Did you know that according to Google’s publication, Winning the Zero Moment of Truth, 20% of all online searches are for local products or services and this number jumps to 40% for mobile searches.
If you own a business or are responsible for a business, do you monitor your reputation online to see what clients and other people are saying about you?
Given the statistics above, if you are not monitoring your online reputation, you really need to start doing this as it can significantly impact your business – both positively and negatively.
As an example, think of a product or service and then search this product or service on Google and include your city. In most cases, you will be given the Google+ Business Listings at or near the top of the search results.
Now put yourself in a potential clients shoes. If these potential clients have a choice between a company with a significant amount of great reviews and one that has bad reviews or even no reviews, I would bet that in most cases these potential clients would choose a company with positive reviews over companies with bad reviews or no reviews.
Give this a try. Put your product or service and your city in Google and see what the results are.
You will see one of 4 results:
- Good reviews
- Bad reviews
- No reviews
- A mixture of good and bad reviews
If you have nothing but good reviews or a very high concentration of good reviews and very few bad reviews, then keep doing what you are doing. If you have a lot of bad reviews or no reviews, then you will be turning business away and you should look at the following 3 recommendations:
- Monitor Your Online Reputation – You can monitor your online reviews by going online and searching your company name and seeing what people are saying. If you want to automate this process, you can set up Google Alerts to monitor any mentions of your company name.
- Get More Positive Reviews – If you have a happy customer, then ask them to post a review online. My suggestion is that you should always have someone try to post to Google+ (which use to be Google Places) first. You should also figure out what some of the best review sites are for your industry and have people post to these sites too.
- Respond to Bad Reviews – Make sure that you respond to any bad review that you have gotten. Responding to bad reviews is an excellent way to turn a bad situation into a positive situation. If someone isn’t happy with your service, then see what you can do to make it better for them. By responding to bad reviews, you will show others that you are listening and that you do care.
If you monitor and manage your online reputation and add great reviews, this should have a positive effect on your business. Make sure that you include an Online Reputation process to your every day work practices.
Keyboard Photo via Shutterstock
It’s more than vital these days for small business owner to pay attention to their online reputation. Mobile search and local search making up a large percentage of how your business is found on the internet means that small business owners need to exercise constant monitoring to make sure that all search results are positive.
Thanks Lior.
I think we will see a lot more emphasis on online reputation for local business in the future as it is critical for survival.
Chris
A business’ online reputation can either be a silent killer or a silent savior. The choice is up to the business owner.
Offline or online, a prospect will NEVER call you let you know that he/she is not doing business with you due to your poor reviews because, well simply put, they NEVER call you. They simply go elsewhere….”The Silent Killer”!
On the other end of the spectrum, when positive online reviews are attracting customers to your business, the customer simply replies with “I found you online” when asked how they found your business….”The Silent Savior”!
In the end…it’s up to the business owner to decide what role their online reputation will play in the future of their business.
Joe Munzer
Well put Joe.
My feeling is that small business that focuses on their online reputation will dominate their industry.
Chris
This is something the majority of smaller businesses do really badly. I think the online reputation market is about to explode.
Great reviews do work. Our trip advisor page is showing on Page 1 for the main keyword + geographic locator.
Nice piece btw :o)
Regards,
Andy
Hey Andy,
Good to see that this works for you. I just wish that more businesses would look at their online reputation instead of ignoring it.
Thanks for commenting.
Chris