Category Archives: Reputation Management

Yelp vs. Google has been a debate in reputation management for over a decade. So which platform is better for customer reviews?

Make no mistake about it; reviews are critical to your business. Consider that 84% of consumers trust online reviews as much as word-of-mouth referrals. In addition, most people find new services by searching online.

While establishing a presence on multiple review platforms (Google, Yelp, Facebook, and others) is the best strategy, it’s still important to understand which platform you should prioritize for your business in 2023.

The Best Platform for Customer Reviews

Google Business Profile (Google My Business) is the best platform to focus on customer reviews. As you gain more reviews on Google, your listing begins to rank higher in search results for relevant queries. Furthermore, more customers will contact your business after a search when they notice the positive reviews associated with your listing.

Creating Business Profiles

Both review platforms are free. However, optimizing your profiles for SEO and managing your online reputation requires time, effort, and resources. Still, it all starts with the first step of creating your business listing. Here’s how you do that for each platform:

Google

With Google, you will have to have your business confirmed by sending in a postcard with some of your business’s information. You can start the process right here; it isn’t very much work. Once you are set up, you can fill out your profile, and you will be able to see the reviews people leave for your business. 

Yelp

With Yelp, you go through a similar process to claim your business. Your business may already be listed, but you will still have to claim it. You can do that right here. Once your listing is live, you will find it by searching your company name.

Yelp Vs. Google: Lead Generation

A Google Business Profile listing is very likely to appear when someone is doing a relevant search on Google. Your Yelp profile may also appear, but probably much lower on the search engine results page. In general, Google Business Profile will make you more visible to those using Google, which accounts for about 4.3 billion individuals. 

Compare that to the 178 million monthly users on Yelp, and you can already see a bit of a discrepancy. 

Google Business Profile

One of the most fantastic things about Google Business Profile is that you can use it to generate more leads for your business. The platform allows you to write a bio and share critical information like what areas your business serves, what services you provide, and an overview of your business. 

The more you fill the profile out, the more visible you will be to people in need of your services. 

Yelp for Business

On the other hand, Yelp is a bit scanter with the type of information you can provide. For example, you can add photos, and your customers can add photos too. But most people don’t see the complete profile page when they search on Yelp, which leads us to a crucial point. 

Yelp Vs. Google: Mobile Experience

The next thing to compare is the mobile-friendliness of each platform. Both Google My Business and Yelp have mobile apps. Both are pretty helpful for business owners too. You can do anything on the desktop version, so it’s pretty convenient when you’re on the go. 

You can reply to reviews on both mobile apps during downtime and even update your business’s information. However, inequality comes on the consumer side. While 63% of Google’s organic search traffic comes from people using mobile devices, the Yelp mobile app is used much more frequently. The Yelp app has 37 million unique users every month.

There is a caveat here, too, though. Yelp has a bit of a genre issue regarding consumer usage. For the most part, Yelp can’t seem to shake the perception that it is only for reading reviews of restaurants. Mainly, people open up their Yelp app when their stomachs start growling. 

While you can find pretty much everything on Yelp and even devoted tabs for home and auto services, you will see the first tab for restaurants. This can be a bit of a drawback if your business is not a restaurant. 

Yelp Vs. Google: Requesting Reviews

Asking for reviews is very important for your business’s online reputation. Especially since 72% of consumers will leave a review if they are simply asked to. But in the age of the pandemic, you may be asking people for reviews online more than in person. 

Google Business profile has a distinct advantage because you can ask consumers for reviews directly. You can create a shortlink to your review page and send it to all of your customers. Yelp not only discourages you from requesting reviews directly from customers, but it may violate their terms of service. 

Google Business Profile Pros

Google My Business is generally considered the best review platform for most businesses, especially contractors. Because of its integration with the world’s leading search engine, Google reviews benefits are immense:

SEO 

Google Business Profile is essential if you want your business to be more visible on relevant searches. Of course, yelp listings will also appear on relevant searches. Still, Google prioritizes its own service and will likely list a Google Business Profile listing higher than a Yelp one.

Ease of Use

With Google, your customers won’t have to create a special account to leave a review. Instead, they only need a Gmail account, which most people have anyway.

Trust

It’s much harder to dispute a review on Google than it is on Yelp, so people tend to trust Google reviews more. Furthermore, Google reviews often appear at the top of search results, creating automatic trust.

Google Business Profile Cons

Although Google offers numerous appealing benefits, it also has a few drawbacks. While these should not discourage business owners from focusing on the platform, they should be monitored to avoid pitfalls:

Slow Posting

Google reviews take more time to post than Yelp reviews which are nearly instant. 

Disputes

As we mentioned in the pros, Google reviews are hard to dispute – a definite con if you have an inaccurate review on your hands.

Yelp Pros

Yelp remains a proficient review platform for small businesses even if it lost some of its market share to Google and other platforms. While Yelp’s domain authority allows it to show up high on search results for most queries, it’s still lower than Google Map 3-Pack results. Take a look at some Yelp pros:

Great for Restaurants

If you are in the food business, you want to be present on Yelp.

Disputes 

Yelp makes it much easier to dispute reviews and remove them if they deem them biased or inaccurate. 

Reputation

Yelp has been around longer than Google Business Profile, so it has a large built-in audience. 

Yelp Cons

Yelp has faced its share of criticisms in recent years, particularly regarding its increasingly strict review filters. Yelp’s reputation has suffered because of its seemingly arbitrary decisions to terminate business listings. Take a look at some of the common criticisms:

Autonomy

Yelp reviews are filtered, which means they can reject a review if they determine that it violates their terms of service. 

Listing Termination

Yelp can terminate your listing at any time and has been known to wield its power liberally. 

Yelp vs. Google: Final Call

Yelp is where you want to focus your attention if you own a restaurant. However, if your business is not a restaurant, Google should be your emphasis. It helps more with SEO and is better for all businesses – not just restaurants. 

Ultimately, however, you should aim to collect reviews on both platforms and showcase them on your primary website. The DataPins Local SEO plugin allows you to request reviews on Google and Yelp and display them directly on your website.

Home services review management can be an exhausting task. You can have 50 5-star reviews, and one unhappy customer will remove their misdirected frustrations on your company and threaten your reputation. Luckily, there are tools and SOPs you can utilize to manage the process.

As a result, you can effectively control how you respond to and manage online reviews, which helps your internet marketing and SEO strategy. Review management is important because reviews are crucial to your online reputation and customer acquisition.

How Important is Home Services Review Management?

Consider the following statistic: 79% of consumers report that they trust online reviews at least as much as personal referrals. That is a staggering amount of trust to put into the opinions of strangers. It’s also why home service review management is so important. But there is much more to the story. 

Review Management Tips for Home Services Contractors

If you’ve overlooked your home service company’s reviews, you need to read the following post because DataPins discusses how you can leverage reviews to earn more business. Check out the following tips to improve your review and reputation management in 2023.

1) Be Easy to Find Online

Your home services company should appear on all the major review platforms like Google My Business, Yelp, HomeAdvisor, Angi, etc. You also want to claim your business on other platforms like Facebook and Houzz. On most of these platforms, you can opt-in to review alerts that notify you every time a user submits feedback about your company.

2) Respond to Every Review

97% of consumers read company replies to consumer reviews which means that your potential leads and customers are specifically looking to see what you say in response to a customer review. 

Apart from ingratiating yourself to potential customers, responding to reviews lets existing customers know that you care about their experience. While it’s good practice to respond to both positive and negative reviews, it is essential to respond to negative ones. 

3) Reach Out to Customers

Don’t be afraid to reach out to customers and ask for reviews. They will be more willing than you probably think, which is crucial for your business. Why? Because the only thing worse than having negative reviews is having little to no reviews. The more reviews you have, the more a customer will be willing to research and hire your business. 

If a company has a perfect 5-star rating but from a pool of only two reviews, would you be likely to hire them? Maybe, but you’d likely move on and look for a business with more reviews to evaluate. We understand that asking for reviews can be tricky, so here are some tips:

• Include a Link: Make it easy for the customer by texting or emailing them a link that leads them right to your review page.
• Speak Sincerely: Let customers know how vital their review is to your business. After a well-done job, they will likely be more than willing to help. 
• Train your Employees: Make it protocol for your team members and employees to ask for reviews.
• Use DataPins: Utilize the DataPins tool to automate review requests via SMS and email.

4) Use Feedback to Improve Your Company

Don’t just read your reviews; listen to them. You’ll find that only rarely will anyone leave a completely false review of your business. By and large, they will highlight their actual experience. You can learn about your company’s strengths and weaknesses when the reviews are reasonable.

When the reviews are bad or mention a minor dissatisfaction, you can learn where you need to improve. Of course, you can’t completely invest in the opinions of emotionally charged internet users. Still, take every point into careful consideration and learn from your reviews. 

5) Use Reputation Management Software

A good reputation management software suite will make home services review management simple. The software can automate some things we discussed, such as SMS and email review requests. 

A good reputation management software suite will also provide you with a single dashboard from which you can keep an eye and manage the reviews from all review platforms. Also, reputation management software will help you leverage your existing reviews to earn new ones and generate leads. 

Take DataPins, for example. The DataPins tool not only streamlines the review request process but it leverages your reviews and jobs as social proof for your website. Users can monitor your company’s reviews across various platforms directly on your company website (via a plugin slider).

DataPins is incredibly unique because it allows home service contractors to showcase their recent jobs with geo-coordinates, schema markup, photos, and captions. As a result, your service and city pages rank for more keywords and convert at a higher rate because of the user-generated content.

Sending a review request via SMS can be challenging for business owners. How do you find the review link on Google, Facebook, or Yelp? How do you send it to your customers? Can you automate this process? These are common questions, and DataPins provides the answers.

Below, DataPins provides several helpful tips for sending a review request through text messaging.

Tip #1: Include A Link

The first thing you should do is make it easy for your customers to write a review of your business. One of the easiest ways to request a review is to include a short link to your Google review page. 

It’s straightforward to get a Google review link; once you do, you can include it in your SMS review requests. 

Most people fail to submit a review because the process is too long or too complicated. However, when you send a link that leads right to your review page, you will get much more reviews for your business. 

Be sure to include the link in your text message requests. Bonus tip: you can also use this link in your marketing emails. 

Tip #2: Keep It Concise

One of the reasons sending a review request via SMS is so effective is that the whole process is quick. When people open a text message, they aren’t expecting to read an essay, so keep your message brief and to the point. 

Let the customer know that you value their business and input. Again, a link will help you truncate the message to just the important stuff. 

A customer will immediately delete or ignore a text message if the body appears too long. Therefore, keep your message well under 160 characters for the best response. 

Tip #3: Personalize your Message

We understand that running a business is extremely time-consuming. However, you should try to take the time to personalize your SMS review requests. Why? Because personalized messages get opened up a lot more than generic ones. 

It’s true of emails, and it’s also true of text messages. But unfortunately, most consumers will simply ignore a text message as spam if the message does not seem personalized. 

But what do we mean by personalized? For starters, you can use the customer’s name in the first few words of the text message. You can also reference the specific product or service the customer paid for. 

Consumers appreciate it when they feel a message has been tailored for them and not just spurted out by some spammy marketing campaign. It may be time-consuming, but you will find that you get a much better response rate when you personalize your text message review requests. 

Tip #4: Consider Timing

Timing is also crucial when sending a review request via SMS. Some customers need time to process the service before they can have an opinion of it. An immediate request is fitting for some businesses, but others may need to wait a day or two. 

For instance, if you are a painting contractor, you won’t want to ask a customer for a review as soon as you leave the job site. Instead, you will want to let them live with their new paint for a few days to form an opinion. 

On the other hand, if you run an HVAC company that provides emergency repairs, you will want to ask your customers for a review while their newly distributed cold air keeps them comfortable inside their homes.

Every business is different, so you must carefully consider the best time for sending a review request via SMS. 

Tip #5: Avoid Incentives

One of the biggest mistakes that businesses make is incentivizing reviews. People will eventually catch on when you have bribed your customers to leave a review because such coerced reviews tend to be disingenuous. 

You want your reviews to be as detailed and honest as possible, so don’t offer discounts or freebies when you request your reviews. Furthermore, incentives violate most platforms’ guidelines and can get your account banned.

Instead, simply let the customer know how much their review means to your business. Again, you’ll find that most consumers will be more than willing to submit a review of your business if you simply ask them. 

Tip #6: Include CTA’s

Last but not least, you should include a Call to Action (CTA) in your text message request. Don’t assume that including a link will be enough to get your point across. A compelling call to action will make things clear for your customer. 

A simple phrase like “leave us a review here,” “Find us on Google reviews,” or “Let us know how we’re doing” can really drive response rates and get more reviews for your business.

How To Get More Reviews

According to social proof statistics, 79% of consumers said they trust online reviews as much as personal references. But the importance of online reviews of your business doesn’t end at lead generation. They are essential tools for digital marketing as well.

Since so many consumers seek out online reviews, they have become one of search engines’ most important ranking factors. You need reviews of your business to gain leads and convert customers as well. 

How To Automate SMS Review Requests

DataPins allows businesses to automate SMS review requests using the app. Customers will receive a review request with a link in their SMS inbox. In addition, DataPins will enable companies to connect reviews with pins, providing further social proof of a job well done.

If you are looking for review software for contractors, you aren’t alone. Being a contractor comes with its own unique set of challenges – especially if you want to focus on marketing. Contracting businesses are brick-and-mortar companies. If you have no local presence, then you are fighting an uphill battle.

There are a lot of types of software out there for contractors, but none of them have been optimized for the digital marketing needs of contractors. The problem usually lies in a lack of foresight by developers. They see the market as a global entity, which it is. But as a contractor, you have to think locally. You have to learn how to walk before you can run, so to speak. That’s where things like local SEO come into play.

You need to be seen by as many people in your community as possible; digital marketing is the best and most efficient way to be seen. Here at DataPins, we take local SEO a step further with our innovative review software for contractors. Our review software was developed with a local focus to help contractors like you grow your business and leverage the reviews you already have, gain more, and turn them into powerful local marketing tools. 

The Importance of Contractor Reviews

Most people would say that leads are the lifeblood of a contracting business, but many leads are created by reviews. Customer reviews are an important part of the sales funnel. They can provide you with important market data, help you improve your services, and be social proof signals to potential customers. 

Reviews can be a powerful asset to your business, but only if they are managed correctly. For example, did you know that perfect aggregate review ratings are actually not ideal in today’s market? People are distrustful of perfect reviews. They tend to think that perfect reviews are a signal that the proprietor has manipulated the system in some way. It sounds counterintuitive, but it’s true. In fact, the Spiegel Research Canter has statistical proof that businesses and products with 4.2-4.5 ratings influenced more sales. 

Customer reviews are important to the millennial market as well. The millennial generation is finally moving out of their parent’s homes and starting to buy houses of their own. In fact, one in three millennials under the age of 35 now owns a home. That number is down from previous generations but still makes up a large portion of the market. And all those young homeowners will need to work on their properties at some point.

So it is important to note that 91% of millennials trust online customer reviews as much as they trust word-of-mouth referrals from friends and family. The millennial generation is likely the one over which customer reviews hold the most clout so it is imperative that you have plenty of reviews on your website to appeal to this surging generation.

Another reason why customer reviews are so important in today’s market is that more and more people are shying away from paid advertising. In a study conducted by Statuslabs, it was found that a whopping 83% of modern consumers don’t trust ads. What do they turn to in order to inform their purchasing decisions instead? You guessed it, customer reviews.

When a person reads a review, they are seeking to find out what they can expect from your business by seeing it through the experience of someone who has used your services before. In essence, reviews are the new advertising.

The quantity of reviews also plays a role in conversion rates. For example, an estimated 70% of consumers will not make a purchasing decision before they have read at least 4 reviews. Most of those consumers will not even consider your business if you have less than 4 reviews. Much less if you have none. So garnering reviews becomes important in the first place. But how do you get reviews? Check out more reputation management stats.

Earning Reviews for Contractors

Do you have little to no reviews for your contracting business? Fear not. Just take a look at these helpful tips for generating reviews for your business:

• Ask – 70% of consumers will leave a review if asked. So don’t be afraid to ask your customers for a review once the job is done. Word-of-mouth requests are still very effective for earning reviews.
• Make it Easy – If you make the process of leaving a review easy for your customers, they will be more inclined to do so. Remember, not everyone is tech-savvy. Not everyone knows how to jump on Yelp or Angie’s List and leave a review. That’s why you should have a simple link ready for them when you request a review. Consider printing your review links on your business card or providing an email that walks your customers through the process.
• Tell your Crew – You will not always be around at the end of a job, so make sure that your team knows that asking for reviews is a point of emphasis. 
• Google My Business – Having your business set up on Google My Business is a great way to earn more reviews. Google My Business is one of the most popular platforms right now, and Google makes it easy for customers to leave reviews. Make sure you have a Google My Business profile with all your pertinent information listed on it.

What Review Software for Contractors can do

Now that you know just how important reviews are and know how you can start earning more, it’s time to talk about what advantages review software for contractors holds. Take a look at the most important benefits:

• It Saves Time – Review software like the kind we offer here at Brand Revu will help you focus on other important aspects of running your business. By automating many of the processes related to managing reviews on various platforms, our review software for contractors can take menial tasks out of your hands and the hands of your staff. We can help you allocate your most precious resource – time – to other endeavors.
• It Makes for A Happier Customer – Did you know that 89% of people seek out and read businesses’ replies to customer reviews? When you reply to a review, whether it be good or bad, it shows the customer and potential customers that you care about providing excellent service. Our software makes it easy for you to reply to reviews that have been posted across multiple platforms. We make it simple to provide a better overall customer experience to your clients.
• It Improves Local SEO – Our software focuses on turning your reviews into schema markup, geo-locating, and optimizing reviews for local SEO. Your reviews can help other people in your area find your business, but only if they are managed. We make sure that your reviews helped get you ranked on more local searches.
• Improve your Online Reputation – We already talked about how people don’t trust traditional advertising anymore. With our help, you can turn your customer reviews into extremely potent marketing tools. Your customer reviews can help build your brand and make more external platforms point to your company website. 

Innovative Review Software for Contractors

So what makes Brand Revu the most innovative review software for contractors? For starters, we help get your reviews broadcasted to the platforms that matter the most. We use schema markup and microdata to optimize your page for local searches. We turn your customer reviews into local SEO signals so that more people who are in need of your services can find you.

We make sure that all geo-indicators that exist for your company online are accurate, streamlining the sales process and making sure that you aren’t inundated by customers outside of your service area.

With our Brand Revu widget, we also make it easy for people to see glowing reviews of your service from all platforms right on your website. We make it as easy as possible for busy contractors to manage and reply to customer reviews. We help you earn even more reviews. In short, we cater to the SEO and marketing needs of the modern contractor. 

There is much more we can do for you. But every service that our software provides is geared towards helping you expand and meet the goals you have for your business. We have worked with contractors of all kinds, and we have the experience to help you turn the vision you have for your company into a reality. Get in touch with us here at DataPins to learn more.

Reputation management statistics. Are they reliable? We know that fake online reviews statistics exist. Anyone can just make up a number and publish it as empirical data. DataPins has collected a series of stats that we find the most reliable so that you, as a customer, can understand the importance of online reputation management software for SMBs.

Reputation management is an indelible part of the business review process. Your customers’ reviews play a part in how others perceive your business. That can be a scary prospect for many business owners. However, when you take control of your brand’s reputation, you can produce terrific results.

7 Statistics for Reputation Management

1) Negative Reviews are Massively Impactful

The impact of a single negative review can’t be understated. In a survey conducted by Review Tracker, it was found that 94% of respondents reported that a negative review has kept them from patronizing a business in the past. Understanding how much impact a negative review can have is the first step toward traversing the pitfalls of reputation management.

2) Replying to Reviews is Important

Many business owners think their job is done when a customer has left a positive review of their goods or services. But to leave a good review alone is to leave a great opportunity on the table. That’s because 71% of consumers are inclined to return to a business that has responded to their reviews. And so many business owners are failing to do so.

A whopping 63% of survey responders say that a business has never left a reply on their reviews. Replying to reviews lets a customer know that you value their input and experience with you. It is also a great way to engage and build up a rapport with your customers – critical for reputation management.

3) Replying to Negative Reviews is Also Important

What do you do with negative reviews? Do you leave them alone and hope they get buried by positive reviews? How do you turn a negative review into a positive business perception? A Cornell University study suggests that one way to do this is to respond to negative reviews.

When you own up to a perceived flaw in your business, you show customers that you care about providing good service. Be sure to reply to negative reviews kindly, and seek ways to improve your service.

4) Business Ratings Matter

Google My Business profiles are important. And your ratings could tell the tale of your success. Tons of statistics point to the importance of your business rating. For instance, only 53% of consumers would consider trusting a business with less than a 4-star rating.

And if your business is under a 5-star rating, you could lose up to 12% of your potential customer base. Doing what it takes to achieve and maintain a high business rating can help propel your business to success.

5) Review Content is A Commodity

What is review content? Review content is literally what a customer has written in a review about your business – and it is almost as precious as gold. People trust what other consumers have to say about your business.

In a Forrester study, it was found that review content actually ranks higher than content created by a business or organization. This suggests that people are more willing to believe what others have to say about your business than what you have to say about it.

6) Keeping Current Reviews is Vital

A staggering 85% of consumers don’t rely on reviews that are more than three months old. Reputation management is an ongoing job, but this statistic drives the point home. If you are not cultivating reviews from your customers and not making it easy for them to do so, you are falling behind.

Consumers are very “what have you done for me lately?” oriented, and you need to keep current reviews to draw new customers to your business.

7) Reputation Management is Important for Staffing

On the employee side, it is clear to see that reputation is essential to keeping a robust staff. As we read in another Review Trackers article, 84% of job hunters consider a company’s reputation critical to which jobs they apply for.

If your company’s reputation is terrible, you may have the bottom-of-the-barrel choices in terms of applicants, perpetuating sub-par service and reputation.

Applying Stats to The Real World

Think about it; just one bad review can negatively affect how potential customers perceive your business. And in the digital age, that is a surefire blow to your finances. But it’s not all bad news for business owners.

Taking Control of Your Reputation

You shouldn’t be frightened at the thought of reputation management. In fact, you should be heartened by it. Because it is so easy for people to get a gauge on your business with search engines and online reviews, you have a golden opportunity to take control of your business’s reputation and mold the narrative in your favor. 

Time is Money

We understand the challenges and time constraints of the modern business owner. In times like these, it is more important than ever to manage your business’s reputation successfully. But it is a laborious and time-consuming process. We are here to help.

Here at DataPins, we specialize in leveraging your business’s customer reviews toward more sales. We offer review management for agencies and small businesses. Our software provides geolocation coding and reputation management services.

Be Proactive

It can be easy to get bogged down in these reputation management statistics but don’t let the numbers get you down. Be proactive. Reply to reviews, both good and bad, stay engaged with your current customer base, and always be on the lookout for ways you can improve your products and services. There is always something that can be done to improve your company’s reputation, so stay vigilant. 

And as always, we can help manage your company’s reputation, improve it, and provide you with a host of services to help your site rank higher on SERPs.