Google is the name of the game when it comes to getting your name in front of customers. Hardly anyone uses the phone book anymore. The first thing they do when they are looking for a florist in Omaha, is to Google “florists in omaha.” They might check out the map at that point and see if there is one close, but most likely, they simply click on one of the top three businesses that come up, check out their reviews, and then call or order online. If you’re not in the top 5 results for a Google search for local businesses, you’re probably missing out on a lot of potential business. But you can rise up in the ranks if you can get your customers to review you online. If you want to get started, here are some tips to help.
1) Optimize Your Google Place Page
Even if you don’t have a website, you probably have a Google place page and you may not even know it. Google a keyword plus a location pertaining to your business (like “florists in omaha”) and see what comes up. Can you find yourself on the map? If so, you have a Google place page that has been automatically generated based on your location and business name. Since this is your business, you can go into your place page, upload photos, create a description, provide a list of services, or more. The more information you can give people about your business the more likely they are to buy your products or services, and you’ll move up in the ranks.
2) Ask for Reviews
It may feel weird asking your customers to review you online, but plenty of positive reviews will help your local search ranking. Start with your best customers. If they really like your service, they will be happy to write a review for you. You can place a sign by the register soliciting reviews, give out little reminder cards, or (if you collect customer emails) sent recent customers an email asking them to write a review. Whether they review you on Yelp, CitySearch, Google, or just about anywhere else, Google will compile those reviews and use them to determine your rank. So the more positive reviews you can get, the better.
3) Provide Great Service
This probably goes without saying, but if you are going to ask for positive reviews from your customers, you better provide great service. If your customers walk out of your store happy, they are more likely to write a review when you ask, and they are more likely to write a positive one.
All in all, when you start getting a number of positive reviews across the internet, Google will sit up and notice and move you higher in the ranks. Before you know it, you’ll be one of the top 5 results when people search for “florists in omaha,” and you’re business will grow considerably.
Dear Flower Chat,, What is you membership fee?
@Wilhelmina,
FlowerChat membership is free, and the expanded Pro membership costs as little as $0.27 per day. The annual option is $100/yr, quarterly is $29, monthly is $20.
We’d love to have you on board!
What attracts me about online businesses are actually their reviews. I need to know what people think about them. Testimonials don’t persuade me. I need ‘real’ people to give me actual information about the site and whether to recommend it or not.
People should come to realize that they need to make a great reputation online if they do business online.
Thanks for a great post!
Asking people for reviews and encouraging them to leave online ones is a great step towards getting more sales. You also get a feel of what should be improved about the product you have. And when every little downside of the product (that you’ve learned about from the reviews) is dealt with you will have a great product to sell.
Many people look at the reviews of a product before they purchase and consider it very important in the final decision. That’s why any company should have a website that allows its customers to leave a review.