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All successful entrepreneurs owners know how important reviews are to their business; most consumers read reviews before making a purchase or frequenting a new business, and those reviews are what guide their decision making process. Google is the top search engine available at the moment, and so it only makes sense that people use it often to both read, and write, reviews of business and products. In addition, Facebook is the top rated social media platform (at the moment), which makes it another very popular place for people to go for reviews. So which place should YOU be concerned about in terms of reviews for your small business? That is what we’ll seek to uncover in this article.
The Low-Down on Google Reviews
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Google Reviews are closely tied to local SEO– this means the more reviews you have for your business on Google, the higher your business will be ranked locally. And SEO is just as important to the success (or failure) of a business as reviews are, so this is something to consider. Think about how often you Google “blah blah place near me”. And when you’re presented with a list of options, what are you most likely to go with? Probably the one closest to the top of the list (SEO) with the most stars (reviews).
The bad thing about Google reviews is that literally anyone can write one, and people are much more likely to leave a bad review than they are a positive one. BUT, with Google you have the ability to respond to reviews (both negative and positive) so you do always have the chance to right a wrong, or appease an angry customer. Google also makes it easy for business owners to encourage their clients to leave a review by providing a link to their reviews page that can easily be texted or emailed out to consumers. All you have to do is click on “write a review” and then copy and paste that link into whatever mode of communication you want to use.
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The backstory on Facebook Reviews
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According to Omnicore, there are 2 billion people on Facebook and approximately 40 million small business pages. This means there’s a wealth of information and advertising opportunities with the social platform, especially since they introduced their “reviews” feature back in 2013. Many people prefer to leave reviews on Facebook, simply because it’s easier. It makes sense; Facebook is a tool meant for communication, and reviews are a way to communicate between a business and its audience. And although people are more likely to leave a negative review on Google, they’re more likely to leave a positive one on Facebook. That’s because in order to leave a review, you have to “like” the business’s page. Who’s going to like the page of a business they’re unhappy with? Not many, as it turns out. And if that isn’t enough to convince you to check out Facebook reviews, maybe this is: Facebook reviews are directly tied in to Google’s algorithm. When you receive a review on Facebook, it automatically shows up on Google. Not bad for a “two for one” type deal.
So which one should you use?
The ideal solution would be to concentrate on reviews for both sites; each have their own resources that will undoubtedly benefit your business, whether it be through SEO or numerous positive reviews. But let’s be honest, most new (and/or small) business owners don’t have time to give equal attention to two major platforms, so if you have to pick just one, I recommend Facebook. By focusing your efforts on Facebook you’ll still show up on Google, which will positively impact your company’s SEO and you won’t have to sacrifice content. Plus, you’re more likely to get positive reviews on Facebook, so in theory you won’t have to spend a lot of time responding to unhappy clients like you might on Google. Not to mention, Facebook is a catch-all for news, shopping, social communication and more, so people are more likely to go there to check out reviews first since chances are they’re already on the platform doing something else. And because Facebook is a social platform, it’s really easy for business owners to interact with their clients in a positive way, and for a large audience to see those interactions. Once you’ve mastered the art of Facebook reviews, take it one step further and follow this advice from No Risk SEO to turn your customers into brand advocates!
What do you think? Where do your customers leave most of your business’s reviews? Is there another website we should be paying attention to? Comment in the section below!
Image 1: google.com
Image 2: google.com
Image 3: Facebook.com