No matter what Joan Jett says, sometimes you do have to care about a bad reputation — particularly if it’s your business’s reputation. A whopping 77% of customers read online reviews before sealing the deal. Here’s how to make sure your search results aren’t driving customers away.
- Create Online Content. If you don’t create your own online content, it’s likely that your top search results will be things that other people have written. When you get negative reviews or press, you don’t want those to be the first things to pop up on Google. Instead, ensure you control the top search results.
- Ask for Good Reviews. If you’ve ever had a terrible restaurant experience and logged into Yelp just to complain about it, you know that people are often more motivated to leave a negative review than a positive one. That means to get positive reviews from your happy customers, sometimes you need to ask for them.
- Respond Well to Negativity. Negativity is inevitable in the long run, so at some point, you will need to respond to an unhappy client. It’s important in those situations to respond in a way that makes the customer feel listened to and respected. And of course, make sure not to dismiss your negative reviews out of hand — they may hold something you can learn from.
If you have even one negative article on the first page of your search results, statistics show you may be losing 22% of customers as a result. Managing your reputation carefully is key!
The Jim Passi Team at Citywide Home Loans proudly serves Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan, Indiana, Georgia and Flordia. If you are looking to buy a home or refinance, we have you covered. Apply Now to get started.