subject: Customer Reviews On Google - The Great Tie Breaker [print this page] Studies show that 40% of the buying population pays very close attention to what others say about your business. Truthfully, I think the number is much higher than that. This is why generating five-star positive reviews on Google, Yahoo, Bing and other business review sites is so important to your success.
You Get A Gold Star
There is a really cool thing that happens on Google Maps when you generate your first five reviews. Once you reach that magic number, Google adds little golden stars next to your business listing. It's one of the ways to get your business listing to stand out in the crowd.
I Like What I See
Standing out is not just about generating lots and lots of reviews. You must have as many 5-star reviews as possible. The better the reviews, the more likely people will be to contact and hire you.
Get Their Attention
The owner of a rental car company in Ft. Myers, Florida knows the importance of getting great reviews and he does a wonderful job of generating them. To date, all of his reviews are 5-star reviews.
His rental car company is in the number one spot for the term "Cheap Car Rentals Ft. Myers FL," not because the owner rents cheap cars, but because he knows this is a highly searched term and he wants to get in front of the people looking for inexpensive rentals.
Recently his business received a review on Google that was titled in all capital letters: THERE IS NOTHING CHEAP ABOUT THE SERVICE. Even though this review was a five star review, it caught my attention because I thought it might be a customer complaint. The review went on to read as follows. "The one and only place to rent a car in Ft. Myers. Friendly service good selection and willing to go the extra mile."
After seeing this review, it gave me a wonderful idea. People tend to look for bad reviews first to insure that they don't get ripped off. A great way to give these people what they're looking for is to encourage one of your happy customers to title their review in such a way that the reader doesn't know what to expect, but is delighted once they read the review.
I Contacted You After Reading Your Reviews
I can't tell you how often we hear this from our customers. Once you generate a significant number of positive reviews, you will hear this comment on a frequent basis. It's my top reason for selecting a service provider and it's the decision making process used by millions of others too.
Get To Work
If you've been putting off generating positive reviews from your customers, don't delay any longer. Reviews may or may not help you get top placement in Google or any of the other highly searched sites, but there's no question that great reviews will convert lookers to buyers.
