Over the last few years, local search results have been heightened and morphed into an absolute essential part of online marketing strategy. Local businesses are pushing to make an impact online with the growth of search to storefront research and e-commerce/storefront combos. Google has put a higher emphasis on crowd-sourced reviews and information during this time. At first, this could be seen in only Google+ reviews being showed at the top of keyword search phrases results, but with the falter of Google+ as a social powerhouse, Google has begun to add accredited review sites to the top of search results for many industries and areas. But how can your business leverage the power of reviews sites for local SEO? Learn more here!
How Do You Choose Which Sites To Focus On?
You’re probably thinking, how do I choose what local search review sites will work best for my business? It actually is fairly easy. Scoot on over to Google and do a few quick searches yourself. First, trying search the name of your company with the word reviews after your business name. Most likely, you probably have reviews already online! Check out which sites these reviews are on and you have a strong start to your focused review site campaigns. Moving on to find others, try searching for your industry + reviews. This will bring up a like of review sites within your industry. These can be extremely helpful if you have in a hyper competitive industry or an industry that has high dollar sales conversions where the consumer is more likely to spend an extended period of time researching.
How Do I Prioritize?
Cruise these sites for a while and look at competitors on the sites. Compare and contrast these competitors to your reviews and see if those posting are posting compelling positive experiences. Any press is good press does not work in the review world. Focus on the sites that have positive experiences with your business and push for others to add those as well.
How Do I Convince People to Actually Leave Reviews?
This is usually the disconnect for many businesses. How do I actually get customers to leave reviews after their experience with my business? Here are a few tips from an online perspective:
Eblasts: If you receive their email address during the sale, be sure to send out a friendly eblast asking for them to leave a review. It is usually best to incentivize customers with a possible discount or free item, depending on your business.
Pop Ups: Although pop-ups can be annoying, if used correctly after the purchase, a pop up can be an immediate reminder to leave the request.
Social Giveaways: Again, incentives are the best way to reach customers and poke them to actually leave a review.
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