Importance of Local Listings Reviews

Reviews play a key role in your business’s online presence. When it comes to finding a business for the service or product needed, it’s not uncommon to turn first to family and friends for recommendations. But when those close reliable sources do not have a recommendation to offer, the next spot to look would be online reviews. In fact, 98% of consumers state that they read online reviews when looking at a new business.

We know the first thought that comes to mind is dealing with negative reviews. No one likes to have to, but it is extremely important. Not only does it show that you care about making things right, but also can sometimes be a great learning experience for areas of improvement. But don’t worry too much, most consumers actually only want to write positive reviews. On average, 67% of consumers will consider leaving a review for a positive experience. While on the other hand, only 40% will consider leaving a review for a negative experience. There is some crossover, with about 33% willing to leave positive and negative reviews (brightlocal).

Now that you understand the importance of reviews from the consumer perspective, it is also important to know that Google also utilizes reviews for your ranking. Google takes into consideration the quantity of reviews and positive reviews to better know when it can recommend your business. Although, the former is of more importance than the latter. The more reviews you have on Google, the higher likelihood that your overall rating is an accurate depiction of your customer experience. It also allows for Google’s algorithms to look at keywords throughout the reviews to know whether your business should appear in the search results for keywords that are similar. A higher number of particular keywords, the more likely the better ranking you can get.

In LOCALACT, users can view customer ratings and reviews left for their locations, segment by star rating, and even directly respond to any customer reviews. There are direct connections to Google and Facebook to provide review monitoring and reporting on the key customer review channels all in one place.

Interested in learning more about listing reviews? Not sure how to respond to reviews within LOCALACT? Contact our Local Advisor Team at support@localact.com for more information.