When customers need help from a tradie, be it a plumber, mechanic, roofer, sparkie or locksmith, what’s one of the first things they’ll pick to pieces?
The answer: online reviews.
Customer reviews are many potential customers’ first port of call when they start looking for information a tradesman to fix their problems.
Customer reviews aren’t just for show – they say a lot about your experience, workmanship and other important details.
But more importantly, they also play an important role in your tradie marketing strategy!
The power of online reviews
Everybody knows that reviews are important for establishing a name for yourself.
But here are some statistics you mightn’t have known before, courtesy of Forbes:
- 90% of users read online reviews first
- 84% give online reviews as much weight as word-of-mouth
- Each additional star in your rating means up to 9% additional revenue
- 40% of people make their minds up after reading 1-3 reviews
Yes, online reviews are a big deal when it comes to making a name for yourself.
Services, workmanship, overall customer experience… these are the sorts of things reviews reveal about your tradie business.
But as a tradie, you already knew that. What you might not know is that reviews can impact the success of your tradie marketing strategy too!
Content marketing: what is it, and how do reviews come into the picture?
Content marketing isn’t just about creating content and putting it on your site.
It’s about builds trust in your workmanship and persuades visitors to pick up the phone.
That requires crafting content that is:
- Informative
- Persuasive
- Well-written
- High-quality
Basically, it’s all about building your credibility.
Successful content marketing instigates trust and convinces visitors that you have the fix for their problems… we think you can see where we’re going with this!
When it comes to content marketing, reviews are easily one of the most powerful types of content out there.
5-star reviews and glowing testimonials should feature throughout your website.
Reviews and SEO: what’s the link?
Here’s a little-known fact: did you know that reviews directly affect your tradie SEO too?
Google looks at a lot of factors when ranking web pages. One of those is your reviews.
It’s estimated that reviews account for 8.4% of Google’s search algorithm. For smaller businesses, this can tip the scales in your favour.
Every website with a Google business listing can receive reviews from Google users.
When it comes to local SEO (read: the most important type of SEO for businesses like tradies), Google uses three main ranking factors:
- Relevance (how well you match the search)
- Distance (exactly what it says on the tin)
- Prominence (how credible a local business is)
It’s the third one that we care about.
Simply put, prominence is all about how well-known or important your business is locally.
This is based on a lot of factors, including – you guessed it – businesses with good reviews.
And you can’t forget third-party review sites like TrueLocal or WOMO either!
While Google doesn’t directly consult these sites, external reviews help your tradie SEO by creating additional backlinks. More links going to your site means more credibility for your site in Google’s eyes – after all, that many people linking to your site can’t be wrong.
Not to mention, it also means more potential clicks coming from customers!
So you’re a tradie… how can you bring in more positive reviews?
The simplest ways to get positive reviews? Ask for them!
Sometimes, all it takes is a gentle reminder. A polite, simple, and personal email is all it takes to encourage a happy customer to take a few minutes from their day to share some positive thoughts.
One thing you should never do however is fake good reviews.
Google is smart enough to separate legitimate 5-star reviews from fake ones.
Running competitions or giveaways where a condition to entry is a good review isn’t a good idea either, as this often triggers Google’s “fake review bot”.
Choose iformat for tradie marketing that works!
A customer contacting a tradie for the first time can feel a bit uneasy.
For digital strategies that bring in the phone calls and make customers want to leave positive reviews, get in touch with Melbourne’s best tradie marketing agency – iformat!
Our specialty is developing tailored tradie marketing packages that bring customers to your site and encouraging them to choose you over your competitors.
And we can back it up too. For almost 12 years now, iformat has helped tradie businesses land more phone calls, quotes and jobs – here are just a couple of them.
Give our team a call today on 1300 88 64 50 or reach out to us online to start enjoying guaranteed results for your tradie business.