You can’t talk about social media marketing or search engine optimization (SEO) without having a discussion around online reviews. Reviews have become the new word-of-mouth marketing to help your business develop trust during an individual’s online research phase. Last week Google updated it’s Google My Business review functionality. In this article, we plan to explore this new functionality and how it will impact businesses.
What’s Google My Business?
Google married social media and search engine optimization when it created Google My Business. It’s Google’s answer to a social media platform. It’s important because Google uses Google My Business in most local search engine rankings. Normally it’s one of the first things that an individual will see when searching locally on Google.
Furthermore, Google allows consumers to add reviews on these pages. If enough reviews are added, then stars show up as a rating system. This helps catch the attention of Google users when searching. If optimized properly, this social media platform can rank on a local level and get more eye-balls on your business.
What’s Changed?
Last week Google updated the review functionality on Google My Business. In the past, a business needed to have five reviews before the reviews appeared on their Google My Business page with the star rating system. That has all changed. Google now shows the rating system, even if the business only has one review.
Why Is The Change Important?
Since last week, we’ve seen many businesses with 1, 2, or 3 reviews showing up. This is great if the reviews are positive. What happens when the reviews aren’t so positive? Businesses that don’t pay attention to their reviews might not know that a negative review is on their page. This could really hurt their trust factor with consumers. Please see below example.
The example above shows an organization with one review and the rating of a one star. The problem is that it’s a negative review and their trust factor might be hurt. Organizations need to check their Google My Business reviews as soon as possible.
What Should You Do? How To Set Up Reviews?
Check your Google My Business reviews immediately, then devise a plan to get more positive reviews. It’s all about ease of use for the consumer. Businesses need to create a link that sends customers to a Google My Business review pop-up. How do you set this up? It’s super easy and here is the step by step process from Google. You can find it here: https://support.google.com/business/answer/7035772.
Do you know someone who needs help with their online reviews? Send them this link or share it on your favorite social media platform. Good luck, and we hope you get out there and get more reviews!
