Strong online reputations: What do they look like?
What do customers see when they search for your business?
More than 95% of shoppers go online to learn more about a business and 44% of those experiences start with a search engine. All the results that follow combine to shape perceptions of you, your business, and your brand. Add them up, and there’s a lot at stake.
Your business’s online reputation could be a catalyst for attracting more customers or a liability that turns people away. Consider these survey results:
90% of consumers won’t frequent a business with a bad reputation and 95% report trusting a corporation with a positive reputation.
Building a positive online reputation is critical to growing, or even maintaining, the success of your business. Ready to learn what that looks like? Try these tips for developing a strong online reputation that brings customers closer to your business.
What do you want to be known for? Define it.
Defining what your business wants to be known for is crucial because it sets the tone for your entire online reputation-building strategy. It helps you create a cohesive and authentic image that resonates with customers. Because without a clear identity, your online presence may feel disjointed and fail to attract or retain customers.
The core values and mission driving your business can be a productive starting point. What are the fundamental principles guiding your operation and decision-making? Those answers inform the brand identity that influences how customers think of your business.
Here are some ideas on what you might want your business to be known for:
- Operating honestly and transparently
- Delivering high-quality products
- Excellent customer service
Many of the small businesses that come to Better Business Bureau are interested in applying for BBB Accreditation because they are looking to communicate and promote those values to customers.
So, what do you want your business to be known for? On the way to crafting and then cementing a strong reputation, you need to have a clearly defined idea of the primary impression you want to leave with customers. That definition tells you what needs to be at the forefront of the reputation you cultivate online.
Live where your customers look.
Once you've defined your desired image, it's time to establish your online reputation. Your business needs to live, or at least have a presence, in every place where your customers look online. This involves creating a consistent and positive presence across various online platforms. Here’s a checklist:
1. Create a professional website.
Consider your business’s website its online headquarters. As such, it needs to reflect your brand identity, be user-friendly, and contain valuable and current content, including the basics, like your contact information.
Most importantly, having a well-designed website gives your business a place online to share a narrative that influences your reputation, and you can reinforce that narrative with testimonials and other endorsements.
2. Leverage social media.
Looking at your customer and industry demographics, identify which social media platforms you need to prioritize (and no, you don’t need to be on all of them). Then, start building a presence by setting up professional profiles that include your business logo, cover photo, and a concise and compelling bio that communicates your brand identity.
The content you share from these accounts, along with how regularly you share it, reinforces your reputation. Especially when you ensure that content aligns with your values and brand messaging.
3. Optimize for search engines.
Nearly 90% of customers use Google to decide on a business, and websites that appear on the first page of search engine results pages are often perceived as more credible and trustworthy by users. SEO strategies and campaigns use keyword optimization and quality backlinks to improve your online visibility so that your reputation is elevated.
4. Advertise online.
Speaking of visibility, when potential customers see digital ads, it raises awareness of your brand and offerings, which can positively influence your online reputation. Online advertising allows for precisely targeting your ads to increase brand awareness with demographics, interests, and locations. By reaching the right audience, you can ensure that your brand message resonates with potential customers who are more likely to have a positive perception of your business.
5. List your business in directories.
Customers turn to online directories because they provide concise snapshots of businesses that offer essential details about their operations, methods, and location, along with map links and website URLs. And for your business, getting listed on well-established, trustworthy directories, especially those with customer reviews and ratings, enhances your credibility.
70% of consumers who recognize the BBB Seal view businesses that have it as reputable, and 66% believe the business to be honest and ethical.
Build a conversation around your brand.
What do customers see when they search online for your business? The likely answer: reviews. They are the information source customers look for most when considering a purchase. So, reviews have to be your business’s top priority.
A recent survey revealed that 98% of consumers consider reviews to be an essential resource when making purchase decisions, and almost half of shoppers won’t purchase a product if there aren’t any reviews available for it. Even further, the need for reviews is greater when a product or service is more expensive:
78% of consumers say they read more reviews when the cost of what they are shopping for is higher.
And when it comes to the number of reviews your business needs, there’s never enough. Businesses with 200 reviews or more earn nearly double in revenue than average.
So, how do you get more customer reviews? These steps are a great way to get started:
Get proactive.
Rather than waiting for customers to voluntarily provide a review, ask them if they would like to leave one on a site of your choice. A study revealed that 68% of customers are likely to leave a review when specifically requested.
There are several approaches you can implement to direct reviews to a preferred online review platform while allowing for direct communication with customers, including these popular options:
- Automatically prompting customers to leave a review at the point of purchase
- Incorporating a personalized email campaign
- Sending out a satisfaction survey
- Deploying SMS texting after the purchase or service
Stay transparent.
Showcase your online reviews from customers as a way of encouraging more feedback. Incorporate ratings from review sites on your website, create and promote a testimonial page, leverage social media to share your reviews – the goal is to use authentic reviews from real customers to get, well, more authentic reviews from real customers.
It’s also important to make the process convenient for customers by providing direct access to review sites. When you do that, you are better positioned to gain valuable insights from their feedback and continuously improve your products and customer service.
Find a trusted partner.
Associating with a reputable organization can enhance your business's trustworthiness and credibility in the eyes of customers. Positive reviews may be more likely if customers trust your partner and believe that your products or services are endorsed by them.
Respond to customer reviews (the right way).
Let’s dig a little deeper with this one. Responding to customer reviews demonstrates your business’s commitment to customer satisfaction and its willingness to correct any issues. How you respond can shape the narrative attached to your brand.
When you consider that 75% of businesses don’t respond to customer reviews, there’s an easy fix: Be a part of the 25% that does respond. Here’s how to do that:
Reply quickly.
Think about this: 53% of customers expect businesses to respond to negative reviews within a week. It makes sense then that fast response times are more closely associated with positive reputations – customers want to feel their feedback is being heard and valued. If you don’t have a partner or service to help you respond promptly to reviews, it may be worth considering finding one.
Stay on brand.
Let’s circle back to defining your identity. The values that make up your definition need to be reflected in your interactions with online customer reviews. Close to 90% of customers read businesses’ responses to reviews, so when you respond, you’re showing who your business really is and what it stands for.
Show gratitude.
Any reviews you get from customers are gifts worthy of appreciation. Express your thankfulness in your responses. This demonstrates your proactive approach to delivering excellent customer service and underscores your genuine commitment to valuing their opinions and experiences, which goes a long way toward boosting your online reputation.
Takeaway
When customers search for your business, what they actually look for is your reputation. And the results they find determine whether they choose to spend their money with you or someone else. Strong online reputations are easy to find, and businesses that have them get priority.
Make it easier for customers to choose your business. Find out if your business qualifies for BBB Accreditation.
BBB Great West + Pacific contributed this article.