The importance of Google Reviews to a local business

13/10/2021

 

A lot of emphasis is being placed on shopping locally now, but are you making the most of your Google reviews? If business is slow due the pandemic, why not take the time to lay the foundations for once we're all out of lockdown and things start moving again.

 

Reviews are playing a much greater part in the decision-making process of consumers, and many shoppers put a lot of trust in these. This is particularly true of the 18 to 34 age group.

 

It is highly probably that consumers will contact you direct from the Google local listing and may not even get as far as visiting your website. But if your business has a good review rating, they are more likely to click through for information.

 

Google reviews are displayed on your Google My Business page. It is easy to set this up, and there are some instructions at the end of this article on how to do this.

 

 

 

So, what are the advantages of Google reviews?

• They help your search engine optimisation and visibility.
• Google My Business listings now display above the organic rankings in searches.
• If your competitors have better reviews, you could be losing business.
• Reviews make your business look trustworthy.
• Having a Google My Business listing makes it easier for people to find your business.
• Google is more likely to rank businesses with a higher number of quality reviews.
• They allow you to interact with your customers by responding to their review in a timely fashion.

 

Getting started

If you have not already done so you can set up a Google My Business page at https://www.google.com/business/

 

Once that’s done you can invite clients to review your services/products. You can make it easier for them by creating a direct link to the review page.

 

• Sign into Google My Business.
• Open the location that you want to manage by clicking on the name of your business.
• In the left menu, click Home.
• In the ‘Get more reviews’ click on ‘Share review form’.
• A URL for you to copy and share with your customers will be generated.

You can then use a tool such as https://elfsight.com/google-reviews-widget/ to show them on your website.

 

• Click on ‘Create widget’.
• Choose a template, add your place of business and adjust the filters to suit.
• You will need to join Elfsight in order to generate the widget but there is a free option.
• You may need to ask your web designer to instal the code for you.

Then you just need to remember to keep the page up to date!

 

If you need any advice on web design, search engine optimisation or online marketing please get in touch at info@catfishwebdesign.com