Do Bad Customer Reviews Really Crush Your Local SEO and Sales?

Reviews can make or break an online business. Do take negative reviews seriously, revert prompt and take necessary actions or you’ll lose market credibility!

 

 

Got a negative feedback for the product you just released?

It’s scary, isn’t it?

Well, you’ve got a reason to be scared, bad reviews make people see your business with a low star rating on the Google knowledge graph- the one you see on the top right side of your screen when you do a google search.

And, this is something that really matters, especially for your local SEO and sales perspective!

Because 91% of global customers read a product’s online reviews before purchasing it, and 86% of them hesitate to purchase from a business with poor reviews and a bad online reputation.

Let’s have a look on some more stats to get a wider idea of what’s happening around with the customer reviews.

– Every year, U.S. companies lose more than $62 billion due to poor customer services.

– After one negative experience, 51% of customers will never do business with that company again.

– 7 out of 10 U.S. consumers spend more money with a brand or business that delivers great customer service.

– When it comes to making a purchase, 64% of people find customer experience more important than price.

– Increasing customer retention rates by 5% increases profits anywhere from 25% to 95%.

So now you know customer service is more important than you think!

Online reviews are incredibly powerful to shape your customer’s behavior.

This will hold especially true in 2018 and further, when more customers will be using social media and real-time feedbacks from other customers as their key resources to endorse their purchase decisions.

Let’s move towards what exactly happens with your local SEO and sales when you get a negative review for your products or services.

1. Lesser stars on the search engines make your customers choose your competitors

Just as simple as that- if you have a better option, you’ll definitely go for it!

What comes in the major focus when people search for your business on Google is the knowledge graph that shows up necessary and relevant information about your business.

With this information, there resides a star rating and this is what ward off the clickers if less than 4 out of 5!

Negative reviews rate down your brand on Google and other search engines making your customers rethink about more options to make a purchase.

Four or more negative articles about your business or product appearing in Google search results might cause you as high as 70% loss of potential customers!

It kills your local SEO and eventually, the sales!

This low star business ratings could be the reason why people aren’t clicking on your business link and your online traffic is shrinking.

Every bit you do for your brand to be seen by the local people is ruined by these undesirable feedbacks.

So, count on each negative review you get, even on social media platforms; you get a star rating, there too, for your official business page.

2. Bad reviews can dramatically hit your sales

Not just the customer reviews, but your responsiveness to them also matters!

There’s no scope of doubt that digitization has embarked marketing in every aspect and yes, people are becoming smart, really smart buyers.

Interactive digital platforms make people see other people’s opinion for the products, services, and solutions they’re wishing to buy from you. And it takes just few negative reviews or feedbacks that hit your sales too hard to extinguish your market presence in practically no time!

Before adding to their cart, buyers do a sheer research for the particular product or service they’re looking for.

Don’t forget, people have choices!

They explore vividly, and customers’ reviews is the major focus point.

Just think, a prospective buyer is about to convert into your new customer, and eventually comes across, or maybe purposefully seek out a detailed bad review. He’ll definitely strive to pick up the similar product or service from the next best option, and, of course, that makes sense!

The more expensive the product or service it is, the riskier it is in terms of your business sales.

The best you can do with this is- just start considering your bad reviews, acknowledge them, and make alterations that please your customers.
Craft a review acquisition strategy.

Because your online reputation if hampered by bad customer reviews can seriously drag your sales drastically down!

Now that you’ve got a better grasp on how online reviews influence your new as well as existing consumer decisions, make no further delays in building your own online reputation management strategy.

Here’s How You Can Drive More Business to Your Website!