Before purchasing any product or service from a company or brand, customers conduct a thorough research online. Most of this research involves reading what existing customers have written on online business review sites. A recent study suggests that the purchase decisions of nearly 90 percent of customers are directly influenced by business reviews & complaints.
In today’s world of technology, internet, and digitalization, what people say on customer review websites matters a lot to the prospective customers. Be it any industry, manufacturing, retail, ecommerce, healthcare, pharmaceuticals, education, positive reviews on the best company review websites have a direct influence on consumers’ opinion.
Customer reviews are important and have already created a new marketing and communication field. Before business review websites and social media platforms dominated the market, the only possible ways for hearing what people had to say about a business or brand was through the radio or television, or word of mouth. Reviews from customers on top business review websites helps to reduce the gap that exists between word of mouth and viral feedback from customers.
Here is how various online business review websites can help to scale your business and reputation.
Winning trust of customers
Consider the following scenario.
Business ‘A’ has nearly 500+ reviews on top online business review sites like Fairface, Google My Business, Yelp, Angie’s List, and others, along with 5-star ratings on various company rating websites.
Business ‘B’ has negative reviews right on the top of various local business review sites, and 4-star ratings on different business rating sites
- If you are a customer, which business would you choose?
- Of course, the business that has the highest number of positive reviews and highest ratings.
- In this case, it would be Business ‘A’ without any doubt.
- Online reviews on leading customer review websites help build a customer’s trust.
Marketing from existing customers
- Positive reviews on top company review sites are worth their value in gold and can offer tremendous benefits for your business, which even the best marketing campaigns cannot offer.
- Your existing customers are doing the marketing for your business. It cannot get any bigger than this to boost your business and its reputation in the market.
- Once customers post positive reviews about your business, their reviews remain online for everyone to see.
- Thus, online reviews keep working for a long time even after they have been posted on the best customer review websites, creating a positive impression and brand image in front of the prospective customers.
- Also, the brand awareness generated by online business reviews offer both short terms and long-term benefits for businesses like yours.
Increasing your visibility in the online world
- Every business is focused to make the customer journey easy, convenient, and as smooth as possible.
- Customer review forms a key part of the customer journey with your business or brand.
- A business review from an existing customer increases the chances of several visitors finding your business online.
- In the digital world that we are in, reviews on top company review sites enable visitors to find out about the products you sell or services you offer.
- Reviews from existing customers can get the potential buyers closer to your business and brand.
Proof of credibility
- Yet another way in which online business review sites can help improve the reputation of your business and help it to grow is by providing a proof of credibility.
- A proof of credibility in the social world is something that all customers would be interested in before they make the all-important decision of buying from you.
- Just the way, recommendations and testimonials prove your credibility as an individual, the best company review websites help establish the credibility of your business.
Improve ranking on Google
- An increase in the number of reviews posted on customers on various online business review sites will directly help to increase the ranking of your business website of search engines like Google.
- The more people write about your business, higher are the chances that Google will rank your website right on the first page or even at the topmost position when visitors search the products you sell or services you offer.
- Greater rating on various rating sites for businesses coupled with several positive reviews on many business review websites can increase the relevance of your business or brand that would help scale your business and take it to the next level of growth.
- High ranking on Google has a direct correlation with the success of your business.
The chain effect
- When a few customers leave their reviews on the best company review websites, it encourages other customers to write reviews as well.
- Just reading the reviews written by customers encourages many others to write reviews about your company.
- This sequential effect seen on various online business review sites helps to scale your business and boost its reputation.
Foster customer loyalty
- In today’s fast-paced and competitive world where customers are switching from one business to another, customer loyalty is essential for your business.
- Online business review sites are a great means to nurture customer loyalty.
- Customers look forward to leaving their value reviews and feedback on top company review sites.
- The reviews that customers post on best company review websites directly reflects on their customer loyalty towards your business.
- In order to increase customer loyalty, it is crucial to reward loyal customers who are posting online reviews.
- The customer loyalty reward may be in the form of discount coupons, gift vouchers, special offers, and even some gift hampers.
- Thus, business review websites like Fairface, Google My Business, Angie’s List, and many others serve as an effective platform to boost customer loyalty, to scale your Business and reputation.
It is important to keep in mind that it is impossible to keep every customer happy, no matter how hard you try. There will be those exceptions who are not fully satisfied by your products or services. Positive business reviews and complaints both go hand-in-hand. You must grab the opportunity to thank the ones writing a negative review about your business as well. From this, you get to learn a lot about the possible changes you can make in your business.
Online business review websites are here to stay for a long time. It is important to adopt the best practice of asking your customers to write reviews on the best company review websites to grab the attention of prospective customers, boost sales, and establish a reputation for your business in the market.
