In June 2014, Google launched a new service essential for businesses: Google My Business. Since then, business owners have been tearing it up to optimize their local online referencing and thus be present among Internet users’ first search results. If signing up for the service is free, as are profile customization features, highlighting Google’s results requires work!
Among the decisive criteria to a good position on your target audience’s queries: a significant number of positive opinions. The recommendation has never been more crucial than since customer reviews were posted on GMB (Google My Business) listings!
Indeed, Google is the favorite search engine for almost all countries. And if your competitors benefit from more rave reviews than your brand and a more favorable overall rating on the US giant’s website, Internet users will abandon your offer in favor of the one that reassures them.
To become one of the centers of online attention, you’ll need to work on your brand’s e-reputation by focusing your efforts on Google. But what strategy should be adopted to make a difference on the Internet? Getting positive reviews will earn you strategic visibility. Guest Suite reveals how to get more positive reviews and effective methods to achieve it.
How do I get more reviews on GMB?
To get positive feedback, your institution must offer an offer that satisfies or even enchants its target, and that will trigger the publication of positive reviews.
This article wants to share with you all the tips that allow you to reach the top positions of internet queries. The goal for your brand is to improve its SEO and strengthen its image on the web.
But be careful! A brand never acquires recommendations without merit, or it obtains it by dubious means that we do not advocate in any way! Any purchase of reviews or posting of false comments may be deleted or even caused you to lose credibility and google’s results positions.
Multiply by 15 your number of reviews collected through our tool
The impact of Google reviews on GMB referencing
Google My Business listings are highlighted by the famously associated search engine for any type of local search, voluntary or not. Once the user’s request is sent, the user is offered a selection of institutions that Google considers most relevant to him. Only in a second step will the consumer be able to access a complete list of companies responding to his request. But how does Google determine the relevant results displayed?
User location:
The American giant will use the GPS data of the user’s device (smartphone, tablet, or computer) to determine its position and find the establishments it will be able to visit.
The type of business:
if the consumer is looking for a Chinese restaurant, he will, of course, not offer a DIY store or an Indian restaurant. Google uses the keywords used in the query sent via its search engine to show the company’s right type associated with the user’s desires.
The number of reviews published:
If, as you can see in the image shown above, an institution’s overall rating counts for its rank in Google searches, the number of reviews left is just as significant! The combination of these two criteria will put your brand in the top search positions!
Any Google user with an account can log in to their associated email address to post a comment and assign a score of 1 to 5 to the institution of their choice. The higher your average business rating, the more you increase your visibility. And this rating is quickly revealed to consumers because it materializes in the form of stars, visible from Google Maps, your GMB card, as well as in SEO results thanks to Aggregate Ratings.
Note that your brand can optimize its GMB page to increase its chances of being part of the first Google results during a local search. To help you, we’ve summarized all the important criteria and the tricks to put in place to improve the referencing of your page within a checklist.
Related : How to make Living from a Blog
How to solicit your satisfied customers for more reviews
To encourage your customers to share their opinions, Google advises you to communicate about the existence of your GMB profile. Don’t hesitate to explain to your customers how easy the service is to access and that a few clicks are enough for them to give you a return allied to a note.
This incentive to post notices on the Internet may result in a sign being displayed in the heart of your reception area as a word left in a hotel room. On the other hand, we remind you that it is strictly forbidden to offer any consideration, whatever it is, in exchange for a customer opinion. Whether it takes the form of a service or a commercial gesture, buying a positive thought and the content of a comment is an illegal practice.
Collect more reviews with Guest Suite!
The Guest Suite solution provides you with all the tools to collect as many reviews as possible from your customers. With our platform, you offer them personalized communication in your brand’s colors and make it easier for them. Also, after collecting authentic feedback, Guest Suite allows you to manage your e-reputation as a whole more efficient.
This makes managing feedback easier than ever for businesses because it’s accessible from a single interface! And because our experts are committed to accompanying you from start to finish in the virtuous circle of customer reviews, we help you respond to the opinions received. You keep your audience engaged and provide a pleasant after-sales experience for your customers.
1 – The Satisfaction Survey
Are your customers shy and don’t dare give their opinions? Take the lead! The Satisfaction survey allows you to take the first step, show your customers that their voice matters, and facilitate the publication of their opinions!
On the one hand, you communicate your desire to provide a quality service that lives up to the experience expected by your customers. Consumers will appreciate this initiative and, above all, taking into account their comments. If they are often more used to directly sharing their negative feedback, a satisfaction questionnaire will also encourage positive opinions!
Your response rate will increase significantly more as our satisfaction surveys are 100% customizable to your brand’s colors. And as a reminder, 89% of companies believe that customization has economic value since it positively impacts customer relationship.
2 – Collecting with a tablet
The digital tablet is a familiar and accessible object. Regardless of the type of clientele (young adults, adults, seniors, etc.), the tablet is a great tool to collect as many Google customer reviews as for your business. If it captures both positive and negative reviews, it also makes it easier for you to reach customers satisfied with their experience and purchase with your brand!
And the benefits of the tablet are not limited to the massive crop of reviews! The portable device, combined with a specialized application, allows you to automatically post notes and comments left by your customers on the spot.
3 – Guest Suite and Google Partnership
With a privileged partnership with Google, Guest Suite helps you act as effectively as immediately on your positioning on the US giant’s search engine. Note that we are one of the few players in the market to benefit from this partnership.
What impact does guest Suite customers have? The reviews collected by our side and their management are directly related to your Google My Business profile. This link places Guest Suite as a strategic choice to manage your Internet business.
With the most widespread use of online search to confirm or finalize an act of purchase, it has never been more crucial to be able to act on the referencing of its establishment on the favorite search engine of the French!
4- Spread on Google My Business directly
Google My Business card shows several rating fields from different sources:
Note that only reviews and notes published directly on GMB will be the sources of information that influence your positioning in the associated search engine (the first box within the image above). Only these returns will have the power to increase your visibility on Google Maps. Therefore, they are the only judges of your local referencing.
So why post notes from other recommendation platforms? Google shares them with Internet users to give them as much information as possible (the second boxed within the image above, which shows, in this case, returns from West France Auto).
This data can allow them, for example, to identify:
a significant discrepancy between the two sources that may reveal the purchase of comments on one of the platforms or simply a lack of means to work the establishment’s e-reputation as a whole.
A homogeneous rating via the various sources to either establish the credibility, seriousness, and expertise of a brand that can be described as trustworthy or, conversely, finish designating the establishment as unsavory.
Today, customer reviews are, without a doubt, a condition of the act of purchase. Wherever it is, the positive feedback of a peer is a reassuring element for your potential client, while on the contrary, negative feedback could scare him away so badly treated. Thus, no primary review site relevant to your sector is to be left behind even if, of course, only Google reviews have an impact on your GMB listing.
In short, collecting positive reviews on Google allows you to shape your reputation on the web. This work complements the effort of activity on social networks and the optimization of your natural referencing. By carrying your customers’ voice, you put forward authentic advice on the positive aspects of your establishment and thus make other Internet users want to test your services and offers. The impact on your visibility in the search engine and then on your turnover is decisive!
How do I see and respond to Google reviews?
If the importance of having reviews on your Google, my Business account is no longer proven, do you know how to see and process these reviews on your listing? Here’s how to access your returns:
- Sign in to your Google My Business account.
- Click or type “Notice” in the left column (see screenshot below).
- Once in the “Notices” section, select the comment you want to process and add your response directly from that tab.
Now you know how to access and respond to your Google reviews. However, offering the best possible response to each user who took the time to share their experience with you is not easy, especially when your brand is present on several online review platforms. Google My Business, TripAdvisor, or Yellow Pages, you will need to perform the same procedure on each platform to respond to all your reviews.
Because this activity plays a big part in strengthening your brand image, the Guest Suite solution provides you with its tool called “the flow.” This interface centralizes all reviews collected through different platforms to allow you to respond quickly, without wasting time. Managing your reputation on the Internet has never been a simple task!
And if Guest Suite centralizes the management of your reviews, the use of our solution does not stop at this benefit alone. Daily monitoring of your score, real-time alerts of new publications of feedback, or semantic analysis.
Your e-reputation no longer has secrets for your brand, and you can act on the experience and offer offered to your customers! Ask for your free, non-binding demonstration to make e-reputation your best marketing ally and become the sign that people click!
