3 Good Reasons Why Small Businesses Should Be Asking for more Google Reviews

Why do small businesses need reviews?

Do you know what happens when you get a good review on Google? A LOT! And I’m going to tell you exactly why small businesses need reviews. Not only do they need reviews, but they should be actively asking for reviews.

1. Reviews Decide.

This one is probably a no brainer, but it deserves to be said. In today’s digital society, reviews are a huge deciding factor on whether people make a purchase. This is precisely why small businesses need reviews. Think about it. The last time you wanted to make a big purchase or choose a company to perform a service for you, what’s the first thing you did? I’m going to guess you went to Google and did a search. Then you might have even asked friends and family or social media for recommendations, right?

Over 90% of people consult with some sort of review before making a purchase decision. And nearly 88% of people consult reviews to determine the validity of a local business. The majority of that research is usually done through Google. Think about how many sales you’re losing out on if you don’t have any reviews for your potential customers to consult. Hint: it’s probably a lot.

2. Credibility & Trust.

Reviews are given by real people who have tried out your products and services. People just like you and me. People TRUST these reviews. Getting more positive reviews from your clients and customers is an easy way to build up your credibility. In fact, 80% of consumers don’t trust companies with ratings lower than 4.0.

Research also suggests that when a local company has a high amount of positive reviews (from real customers), their credibility automatically increases. So what does all this mean for your small business? It means… you need reviews!

How do I get good reviews?

Okay. Now that I’ve convinced you that you need reviews. How do you get them? The answer: organically. It’s a bad idea to pay for fake reviews. Potential customers will see through the ruse, and it will damage the credibility you’re trying to establish. Reviews take time to build, but if you’ve been in business for a while, you probably already have some delighted customers. So Ask!

68% of consumers will leave a review for a local business they love when they’re asked. That’s a pretty high number. So get out your email list, type up a nice little email telling them how fantastic they are and that you’re so grateful for their support, and ask if they would help a small business out with a great Google review. After all, small businesses need reviews!

3. Improve SEO.

Did you just read that, right? YES! You did. We all know that SEO is one of those elusive, sought after things in the world of small business. Well, this is a GREAT way to start bumping your way up the local SEO ladder. In fact, it’s a huge factor in Google’s ranking metric. Over the last few years, Google has actually started giving more prominence to local pages for local searches. Reviews make up about 15% of the Local Ranking Factors that determine where you rank.

SEO is something that can take months and years to build up. It’s not something that happens overnight. It also takes a lot of work and planning, and research. If you can get an edge up with your SEO ranking by asking other people to write reviews, why wouldn’t you tap into that source?

Let’s review: Why small businesses need reviews.

1. Reviews make decisions for people. Make it easy for potential customers to choose you over your competitor.
2. Earn instant credibility and trust with potential customers that don’t know your company or brand.
3. Improve your SEO rankings without doing a considerable amount of work.

Alright, now it’s time to stop stalling. Go out and get yourself some excellent reviews!