Did you know that 84% of consumers trust online reviews as much as a personal recommendation?
That’s incredibly important to know because it applies to both good and bad reviews.
Online reputation management is a huge factor in any business’ success in this day and age.
Here are our top 5 reasons you should focus on managing your online reputation.
Why You Should Focus on Online Reputation Management: The Top 5 Reasons
Online reputation management covers reviews across many platforms, including google, yelp, amazon, social media, etc.
1. Create and Protect Your Positive Reputation
Great SEO (search engine optimization) is not the only factor in gaining customer leads. You also have to have good reviews to go with those good rankings.
If your business comes up first when searched, that’s great. However, if all the reviews say that your service or product stinks, few people are likely to choose your business over the competitors.
Managing your online reputation is a great way to boost positive reviews and handle negative ones.
2. Improve Your Visibility
You can’t expect customer leads if no one can find your business online! Customer reviews are a great way to boost your SEO, especially when they include keywords about products you sell or services you offer.
3. Prove Your Trustworthiness
Your online reputation is a go-to place for customers to determine if your business is trustworthy.
For example, great photos can make your business look good. However, customers backing up that the food really tastes delicious or the spa really is luxurious backs up what you are selling with authority.
4. Show Your Customers That You Care
Even a “perfect” business is bound to run into disgruntled customers, sneaky competitor reviews, or make a mistake once in a while. It is not just about squashing bad reviews, it’s about proving your customer service when responding to unhappy customers.
Harvard Business Review conducted a study of over 75,000 people who had interacted with customer service representatives. The study found an interesting fact: “Delighting customers doesn’t build loyalty; reducing their effort—the work they must do to get their problem solved—does.”
Meaning, efficient handling of an unhappy customer is even more important when building loyalty than delighting the customers in the first place.
5. Increase Customer Leads
Positive reviews get customers in the door. In today’s digitally dominated world, your business doesn’t have a chance without an excellent online reputation.
It is not a one-time fix either, to increase customer leads, and therefore your bottom line, you have to consistently focus on your online reputation management.
Where Do I Start?
Online reputation management isn’t always easy to do alone. On top of the busy workload of running a business, it can be hard to keep up with a good strategy.
What’s the solution? Hire a trusted company like Rebel Fish Local to take care of your business’ online reputation today.
Want more? Check out our other great blog posts like “5 Reasons Why Online Brand Visibility Matters” and “5 Local SEO Ranking Factors You Need to Pay Attention To.”
