Google reviews, both negative and positive, can prove to be extremely valuable for your business no matter what industry you are in. In fact, post-pandemic reviews have had 25% more influence on conversions, which is one of the reasons why Google reviews are so crucial for your business.

Tip: Before you can start generating Google reviews, you’ll want to make sure your business profile is properly optimized.

The Importance of Google Reviews

According to a recent survey by Bright Local in 2021, 81% of consumers used Google to evaluate local businesses, rising from 63% the year prior. Google also remains the primary place potential clients go to seek reviews and advice about a business they are considering using. This is why you should try to generate Google reviews consistently so potential clients can see the great job you have done both in the past and present.

Four Key Benefits of Google Reviews

Now that you understand the importance of generating Google reviews, let’s dive into some of the key benefits.

Builds Trust

Building trust with potential clients is something that is incredibly important for most businesses, especially lawyers. Generating reviews helps with building this trust in a variety of ways. For example, reviews highlight to potential clients the value your business provides.

An added way to build trust with potential and existing clients is by responding to those reviews. This shows people that you truly care about the reviewer and the time they took to leave their comments about your business. In fact, 53% of people expect businesses to respond to negative reviews within a week. While this statistic highlights the importance of responding to negative Google reviews, responding to positive reviews also helps build trust.

Improve Organic Rankings

Yes, you read that right – generating reviews for your Google Business Profile can and will improve your overall organic rankings. How? In short, good reviews equal a higher star rating which ultimately leads to additional clicks and higher rankings. This is because, when a large percentage of searchers choose to click through to your site from search results, Google will take notice and in turn reward you with higher rankings organically. This is especially true in terms of local search rankings. In fact, having a greater amount of reviews than your local competitors can help you rank above them in the local map pack, which is the most prominent position in local search results.

Improved Click-Through Rates (CTRs)

Going hand in hand with improved organic rankings, generating Google reviews for your profile can also improve your overall click-through rate. Similar to what we discussed in the previous section, the more reviews you generate, the higher you’ll rank – and the higher you rank, the greater amount of clicks you’ll get to your website, which helps improve overall click-through rates. Higher click-through rates contribute to more traffic coming to your site which in turn generates more potential leads for your business. In the end, generating Google reviews is a win-win!

Receive Customer Feedback

Both negative and positive reviews allow you to receive customer feedback that can improve your business overall. For example, positive reviews reinforce what your company does well. On the other hand, while no one wants to receive a negative review, it can be beneficial. In fact, negative reviews can help pinpoint any flaws that may be hindering your business operations. This allows you to correct problems potentially causing issues with current and future clients.

Need Help Generating Reviews For Your Google Business Profile?

If you’re struggling to generate reviews for your Google Business Profile reach out to us at 9Sail! We’d be happy to help you create a review generation process that will work for your business.