Photo credit: Dan Ox
Online reviews are critical both for a business’s search engine results and for gaining customers’ trust.
Reviews often appear near the top of search results for a business. Google often displays reviews near the first search results. It has also integrated reviews into its Google+ Local feature. Other review sites, such as Yelp and TripAdvisor, often rank near the top of search results, writes Dan Hinckley, a partner at Go Fish Digital, in a blog post for Moz.
“Internal marketing teams and public relation firms must consider the results that Google displays when they search for their company name or merchandise. Negative reviews, negative press, and other damaging feedback can have a lasting impact on a company’s ability to sell their products or services,” said Hinckley.
A major problem for companies and their public relations teams is that negative reviews can climb quickly in search results, especially if more people add comments.
Online reviews impact 67.7% of consumers’ purchasing decisions, a Go Fish Digital survey of 1,000 consumers reveals. Online reviews are “absolutely important” or “very important” to 29.6% of survey participants.
Businesses can lose up to 22% of their customers from just one negative review, Hinckley says. That’s why it’s especially important to keep the first page of search results clear of negative reviews.
More Customers Turning to Online Reviews
Other research has verified the importance of online reviews in influencing purchases. A BrightLocal survey last year revealed that online reviews are becoming more important. According to BrightLocal,
- 88% of survey participants read reviews to determine the quality of a local business, up from 85% in 2013;
- 39% read reviews on a regular basis, up 32%;
- only 12% do not read reviews, down from 15%; and
- 88% trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations, up from 79%.
Previous studies found that Internet searchers rarely look past the top five search listings. However, 36% of respondents in the Go Fish Digital survey said they look through the first two or three pages of search results and 13.6% said they look at four or more pages.
Online Reviews — Not Just for Restaurants Any More
Most companies – not just restaurants — will eventually see customer reviews in search results for their business or brand, Hinkley predicts.
Go Fish Digital offers these recommendations for brands and their PR and marketing teams.
• Identify any negative articles on the first two search results pages. Because search results constantly change, monitoring search results regularly is required.
• Monitor and analyze the current sentiment of reviews on major review sites such as Google+ and Amazon. Monitor other sites frequently, as negative reviews can climb quickly in search results. Monitoring reviews enables PR and marketing teams to take a proactive approach to protecting the company’s online reputation.
• Instead of trying to alter results artificially, a better strategy is pursuing best practices on improving reviews on Yelp and other review sites. That includes completing the business’s profile, encouraging reviews from satisfied customers, and asking friends and business partners to post reviews so long as they disclose their relationship to the company.
• To address negative reviews, brands can emphasize and generate positive press and reviews through SEO and online reputation management. The best solution, of course, is to ensure people have a positive experience with their brand.
• Building a strong community on Google+ with a base of positive reviews will help protect the business against negative reviews in the future. Consumers read Google+ reviews more than reviews on any other site.
More Recommendations for Online Reputation Management
Experts offer the following advice for online reputation management.
• Using a media monitoring service enables you to track news sources and the wide range of social media. Although complainers tend to favor large networks like Facebook, you can never predict when or where a disgruntled customer or a deceitful competitor may spread negative information about your organization.
• Boolean search techniques can improve search results and eliminate extraneous results. Monitoring for nicknames of the company, common misspellings and abbreviations of the brand can improve search results.
• Respond quickly. Tracking mentions as frequently as possible and responding immediately enables organizations to diffuse problems before they become crises. Automatic alerts can inform marketers and PR crisis managers about emerging threats.
When analyzing sentiment, larger companies can improve the accuracy of automated sentiment analysis with reviews by trained human analysts.
No business can completely satisfy all customers all the time. Complaints and negative reviews posted on line are inevitable. How the company responds to online complaints can help counteract negative effects. Publishing substantive, positive articles about the business in online content marketing sites can help secure Page 1 position in search results and prevent negative comments from rising to the top of the listings.
One final caution: Publishing fake positive reviews is a definite no-no. Most attempts fail. The result is additional embarrassment and loss of credibility. Any articles about fake reviews by a business almost certainly appear on Page 1 of the business’ search results.
Bottom Line: Surveys prove that online customer reviews are one of the most important factors in consumers’ purchase decisions and are becoming more important. PR and marketing teams that monitor reviews and promptly respond to them can help prevent negative comments from rising to the top of search results and damaging the company’s online reputation.
William J. Comcowich founded and served as CEO of CyberAlert LLC, the predecessor of Glean.info. He is currently serving as Interim CEO and member of the Board of Directors. Glean.info provides customized media monitoring, media measurement and analytics solutions across all types of traditional and social media.
