Ron Johnson — July 9, 2018 — July 9, 2018
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They help grow your customer base, customer loyalty, and increase your company’s SEO. In a society where 90% of consumers read online reviews prior to visiting a business, you can’t afford to skip this step.
If you haven’t mastered getting more online reviews in general, check out our blog post here first. After you get the basics down, head back here to learn how to kick it up a notch and receive more positive reviews. Receiving a strong overall rating is a numbers game. The more reviews you get, the more chances you’ll create a balance with a strong average.
The first thing you should do is take notice of characteristics that make up strong, positive reviews. When you start to understand them inside and out, it’ll be easier for you to respond to them and generate more down the line. The goal is to get a strong pool of reviews for your prospective customers to read through. The better the overall average is, the more likely people will choose your company.
Characteristics of a Strong Pool of Reviews
For reviews to be relevant and valid, they need to uphold a specific set of characteristics. “Positive” reviews are too general. Instead, you want reviews that are appealing and attractive to your prospective customers, ones that are authentic and relatable and form a strong representation of your company.
High Average Star Rating
You should aim to have an average star rating of 4 or 5 (out of 5) to get more customers and increase your sales. People use star ratings to quickly judge the overall quality of a company and how they do business. Unfortunately, the harsh reality of it is that 48% of people won’t give you any business unless you have at least a 4-star rating.
People expect a good business to have a high average rating and many of them won’t take the risk with low-rated companies. In order to increase your star rating, try implementing a system that allows you to directly reach out to customers who leave you 3 stars or lower.
Substantial Pool of Reviews
It’s important to have a solid number of reviews. It doesn’t need to be too crazy, but most people agree that before they trust the company, they need to have more than 5 reviews available to the public. The more reviews, the better. When you have more reviews, you can keep your rating high even if there are a few negative reviews here and there (it happens). Most people will read around 2-6 reviews before they form an opinion on a company, so try and elicit positive reviews whenever possible.
The More Recent, The Better
So, your company has 200 reviews… that’s great! Unfortunately, they won’t make a difference if they aren’t recent. 77% of consumers think that reviews older than 3 months aren’t relevant. Business changes every day, so make sure your reviews are continually following suit.
Authenticity Matters
79% of consumers think they’ve read a fake review in the previous year. When they read these types of reviews, it causes them to be even more skeptical about a company than they would have been if there were no reviews available. Ask real customers for real reviews; don’t hire people to post reviews just to get your numbers/ratings up. It does more harm than good. Authenticity is important.
How to Get More Positive Reviews
Pay Attention
To start fostering more positive reviews, pay attention to what people are saying. Take notice of happy customers and what they enjoyed about working with you. Look through the reviews you already have and address anyone who seems less than 100% satisfied. Resolve any issues that may have gone unnoticed and make sure that you respond to negative reviews quickly. In fact, a great way to do this is to implement a system that allows you to directly reach out to negative reviewers before their comments go public.
Ask
Asking for reviews is an easy way to get happy customers to take action and it is generally implied that when you ask someone for a review, you’re asking for a positive review. Ask for reviews immediately following a positive customer experience in order to increase your positive responses. It’s when your customer is happiest and most satisfied with the business you provided and a perfect time for them to share their experience with others.
Increase Your Web Presence
Make leaving a review as easy and accessible as possible. The lack of time and effort it takes to leave a review encourages feedback from even the busiest people. Another great way to increase the number of positive reviews online is by simply increasing your web presence. Since people love to post everything nowadays, being active on social media helps engage with your younger customers and inspires them to share their experience online.
Respond Fast
Responding to reviews, regardless of if they’re positive or negative, is important in encouraging others to share their experiences. Thanking customers shows that you’re dedicated and that your customers are important enough for you to take the time to address directly. Positivity breeds positivity, and responding to reviews not only encourages others, but it also improves your SEO ranking in search results pages.
If you have a public negative review, it’s crucial to respond quickly and with an authentic concern for wanting to help them resolve the issue.
Reach Out Personally
Arguably, the best way to get more positive online reviews is by reaching out personally to anyone who isn’t 100% satisfied. If you receive a negative review, go above and beyond with personalized customer service to see exactly what you can do to help make their experience better. To avoid negative reviews having detrimental effects on your overall rating, put a system in place that allows you to respond and help resolve any issues before the negative review is publicized. Our team at CyberOptik can help get you started today.
Final Thoughts
Generating more positive online reviews is an art. As long as you maintain quality customer services and offer products/services that are honest and authentic, you’ll do great. Practice generating online reviews on a daily basis and use these best practices to increase your positive responses.
If you want to take things to the next level, consider implementing a system to help you increase positive reviews.
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