Reviews are GOLD

By Debbie Nelson

Let’s talk about reviews and why they are so important. First, picture me standing on top of a mountain shouting… Reviews are GOLD! 

Reviews not only are powerful for conversion, they help get you found on the web. And it doesn’t cost much time, effort or money to manage this crucial piece of your marketing strategy.

Today, no one watches a movie, reads a book, selects a restaurant, a product, or a service provider without being influenced by reviews. Google considers reviews so important it is one of the top considerations in its algorithm for positioning listings in local search results. Do you have lots of reviews and a high aggregate score? Google will position you higher. Do you have bad reviews? Google will send you to the back of the class.

If you have very few reviews or don’t have any reviews, the perception is you have not been in business long enough to be reviewed, or people just haven’t been impressed with you enough to leave reviews. Bad reviews can be extremely damaging to your business. Do you have a lot of old reviews but nothing recent? This sends Google the message that you used to be great, but ummm… what happened?

Why are reviews so important?

You know what you do and the quality of work you produce. Customers have told you over and over what great work you do. But prospective customers don’t have that awareness. We always say it’s not enough to merely get people to your site, the objective is to convert them to customers. Few things are as powerful for conversion as reviews. Reviews are right up there with Case Studies when it comes to conversion.

What is a review?

Just so you are not confused, a review is what a person leaves directly on the web—on Google, Facebook, in a directory, on social media, etc. A testimonial is something they told you directly that you later reported on your site.

We have a truly effective review solution for you.

After a lot of research, we contracted with BirdEye, an excellent review management program. PRO Partners have access to BirdEye at a significant discount compared to working directly with BirdEye. We will get you set up, get the widget installed on your site, and support the process for you. We’ll even send out the review requests on your behalf.

Why opt for our BirdEye review program?

It is so easy for you to request a review, but more importantly, it’s so easy for your customers to leave one.

How many times have you heard from a thrilled customer that they are going to leave a review but then they never do? The problem is they forget. Or, the more inconvenient it is for them to do so, the less likely they are to do it. Providing an easy and quick way for them to leave a review exponentially increases the chances of them leaving the review. And, if you want, you can adjust the settings in your admin panel so if they have not left a review, a friendly reminder is sent after X number of days.

Customers don’t have to log into Google, Facebook, Yelp, etc. to leave a review.

Very often, the reason someone did not leave a review was because they don’t have a Google account, or weren’t logged into Facebook. To leave a review on most sites or directories, including Google, Facebook, Yelp, etc. the user must have an account and be logged in. With BirdEye, they have the option of leaving a review on Surface Care PROS, which does not require a log in.

You can offer the customer a choice of getting the review request via text or email.

Again, anything you can do to make it easy for the customer is a good thing. So be sure to collect every customer’s email address and cell phone number.

All those wonderful reviews you get across the web are displayed on your website.

There is probably no greater thing for conversion than reviews.

You have a separate, optimized BirdEye landing page, just featuring your reviews.

As we always say, “Don’t just be on the web, be all over the web, and be where customers are looking!”

Google picks up the reviews you get and puts your aggregate score and the number of reviews on your GMB (Google My Business / Maps page).

It’s easy to log into your admin panel to see your reviews across the web and respond to them from one location.

You are not locked in.

If you do choose to cancel your BirdEye account, all of your Google, Facebook, etc. reviews remain. Your landing page, widget on your site, and the admin panel would be gone, but the reviews stay.

 

Reviews are keyword rich!

Those lovely stars on SERPS draw attention to you.

 

TIPS

• Get your entire team on-board and understanding the importance of reviews.
• Consider a reward program for your techs that get reviews
• Follow up with every customer and let them know you will be sending them a request for a review. If you have any concern that they may not leave a stellar review, don’t send the request. This doesn’t stop someone from leaving a bad review on their own however, so make sure to mitigate any issues.
• Respond to your reviews. If you ever do get a bad review, respond as well, but always take the high road.
• Consider reviews to be an asset of your company.