At Wahanda we are fully aware of the benefits and the power of reviews and know only too well how greatly they can help businesses. Of course we all want people to love us and a poor review naturally smarts, however good or bad, they can help your business in many ways!
1.Particularly good reviews will help you stand out from your competition and encourage new customers to try you out
2.Constructive criticism in a review is good and enables you to act upon certain comments and make suitable changes and amendments
3.Reviews are a sure-fire way to get bumped up the all-important internet search result tables - making online reviews a marketing tool from heaven.
But don’t just take our word for it, we found this gem of an article by Beauty Salon Marketing entitled ‘Salon Internet Marketing – Where does Google find reviews?’
The following extract will give you an idea of the importance of customer reviews;
“…online reviews of your salon are very important. Not only will they show up when your potential customers are searching for services like yours, in your local area. But, equally importantly, research by the search engine optimisation (SEO) experts suggests that having more reviews is one of the important factors influencing how high your salon website is listed in Google’s search results. Which, of course, influences how likely it is that potential customers will click through to your salon website, or call your salon’s phone number.”
Where can you write reviews?
Many websites including Wahanda have the facility for people to review spas, salons, fitness centres, yoga classes etc for free, online. However, the largest and most comprehensive site for reviews in the wellness arena is Wahanda where you will find thousands of reviews from consumers around the world. Most importantly, users can rate your business based on detailed criteria and even on the exact treatment that they had with you. We find that many salons and spas that understand the importance of reviews are actively encouraging their best customers to write reviews, and this is something you too should be embracing wholeheartedly and encouraging your customers to do.
However a word of warning… Although it is perfectly acceptable for businesses to ask customers to write reviews, it is against the law for a business owner or anyone affiliated with the company to write a review about their business and not disclose who they really are! This is very important and should be adhered to at all times. For more information please read Wahanda’s Community Guidelines, which will help you navigate around the sticky patches! After all, the point of customer reviews are to give other readers a genuine, unbiased view of their experience.
That said, customer reviews can really be your best friend. In order to get one up on the local competition, what could be easier than employing some free and simple tactics to utilise the internet to your advantage? And best of all, it’s free marketing!
In the third and final part of her guest blog series, Susie Santiago, Founder of The Santi Programme, offers her top tips on branding your business.
