Home Digital Marketing Chattanooga Yes You Should Care About Online Reviews

Online Reviews are Important

In an increasingly competitive online world, reviews are more important than ever. Here at Riverworks Marketing, we help many of our clients gather reviews, respond to reviews, and generally ensure that their review presence on the web is as positive as possible.

In today’s post, we wanted to go over two of the most important review platforms, Facebook and Google, and why these platforms are the most important review areas from a digital marketing perspective.

Google Reviews: Boosting SEO and Establishing Trust

Google, as most people are already aware, is the most popular search engine on the planet. With the vast majority of people using Google as their main way of gathering information on the web, it makes sense that Google would integrate reviews into their searches.

If you have ever looked up a business on Google, you have probably noticed that a small “card” pops up on the search results page on the right-hand side of the browser. This card contains relevant business information, such as location, business name, hours, etc, and, increasingly, reviews. The reviews are presented in a simple star format system, with ratings ranging from one to five stars. These reviews should be a key focus for your business.

Having reviews on Google helps your business in two ways.

First, these reviews allow potential customers to get a feel for how successful you are at delivering your product or service. Seeing reviews from real people helps potential customers establish trust with your brand without ever having taken part in your services. Second, reviews on Google help with the organic ranking of your business. In the past year, Google has incorporated reviews into their algorithms, meaning that a business with a high number of reviews (especially good reviews) is more likely to rank higher in the local listing area of a Google search results page and, as an added bonus, on the search results page itself.

This means that a business can potentially have multiple page one rankings, one in the local listing area and one in the main results area, simply from having a high number of good reviews.

A business with a high number of reviews (especially good reviews) is more likely to rank higher in the local listing area of a Google search results page.

Let Riverworks manage your online reviews

Facebook: The New Word-of-Mouth Referral

Behind Google, Facebook is one of the main ways that people gather information about a business. It is not uncommon for a person trying to learn more about a business to hop onto the business’ Facebook page to discover additional information on the services they provide, the culture of the business, and the reviews that other customers have left about the business.

Facebook also offers one major advantage to businesses looking to gather reviews that Google does not; Facebook allows anyone with a Facebook account to leave a review. Google limits their review platform to those individuals with an established Google account. Because not everyone has a Google account but nearly everyone has a Facebook account, gathering reviews on Facebook can be much easier than gathering reviews on Google.

The second advantage that Facebook offers as a review platform is the fact that it puts a face to the person leaving the review. For decades, word of mouth referrals have been a key part of a business’s success. In the modern age, Facebook has become a new form of word of mouth advertising, allowing customers to praise the business in a public forum that is viewable by everyone.

We hope that you have learned a little more about the importance of reviews after reading this blog. With proper cultivation, online reviews are a powerful aspect of digital marketing.

If you would like to learn even more about the importance of reviews, or you need some help in gathering reviews for your business or any other digital marketing activities, please visit our website today to get in touch with us. As a Chattanooga based digital marketing firm, we here at Riverworks Marketing specialize in review acquisition and management, making it easier for you to boost your business’s online review presence.

Check out some of our other blog topics about marketing, social media, Riverworks Cares, and more!