Maybe you’ve heard the words “reputation management” before, but you figure your business is too small for it to matter. What could a few bad reviews really do? The truthful answer is that they can have quite an impact. Doing your best to make sure that your business has a positive online presence is essential to making sure that customers come your way. Here are a few reasons why:
The Vast Majority of People Read Reviews
Statistics show that nearly 9 out of 10 people read reviews before buying. Many of these people even read more than 10 reviews before settling on what they’d like to purchase. This means that reviews matter a lot, both the positive and the negative. They’ll have an impact on where you land on Google results pages, and even one negative review could knock you down. Your responses matter, too, and they provide a way for you to have some impact on reviews after the fact. Ensure that you respond to every single review, positive or negative, in order to let your customers know that you’re listening.
Other Mentions of Your Business Matter, Too
Reputation management also involves other mentions of your business online, even if they’re not reviews. Social media mentions can play a big role in influencing what results pop up when customers search your business’ keywords, so you’ll want to watch those, too. Again, active responses are helpful here: you can encourage customers to message you directly instead of posting public negative reviews, for one thing. Social media will help a great deal in making sure that you understand the overall perception of your brand online.
You Can Keep An Eye on the Competition
One excellent upside to information about businesses being so public and so searchable is that you can scope out what your competitors’ results are like. Do they have negative reviews, and if so, what do those reviews pinpoint? Do they come up before or after you in keyword searches? This will lead to a better understanding of your business’s place within the local market. There are plenty of ways to figure out which customer needs are not being satisfied within your field so that you can be the one to satisfy them.
Interested in learning more about reputation management? Just contact us at Empowered Pulse today for the best strategies out there.