When are you most likely to seek new reviews for your online profiles or Google page? If you’re like a lot of businesses, you might not think much about reviews until someone leaves a negative one and you want to drown it out.

That’s human nature—and reputation management at its most basic.

But your efforts on reviews should go beyond the basic if you want to build a stronger home improvement brand. Reviews can help you rank better in Google, drive more traffic to your pages, and provide goods and services to more homeowners.

And while some of this is related to Google algorithms and other data-crunching technology, the benefits also occur because more positive reviews mean a better overall reputation for your window and door or window coverings company.

These stats prove just how powerful of a reputation (and revenue) driver reviews can be:

• 94 percent of people say they have decided not to purchase from a business after seeing a negative review online
• 90 percent of people check reviews at least occasionally before contacting or visiting a business
• 84 percent of people say content in an online review is as trustworthy as a recommendation they receive from a friend
• Review content impacts as much as 67 percent of all purchasing decisions

If you’re not winning at the review game, you’re losing customers before you even get a chance to show them your products or what you can do for their homes.

This is, in part, because people have learned how to put the internet to work in their decision-making. About 63 percent of individuals say they check Google reviews before contacting businesses for service. And given that homeowners want the best possible option when making changes to their homes, they’re going to start with businesses with higher overall ratings.

Simply seeking out positive reviews when you need to mask a negative one won’t necessarily give you that higher average. Instead, take a proactive approach to home improvement branding by continuously providing excellent service and tactfully encouraging customers to leave reviews.

(Note: Monitoring your business’s online reputation is a requirement for success in the digital age. Try our free Review Scan now for an instant reputation report on your business. It takes less than a minute!)