Knowing definitively if you are doing enough with your online review program can be a mystery. What is the optimal number of reviews? How high should your rating be? How often should you be receiving reviews? These are the types of questions that can cause a lot of headaches for those tasked with building a business’ online presence, but the answers to those questions no longer have to be a mystery. You can now quantify the effectiveness of your online review program and the quality of your online reputation with Podium.
Review factors to consider
At Podium, we live and breathe reviews. We know which factors are important both to search engines and consumers alike. For example, when determining local search ranking, Google takes into account things like your overall star rating, how many reviews you have, how often they are coming in, and whether or not you are interacting with them.
Additionally, when online searchers are examining your online reputation and determining whether or not they want to do business with you, they consider similar factors as the search engines do, but may also dig a little deeper. This is where the true meaning of your reviews come into play. Customers will look at not only what is being said, but also what the tone of the review is.
Online searchers will also consider how in-depth a review is. Does the reviewer just leave a star rating and a couple of sentences, or do they really take the time to write about the experience and give valuable tips? Longer, denser reviews can be very influential.
Finally, it’s important that you make the effort to build your online presence across a variety of different review sites. Not all consumers will go to just Google or Facebook, so it’s imperative to have reviews on a diverse set of sites.
