Online Reviews

Are online reviews hurting or helping businesses?

Nowadays, almost everybody you deal with in your daily business is a critic, writing online reviews, sometimes, while still on site. The potential clients or customers care more what the critics have to say about you than what you say about your product or service. There was a survey conducted which looked at the factors people considered important when calling a company that they had previously researched online. 18% of respondents said that they would call a company if it was one of the first search results that they saw on the internet. 27% of respondents said that they would call the business that appeared to offer the cheapest service. And a whopping 55% of respondents, more than the other two categories combined, said that they would call the company that had excellent 5-star online reviews and a great reputation.

Another survey, by the BrightLocal company, found that around 88% of people read online reviews before buying a product or hiring a company. It has also been found that companies, which have 6 to 10 five-star reviews on sites like Google, Yelp and Facebook, are more trusted by the buying public.

These surveys and insights capture just how important these reviews are to consumers and clients. If your company can build a stellar reputation online, based on numerous glowing and positive reviews from legitimate customers, you can increase your business as much as 19%.

On the other hand, if your company is the subject of many complaints online and negative reviews this is going to turn away customers. No company can afford to ignore and neglect its online reputation management.

As far as reviews are concerned, some of the most visible review sites include Google, Yelp, Facebook, TripAdvisor and many more. One reason the number of reviews is increasing and the need for reputation repair is growing is because the internet has made it exceedingly easy for people to write and post reviews. All that is necessary is the desire to leave a review and an internet-enabled device. Thanks to various mobile apps, it has become even easier for people to leave reviews using their phones and tablets. This underscores the importance of proper reputation marketing.

More specifically, one survey found that around 63% of respondents left an online review within 24 to 48 hours after a purchase, or after receiving the service. Another 22% said that they leave a review on the same day of purchase or service. From a company's perspective, this is both a blessing and a curse. So it is important to be proactive and look for ways to turn user reviews and your online business reviews to your advantage.

Mitro Digital Marketing has developed a top notch online reputation marketing strategy to help build a 5 star rated business. We have a system to help deal with bad reviews in a way that help improve your product and/or customer service.

You don’t know where to go if you don’t know where you stand. We developed a tool for businesses to a get a FREE reputation report and a “reputation marketing road map” to help business build a five star rated business. The report shows your bad reviews and reputation score. Also, if you want to take a step further, you can sign up to watch a step by step video, for free.

Click here to get a free online reputation report. Put your business phone number on the right widget to download the report.