Just How Relevant Are Your Online Reviews?
You made it!
If you have stumbled around the web and found yourself here, then we already know how passionate you are about your business; You value quality and customer satisfaction, and you take your clients' reviews to heart. Well, guess what? So do all your future potential clients!
Let me explain. It's been a long-standing fact that word of mouth is your biggest and best advertising investment, right? Well, that still rings true today, but look around. Hear anyone talking? Maybe not, but you can certainly see them! In today's digital age, everyone is making their voice heard...online!
Did you know a whopping 92% of people read online reviews before visiting a business? In fact, 84% of people trust online reviews just as much as a personal recommendation! That's a whole lot of trust! More importantly, it seems that google reviews reign supreme when it comes to not only trust, but online visibility!
You may be thinking to yourself, No, problem! I rank 5 stars on google reviews already, so what's the real issue here?
Consistency! The key to keeping your business trending and popular is to always have current reviews. Just how important is it? So important that 73% of your customers think a review older than 2 months is no longer relevant. That means that Joe's raving old review from 3 months ago is making zero impact on almost 75% of your potential business!
Don't believe us? Let's think about it!
Picture this. You're downtown on your lunch hour, and you decide you want to try something new. You instantly take out your phone and head to google. You search great local restaurants downtown. A few pop up, but right away you start examining the google reviews to find only 2 have a 5 star rating. You click on each one to examine them more. The first, shows a great review from 3 months ago: “The sandwich I ordered today was so perfect, I just had to come a leave them 5 stars! The staff was friendly, and we can't wait to be back. I HIGHLY recommend!” (5 stars)
The second restaurant, has a similar good review, but it was just posted yesterday! “I just had the most amazing lunch! Service was quick and the staff was friendly. I have definitely found my go to place!” (5 stars)
Time is running out, and you have to pick a spot fast, or you risk losing out on lunch. Let's be honest? Even though the reviews are similar, you are probably picking what's behind door # 2. Are we right?
Let's explore why that might be. Obviously, you want to be sure you have a good experience. Restaurant #1 sounds great, but why hasn't anyone left a review since? Did it get worse? Is there a new cook? Is it under new management? It could be fine, but you KNOW that people are still having 5 star experiences at restaurant #2! So, why take a chance? Thanks to google reviews, you have made up your mind, and are now sitting in restaurant #2 enjoying a fantastic lunch, and what's more, you're leaving a current 5 star review of your own.
So, be honest, is your business relevant?