Benefits of Google Reviews

It is a well-established fact that the opinion of the society the person belongs to, the point of view of other fellow human beings, etc. plays a pivotal role in influencing human decision making. In the past decade, online reviews have become a huge source of understanding society’s opinions on a particular subject. People use online reviews to decide on whether or not to buy a product, which movie to watch, which holiday destination to visit among other things.

Google reviews help you perform significantly better at Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

In the current business ecosystem, SEO is a fundamental digital marketing strategy. The use of search engines like Google by consumers to find what they need has become an established habit. It is said that human beings are a slave of their habits. The habitual use of search engines like Google is also growing exponentially.

As a product or service provider, you can take this as an opportunity to optimize your content to rank higher on search engines. Ranking higher on Google maps to the consumer that you are one of the top product or service provider in your trade. It enhances your credibility to the consumer and also signifies that you are ahead of the competitors who rank after you…

A great advantage of Google reviews is that it leads to an increase in your local SEO. The immediate effect Google is that it influences Google search results and thus ranks your business higher.

Please be informed that you are not the only one who acts this way. In the times that we are living in, reviews equate to social proof. These reviews or social proofs are used by human beings to decide on the appropriate choice to make.

It is an established fact that humans are by nature social animals. They take queues from the decisions that other human beings in the same situation have taken. Added to this aspect of the human thinking paradigm is the fact that in today’s world, depression induced by loneliness is the fastest growing disease. Several countries have come with separate ministries to counter depression. Therefore, it is also true that taking decisions based on social proof vis-a-vis online reviews also makes a human being the feeling of being part of society. This factor is often overlooked but is probably of utmost importance.

Isolation and loneliness are actually greatly feared by human beings. Even in a prison system, a prisoner who breaks the legally enforced rules of the prison is put in isolation as punishment.

In the case of online reviews, our mental paradigm leads us to think that other human beings who have purchased the product or service have typed in brutally honest feedback about the product or service. Thus, social proof vis-a-vis reviews influences our decision to purchase even more than we know.

In case you want to know the effect of reviews on your sales? Extensive research has shown that reviews lead to an average of 18 percent increase in sales.

This results in:

1. Increase in the visibility of your business through an increase in your website traffic
2. More online visits or footfalls to your online and the physical location of your store: The google business listings clearly display your name, address, phone number, and Google reviews of your business. Your potential customers can also get physical direction to your place of business through google maps.
3. Improvement in brand awareness
4. A better understanding of your customer’s behavior by getting direct and immediate feedback.
5. An opportunity to establish yourself as trustworthy

You might be tempted to think about the extent to which the consumers trust the reviews. The answer is that researchers have found that over 70 percent of the consumers read up to six reviews to make a purchase decision. According to research over 65 percent of the consumers have opined that they trust a review more when the multiple reviews say both good as well as negative things about the business or product or service.

So, you may be concerned about the effect of getting bad reviews. It has been said by none other than Albert Einstein that in every problem, there is an opportunity. Research has also shown that over 90 percent of resentful customers have come back as consumers if the business has been able to address the issues faced by them efficiently and within a minimum span of time. Thus, genuine bad reviews also have a place in your business ecosystem.

It is human nature to buy from businesses they trust. Thus Google reviews lead to being perceived as being more trustworthy and increases conversions resulting in greater sales, ROI, and profit.