How Important are Google Reviews?

In today’s world, word of mouth has gone digital. Gone are the days when all you needed was a friend’s recommendation or a nudge from a neighbour. Now, everyone’s sharing their thoughts and experiences online, and those opinions can spread like wildfire. Enter Google Reviews, the ultimate game-changer when it comes to shaping a business’s reputation. But just how important are these reviews?

Why Google reviews are important for your business

Google reviews give people a glimpse of what they can expect from your products or services. A bunch of positive reviews can make you the obvious choice over your competitors.

They can help you win over new customers, keep the regulars coming back and build a rock-solid reputation online. Think about it: if a restaurant has no reviews, would you be willing to try it? Probably not. Reviews give your business the social proof it needs to stand out and win people over.

According to Review Trackers, 60% of consumers check Google reviews before visiting a business and 90% of consumers have avoided businesses after reading a bad review. Clearly, Google reviews are a big deal and businesses can’t afford to ignore them.

Do Google reviews boost your rankings?

Reviews can certainly help increase your rankings in the search results. When people leave reviews, it makes your business look trustworthy and shows Google that you’re a popular choice. Google looks at both the quality and quantity of reviews, so the more high-quality reviews you have, the better your chances of ranking higher than competitors with fewer or less favourable reviews. Getting customers to write reviews can be tricky, but so worth it.

How can I get more Google reviews?

In an ideal world, good service and great products alone would be enough to guarantee a steady stream of five-star reviews. In the real world, however, people often require some incentives.

Here’s how you can encourage more customers to leave reviews:

– Make it easy: people will be less likely to leave a review if it’s too complicated. The best way is to send customers a direct link to your Google review page.
– Offer incentives: discounts and giveaways can be a great way to encourage customers to write a review.
– Ask directly: don’t be shy about asking customers to leave reviews. You can do this in person, via email or text message.

The simple answer is yes, you do need Google reviews. Let’s take Rhino Security as an example. Rhino provides a wide range of security bollards, including telescopic bollards and automatic bollards, ideal for both commercial and residential uses. They not only supply the bollards, but offer an installation service too. Trust is a key element that plays a big part in purchasing the bollard but also opting for installation as well. Google reviews show genuine reactions to a service or product from real people, if the company is receiving 5 star reviews then most users are more likely to trust them.

How Do I Deal with a Bad Google Review?

It’s an age-old truth that as much as you try, you can’t please everyone. No matter how good your business is, you’ll inevitably receive some unfair criticism at one point or another.

When the cynics strike, the best thing you can do is respond, calmly and professionally. By offering a measured explanation that addresses any unreasonable claims, you’ll demonstrate to people reading your reviews that the negative review is nothing more than a storm in a teacup.

Doing this will also illustrate that your business takes feedback seriously and is committed to resolving issues.

How do I see my Google Reviews? 

To check and reply to your Google reviews, just log into your Google My Business account. On the left side of the page, you’ll see a menu where you can click on the ‘Reviews’ tab. From there, you can easily see which reviews you’ve responded to and which ones are still waiting for a reply.

Whether good or bad, it’s best to reply to every review you receive in order to show Google you’re an active business. It really is that easy to manage your Google reviews.

Can Google reviews be deleted?

Yes and no. A reviewer can withdraw their review. If they’ve left a one-star review, for example, they can choose to remove it if they receive a positive response from the business owner.

But for a business owner to delete a review they disagree with? That’s a little harder. This is because Google wants to present users with the most accurate information possible. If business owners could remove reviews at will, they’d only keep the best ones up and paint a flattering picture of their products and services.

This means it really is important to reach out to anyone leaving poor reviews if you want to keep your review section free of eyesores.

However, if you find that a reviewer remains firm in their one or two-star response despite a reasonable response, or if you’ve found yourself on the receiving end of what looks like a spam review, there’s still hope.

By clicking the three dots which appear next to the review you can flag it as inappropriate. To explain why you feel the review should be removed, you’ll be asked to choose from the following options:

– This review is not relevant to this place
– Conflict of interest
– Offensive or sexually explicit
– Privacy concern
– Legal issue

Once you’ve submitted this information, a rep from Google will take a look at the review and decide whether to remove it or not.

This process requires a bit of patience – it can take anywhere between two to seven days for Google to make a decision.

Can I turn off Google reviews for my business?

Unfortunately, you can’t turn off Google reviews for your business. By signing up to Google My Business, you agree to let users leave reviews that are visible to everyone.

The only way to completely stop Google reviews is to delete your Google My Business account, but that would likely cause more harm than good.

Keeping your account active is crucial since business listings appear above organic search results. Without it, you risk losing out on a lot of relevant traffic, which is essential for driving sales. The benefits of Google My Business far outweigh the hassle of managing reviews.

Need help managing your presence online?

At Nu Image, we’re passionate about every business we work with and strive to find new ways to shout about them. To find out how our digital marketing agency can help to improve your online traffic, get in touch with us today on 01603 859007.