Why Online Reviews Are Important

Let's say you recently moved to Dallas, Texas, after re-locating for your job. You bought a nice home, but the landscaping needs some work. Since your time is consumed with the new move and adapting to the change, you look to hire a landscaper.

Take a look at the picture above. This is the result of a Google search for "landscaping in Dallas, TX". Who do you call first?

The majority of people would pick CGreens Landscape Management. There's no doubt their 4.3-star rating and the total number of reviews (33) will influence potential new customers when searching for landscapers in their area. The two other businesses either have no reviews (Roundtree Landscaping) or a mediocre rating (Good Earth Inc.).

Here are a few important statistics from brightlocal.com.

95% of people search for local businesses online
91% of people read online reviews about local businesses
Most consumers look at 2+ review sites before making a decision
84% of people trust online reviews as much as a personal recommendation
73% of consumers think that reviews older than 3 months aren't relevant.

Reviews matter. Your online reputation matters now more than ever.

There's no doubt it can influence buyer decisions. Think about Amazon. How often do you look at the reviews before buying a product? I do it all the time.

Reviews also help local SEO rankings. According to Moz's Local Search Rankings Factors, reviews make up between 7-13% of how you rank on Google and other search engines.

There are different ways you can get reviews. You can simply ask your customers, you can post signs in your business asking for reviews or you can talk to me about a service I offer that can help you get more reviews from your customers with minimal effort on your end.