The Importance of Reviews

Why do I need Local SEO?

But first, here’s a quick explainer on Local SEO. Search Engine Optimization, or SEO is the process of setting up your website in such a way that you are easily found in Search Rankings. I’ve started this series to help you learn what you can do to improve your Local SEO, which is a niche of SEO that focuses on your appearance within a certain geographical area. 

Trust & Authority 

For years, I have been focused on how to build trust with customers. I feel it’s the most important thing you can do. No matter what industry you work in, your highest priority should be to build a high level of trust with your clients. As I’ve said many times, once a client, or prospective client, trusts you, price and a lot of other factors will no longer matter, because they are willing to put their faith in you totally. With an online only business, it’s doubly important. So how do you go about building that type of trust with clients and prospective clients?

One of the easiest ways to build trust is by establishing yourself as an authority in your line of work. As mentioned in the previous entry in this series, having a blog on your website and posting regularly will help with this. Another method that will help establish authority and trust are reviews. People tend to trust the opinions of their peers so it makes sense that a great way to establish trust is if you already have a good amount of reviews for your business. If a prospective client sees that you already have a long list of five star reviews on Google, as well as other sites, such as Facebook, it will go a long way toward establishing you as a legit authority that they need to do business with. 

So how do you go about getting these reviews? If you followed my advice a few blogs ago and set up a Google Business page for your business, then you are on the right track. After setting up your page, find the link labeled “Get More Reviews”. Once you click that link, follow the steps to download the link. Send this link to previous and current clients, along with a friendly message asking them if they would consider giving a review for your company. If you’ve provided good service and quality for them, they should be happy to provide you with a good review. 

Now I know what some of you would say: “Why can’t I create my own reviews?” Well, that’s unethical for one thing. For another, if you create a bunch of reviews and Google sees them all coming from your home IP address, let’s just say you’re in for some hard times. There is nothing wrong with sending the link to some of your friends or family, to help pad out your reviews. Just make sure the majority of reviews are from legit sources. Don’t be one of “those companies.” You know the ones I mean. The one with a million gushing good reviews that seem too good to be true. 

So in summary, grabbing some five star reviews, in addition to following the other steps we’ve established so far, will go a long way towards establishing trust with customers, while also helping your Google Search Ranking. Just be sure not to spam fake reviews on your profile, or you’ll get in trouble with Google. As always, if you have any questions, feel free to contact me.

Till next time!