5 Star Reviews on Google Maps Made Easy
Dec 22nd, 2011 Bob Sommers
Getting a great review from a happy customer is easy. Just do your job in such a way that your customers can't wait to tell the world how wonderful you are, and then ask them to review your service on one of the Internet review sites. Sounds easy doesn't it? But wait, there's more.
Based on our Local Search Marketing research, the quantity and quality of your reviews do make a difference. It is more common to see a business listing with more reviews ranked near the top of the search rankings than a business with few or no reviews, but this is not always the case. Here's what matters most.
Ranking aside, people are much more likely to click on a business listing with a significant number of reviews than they are on a listing with fewer reviews. And, these same people are much more likely to contact a business with a 5.0 rating than a business with a 3.2 rating.
So the questions is, "How can you generate all 5-star reviews for your business listing on Google maps and the other popular review sites?" Here's what you need to do.
Step 1
Do a search on Google for your local business and notice who shows up on the first page in the first seven results. Odds are, some of the businesses have reviews and other don't. Depending on your industry, you could see a range from zero to three hundred reviews for a single business.
Step 2
Click on the "number of reviews" button for the company with the most reviews. Notice the sites where their customers are leaving reviews. If it's an industry with very few reviews, you'll probably find that most of the reviews are on Google. If it's an industry with lots of reviews, other review sites will stand out. You'll notice them quickly.
Step 3
Repeat this process for two or three of your biggest competitors and make a note of where their customers are reviewing the business. These are the same sites where you want to send your customers to review your business.
Step 4
On your follow-up call, (I assume you make follow-up calls after the sale) ask your customer if they were happy with your service. If the answer is "Yes," ask them to email you a brief (2-3 sentence) testimonial. Send them an email with a few examples of testimonials written by other customers so they can see how simple they are to write. This makes it very easy for your happy customers to see exactly what you want them to write. It also provides them with your email address so that they can easily reply to your request with their testimonial.
Step 5
When the testimonial arrives, send them the email they just sent to you and ask them to please copy and paste their wonderful testimonial to any one of the more popular review sites. Make sure you include a copy of their testimonial along with a link to the review site where you want them to review your business in your email.
If you receive a testimonial that is less than spectacular, you're under no obligation to ask them to post it to the Internet. Just write them back and say, "Thank You."
Step 6
Rinse and Repeat. You're goal is to get as many 5-star reviews as possible. If you ask every happy customer to write and post a review for you, you will be at the top of the search results page in short order with all 5-star reviews.About the Author:
Want to improve your ranking on Google Maps and other highly searched sites? Our free 7-Step Local Search Marketing program will show you exactly how it's done. Find out more at http://www.VisOnTheNet.com Bob Sommers Internet Marketing Association of Hawaii 821 Kumulani Drive Kihei, HI 96753 808-891-0449
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