Earning reviews
Given their power as a ranking and conversion factor, reviews are must-haves for every local business. Follow these steps to earn reviews:
Be sure your business is properly listed on the main review platforms, including the majors like Google My Business, Yelp, and Facebook.
Be sure you haven't overlooked industry or geography-specific review sites and are properly listed there.
Google reviews are believed to have the greatest impact on Google local rankings. Generating a shareable Google review link can be challenging, but these tips will teach you how.
Before you start asking for reviews on any platform, be sure you know its guidelines. Hereyou'll find links to major platform guidelines. Do pay close attention to the guidelines of Google and Yelp, which are very particular!
Be sure you've considered every possible way you might earn reviews from your customers. These tips will help.
Don't set up a review station/kiosk at your place of business to ask for reviews. Always have customers leave reviews under their own accounts, using their own devices.
Don't confuse reviews with testimonials. Think of reviews as content on third-party websites and testimonials as content you publish on your own website. On-site testimonials can be published on your website on behalf of customers, but Google reps have stated that they prefer these not to be marked up with review Schema. Or, you can add a review widget to your website to have customers directly leave their own reviews.
Don't ask for too many reviews at once, at any time. A sudden influx of reviews can lead to filtering on some platforms. A slow, steady trickle over time is better than a sudden wave.
Understand that review acquisition is an ongoing process you'll be engaged in for the life of your business online. It's not a set-and-forget project.
Know that nearly every business will receive at least some negative reviews at some point in its history. Your greatest preventative measure against negative reviews is your consistent dedication to excellent customer service and excellent work. Be sure you are monitoring all review sites for red flags that quality has fallen off. Do respond to negative reviews with accountability and professionalism (these tips will help), and do respond to positive reviews, as well, taking time to publicly thank your loyal customers.
Social media for local businesses
Avoid wasting effort and money by identifying the right social platforms for your business's clientele. Maximize the return on your investment:
Consider the most popular social media sites.
Bear in mind that Google Plus has gone through a major overhaul and is currently being promoted as a purely social, rather than local, platform.
Try these tips for identifying which social platforms are already popular with your customer base.
Designate a person or persons on your staff whose regular duty it is to monitor and participate on your chosen sites. Don't let profiles stagnate.
99% of your job as a social media participant is to help others, not to sell to them. Work to identify opportunities to be helpful, whether that's answering a question, offering a resource, or brightening a day for somebody.
Know that social media can be a hit-and-miss experience for any business. You will likely try several platforms and strategies before finding a niche that works for you. Get inspired by the success stories of others.
Out there in the real world
All online local efforts are but a reflection of offline realities and goals. Be sure you're getting it right where it counts most by remembering:
No amount of marketing can replace good business practices. Don't hire employees without committing to train them in basic communication, customer service and the specs of your products and services. Don't let any employee represent your business who hasn't been trained to represent it well. Given the power of online reviews, the costs of a lack of training are too high.
Implement quality controls to keep on top of emerging issues. As the business owner, you must know your products and services, know of customer complaints, and be physically present in your place of business to monitor how your staff is serving the public. Hold regularly-scheduled meetings to correct problems, reinforce policies, and offer new education.
Learn how to deal with conflict while maintaining your self-esteem, and teach this to your staff, too. Whether you are dealing with an unrealistic, crazy customer or one who is justifiably disappointed in some aspect of your business, know that you can apologize and make amends without that meaning you are a bad person. Making peace with customers and making things right for them actually makes you a very cool, adept person, indeed!
Local Search has often been touted as the total replacement of all older forms of offline advertising, but this is not true for all businesses. Yellow Pages, billboards, local radio, and local TV advertising are still viable and lucrative forms of advertising for some industries and some geographies.
Remember that everything you do, whether online or off, is unified by a single goal: to make your brand the one that comes to a neighbor's mind when he or she needs a product or service you offer. Don't limit yourself to the basics of website development, citation building, earning reviews, or participating in online social environments. Building local brand awareness can also be achieved through your physical participation in community events and organizations. Get out there and meet your neighbors by attending meetings and conferences, contributing to celebrations, sponsoring teams, and making local newspaper headlines with your outreach into the community.
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Summing up
There are many theories about "effective frequency" — the number of times a person needs to be exposed to advertising before making a response to it. Some say the golden number is seven, but not everyone agrees.
What you can feel confident about is that all of the above steps represent efforts you are making to put your brand out there for the consideration of your potential customers, and the golden opportunity for local businesses is that their competition is limited by specific geography.
- You don't have to compete against the whole world, but rather be a consistent, reliable resource for your own neighbors. Be in the right places at the right times, pair that with great service, and your local business has every chance of succeeding.
Summing up
There are many theories about "effective frequency" — the number of times a person needs to be exposed to advertising before making a response to it. Some say the golden number is seven, but not everyone agrees.
What you can feel confident about is that all of the above steps represent efforts you are making to put your brand out there for the consideration of your potential customers, and the golden opportunity for local businesses is that their competition is limited by specific geography.
- You don't have to compete against the whole world, but rather be a consistent, reliable resource for your own neighbors. Be in the right places at the right times, pair that with great service, and your local business has every chance of succeeding.
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