How Much Can a Bad Review Hurt Your Business And Your Search Rank?
In this present age and time, customer reviews are the pivotal point of every business. Positive customer reviews help you build your brand. On the flip side, a bad review can destroy your reputation.
The larger majority of the population buys their products and services online. So, customers do a lot of online research on companies. Thus, every business owner should strive to build a reliable and dependable reputation on online review sites. But are negative reviews that detrimental to your business?
1. Low revenues and profits
Having negative reviews on online sites like Google adversely affect your revenues. By reading your customer reviews, customers determine your credibility. Thus, a company with consistent negative reviews is more likely to receive very little income. On the other hand, companies with many positive reviews earn a large clientele. In turn, they increase their sales, revenues, and profits.
2. Ruin your business reputation
Regardless of your company’s size, a bad review has the potential to destroy your brand reputation. Customers will view you as incompetent when they see negative reviews about your company. According to statistics, less than 34% of customers are likely to buy from companies with negative reviews.
The worst thing is that businesses find it challenging to restore their reputation. So, companies should do their best to prevent customers from posting bad reviews. One of the ways to do this is to seek help from Manage Rep. We use a reputation management formula that helps companies increase their positive reviews.
3. Put off customers
Bad customer feedback makes it difficult for businesses to create a competitive edge in the market. Once people read negative reviews from review sites, they will buy from your rivals. As a result, you gain the smallest percentage of your target population. And if your reputation gets damaged, you might end up with a zero percent market share.
4. Lowering search engine optimization
Google has a way of reducing your search results when you have many bad reviews. Remember, search engines only identify the best and reputable companies. Thus, if you have negative reviews, you decrease your brand visibility.
5. Decrease annual profits
Once you have bad reviews, you decrease your customer base. As a result, your sales, revenues, and profits become lower. So, avoid chasing away potential customers through negative reviews. Furthermore, when trying to restore your brand reputation, you will spend a vast sum of money.
How to handle negative reviews
It is usual for business owners to get negative reviews from time to time. Some of the ways they can deal with a bad review include:
- Shortening the response time of bad reviews. Whenever you ignore a negative review, you can make the situation worse. But ensure you give polite and respectful responses.
- If a customer complains about your products or services beforehand, try solving the problem before writing a review. Once you realize you have an unsatisfied customer, express empathy, and offer an apology. Moreover, offer compensation if need be. This way, clients might change their opinions about you and not post a bad review.
- When you have a negative review, try getting as many positive reviews from other customers as possible. Therefore, positive reviews will be more than the negative. Consequently, online review sites will boost your rating.
- Protect your sites from fake reviews. Idlers or rivals may want to tarnish your reputation, especially if you are a big company. Consider using specific protection software to protect your online platforms from false reviews.
Conclusion
As seen in this article, online reviews can either build or destroy your brand reputation. Thus, business owners should take the responsibility of keeping track of their online reviews. But sometimes they may not have the time to do this. We, at Manage Rep, are here to help you.
We are the best company to contact if you are looking to grow your business through positive reviews. Our professionals employ a dependable reputation management system that boosts your positive reviews. So, do not hesitate to contact us.
