Local Business Review Basics: Everything You Understand

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Many businesses have love-hate relationships with online reviews. 

On one hand, they’re a great way to promote your business. On the other hand, bad reviews can hurt your business’s credibility. Like it or not, you need local business reviews for your business to succeed. How do you get more good reviews? What are the benefits of local business reviews?

Read on to find out. 

Benefits of Local Business Reviews 

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One of the biggest benefits of local business reviews is that they help you get found online. Whether someone directly types in your business name or types in something related to your business, your reviews are probably going to be the first thing they see. 

Of course, you’ll also need to focus on local SEO to get your business to rank high in the search results. Check out this Ultimate Guide For Local SEO to learn more. 

For example, let’s say you own an Italian restaurant and someone searches “Italian restaurants nearby.” If your business has great reviews, it’ll pop up near the top, and there’s a good chance someone will book a dinner with you. 

Reviews also help give your business credibility, and they can even impact purchasing decisions. In fact, a new study found that 67% of consumers are influenced by online reviews. 

Reviews also provide important insight into your business, and when you respond to reviews, it shows your customers that you care. 

How to Get More Local Business Reviews 

So, how do you go about getting more good reviews? Here are some of the top techniques:

Ask For Them 

One of the easiest ways to get reviews is to simply ask for them. It’s easy to ask for reviews in a way that doesn’t make your customers feel pressured. 

For example, you can ask customers for a review via email after they purchase something from you or book a service with you. You can also ask customers for reviews when you hand them your business card, or you can use a text messaging campaign to ask for reviews. 

Post on Social Media 

If your business has a solid social media following, this is a great place to ask for reviews. You can post directly to your feed to ask for reviews, or you can create a story. 

Make it easy for your customers to leave a review by adding a link to your post. 

Run a Reward Program 

People are a lot more likely to leave reviews if they’re incentivized to do so. For example, if you run a spa, you can reward customers with a discount for their next visit if they leave you a review. 

People also love sweepstakes competitions, so you can ask for reviews in exchange for an entry to a giveaway. 

Are You Ready to Get More Reviews? 

As you can see, there are many ways to get local online business reviews. Now, you just need to put these tactics into action. 

For more ideas on how to grow your business, check back in with our blog.