There was a time when word-of-mouth recommendation, was one of the major approaches for consumer trust. At present online customer reviews are equivalent to those word-of-mouth recommendations.
Today customers use digital research to examine more about a product they are interested in buying, a service company they might consider to appoint, or a corporation they are interested in partnering with before making the leap and buying from. As a business owner, you can use local SEO to attract consumers and make them your future customers. The research and decision part greatly depends on online reviews. These reviews are the biggest asset for any business or brand and form an online reputation management system for the company. The best part is that most customers are ready to leave a review when asked, so building a strong review profile is not an unattainable task anymore.
Four major local SEO tactics you must follow-
– Ensure to have a consistent business name, address and phone number across all the local listing websites.
– Encourage your customers to review your business on websites like Indiamart, TripAdvisor and other industry-specific review platforms
– Never forget to use the conventional off-page link building to improve your organic rankings.
– Never forget to register for major local online directories
Some tips and ways to help you grow online and get great online reviews for your local businesses:
Deliver an excellent customer experience
Ensuring the customer experience should be the first and foremost priority for any business. To create a positive impression, focus on providing excellent customer service as it can later be converted into a great online review.
Follow a proactive approach while requesting reviews
According to various surveys, it was found that more than 72% of consumers who were asked to leave reviews for local businesses actually went on to do so. As only a few customers will take to review by themselves, it becomes important that you get into the practice of always requesting from your customers for a review. You can do this in a number of ways, including face-to-face, via email follow-ups, and on calls. Using the most appropriate method for a particular client will help you gain more and more reviews over a period of time.
Offer a variety of review platforms
Offering a variety of review platforms can boost your business credibility over the internet. As you know how to ask your customers for reviews, now is the time to provide different platforms to them where they can leave their valuable feedback. Google My Business, Facebook Reviews, Indiamart, TripAdvisor, or the platform of your particular niche, can connect your brand with millions of people using these platforms. Providing a variety of options on offer gives you a much better position to accrue more online reviews. Also, if you get a positive review from a client in an email or in person, try to ask the customers to turn their comments into an online review.
Respond to reviews
Another most important way to build that trust and gain more reviews on your platform is to respond to the reviews. Most of the businesses neglect the process of responding back to the customer’s feedback, which is a huge blunder. Responding to customers shows customers that their time and opinions are valued. Also, the speed and frequency with which you reply to your customer’s reviews matter a lot. Responding to reviews should be an integral part of your online review strategy as customers are more likely to post a review if they feel like their feedback is appreciated and listened to.
Conclusion
Google is the natural first platform for most of the consumers when they’re searching for a product or service online. Hence, having a regular influx of positive reviews enables your brand or business to be ready for consideration from the early stages of the buyer journey. Google My Business is the ultimate marketing tool that provides local businesses a stage to showcase their business to a great number of people. Just like Google, make full use of all other digital platforms like Facebook, Indiamart, TripAdvisor etc. to generate more reviews for your business. Many SEO companies provide local SEO services to efficiently market your local business. Local SEO is a great way to attract local people and grow your business organically.
