Consumers just LOVE to see those gorgeous 4-5 golden yellow stars! This holds true for customer reviews whether they’re on Google, Facebook, Amazon, your own website, or even just a plain ol’ Google search. Why? Because they offer tons of credibility! In the business world—and human life in general—nothing’s more trustworthy than a third-party testimonial.

Now, while it is in fact possible to post fake reviews, you want to avoid doing so because websites search for ways to screen those out and can then possibly ban you from using their site ever again—ouch!

Besides looking good and building credibility, positive ratings help you increase your SEO and search rankings. This means that the more you have, the better, but how can you score them in the first place? We’re here to help with that and happy to share these tips, accordingly:

1. Ask Satisfied Customers for a Review

You can do this in many ways. The first is to simply ask a satisfied customer, in person, to leave you a positive online review via the preferred medium of your choice.

You can also send a follow-up email with a direct link, which makes it even easier because they won’t be forced to search for you on Google, create an account, and sign in. And as we all know, every additional step leads to higher drop-off rates.

2. Offer Excellent Service

The internet makes shopping and comparing businesses hundreds of times easier than ever before—meaning that you must beat your competitors at what they do and be worthy of a perfect rating. Good companies have a 4.0-to-4.5-star rating on Google. Great companies rate 4.6-4.9, and that extra star bit can truly drive your sales through the roof.

One Northwestern University Spiegel Research Center study found that purchase likelihood increases the most at around 4.0-4.7 stars. While an extra .1-.2 of a star does help in this regard, the lift isn’t as significant as it is at lower ratings.

That same study also found that a web page with five reviews achieves around 270% more sales than a page with zero reviews, so the more you can do to deserve a higher rating, the better off you’ll be.

3. Respond Publicly to Negative Reviews

What do most companies do when faced with unsavory circumstances? They try to brush the dirt under the rug.

However, know that it’s in fact possible to easily turn a negative review into a positive one. Regardless of the medium, you can respond both publicly and privately. Publicly, apologize for the bad experience and state that you’re more than happy to fix it. Privately, ask your customer what you can do to improve and achieve a perfect 5-star rating. Most customers won’t remain too peeved about bad service and will care more about how you respond to it.

If customers ask for double their money back, give it to them. This will pay for itself many times over in the long run. Then, graciously ask them to post an update to their review that mentions how you solved their problem and their subsequent (realigned) feelings about you now. Lastly, be on the lookout for any patterns. Can you make proactive changes to your business that will prevent this from happening again?

Wrapping Up

Consistently winning positive reviews online is simple. You need only get the right systems in place to make it happen, and it’s a glorious thing for your business when it does!