consider implementing a customer satisfaction survey process.

Conclusion

There is no doubt that online reviews are an important part of local SEO. They help potential customers learn about your business and make informed decisions about whether or not to patronize your establishment. Google is the most popular review platform, so it’s important to focus on getting reviews there. The good news is that you can do a few things to increase the likelihood of getting Google reviews. First, make it easy for customers to leave reviews by providing links and instructions on your website and in your email signature. Second, follow up with customers after they visit your business and gently encourage them to leave a review. Finally, show some love for your reviewers by responding to their positive and negative comments.