How online reviews can benefit your business:

When consumers see positive reviews of your business, they are more likely to choose you over your competition. Reviews can significantly impact your sales because when customers check online reviews, they are looking for confirmation they are making the right decision.

One of the biggest benefits of increasing your business’ reviews is the boost in SEO (search-engine optimization) ranking.

According to Google, there are three main factors that contribute to where a business will rank in local search:

• Distance

• Relevance

• Prominence

Also, some changes to the Google search algorithm have prioritized user locations, which favors ‘near me’ searches and will show users popular "nearby" options.

Once you have the consumer’s attention, reviews can help send the customer from the research and contemplation stages to making a purchase decision.

Sometimes business owners and managers are wary of asking their customers for reviews because they’re afraid of what kinds of feedback they will receive, but reviews can help you determine what is working in your business and what could be improved.

Every review is an opportunity to reply to feedback (positive or negative), learn about your customer’s experiences, and build an online reputation that will let future customers know that you are trustworthy, reliable, and offer great customer service.