Your business’s online reputation is more important than ever. Consumers now regularly check out user reviews before deciding whether to do business with you.

For example, 79 percent of consumers trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations, according to the BrightLocal Local Consumer Review Survey.

Reviews don’t just factor into how people see your business; they factor into whether they see your business at all! They now play a significant role in gaining visibility in search. Positive reviews boost rankings within local search results, but they also provide great performance once you’ve achieved that front-page ranking on search engine results pages (SERPs).

In a survey of local search experts, 35 percent said improving quality and quantity of reviews for their clients was the most important service they provide.

Additionally, 65 percent said it is either the most important service they provide or a very important one. Only 5 percent said it wasn’t important, and frankly, we wonder what they’re thinking.

Between that data and the experiences we’ve seen from our clients, we view a couple of things as being most critical:

Quality is better than quantity: While it’s good to have a strong complement of reviews, the quality and star rating of those reviews is a more important consideration than sheer volume.

Build reviews organically: You should be focused on building reviews in a natural way that’s consistent from month on month. Don’t try to get a big spike in reviews from one big push over a short time; the best results come from a steady approach.

Ring Ring Marketing can help you come up with review campaign that works best for your business. When done correctly, it’s a huge weapon in your arsenal for attracting more customers and growing your brand.