But that’s actually a good thing – and there
are plenty of good reasons why your business
should be listed on review sites. The first is that
you get to add a link to your website which will
boost your traffic - and secondly, people can
also get some basic information about your
business such as the name of your hours of operation, where it’s located, your phone number
and so on.
But most importantly it’s the customer reviews
on these review sites (they call them review sites
for a reason!), that makes them so important, but
it also can be a double-edged sword.
Positive reviews can do wonders for your business, as review websites are considered more
credible than any form of advertising. But negative reviews can have disastrous consequences
to your bottom line. The complaint can be serious enough to significantly derail your business.
Like a report about seeing bed bugs in a hotel
room or a cockroach in an entrée at a restaurant.
What’s really frustrating is when the report is not
true and no merit at all.
But the question is, when should you remove reviews – reviews that make your business look bad?
ADVANTAGES OF REMOVING
NEGATIVE REVIEWS
Purging negative reviews can be a good thing.
First of all, it limits the number of people who’ll
ever read them – keeping the damage to a minimum. After all, it’s not unusual for a potential
customer to reconsider their choice after reading just one negative review over a dozen positive ones.
Another benefit to removing negative reviews
means that your average rating will go up. Studies show that a high customer rating means a
potential increase of 55% in sales. According
to Yelp, a restaurant with a 4-star rating is 63%
more likely to be full at any given time than a
restaurant with just a 3-star average rating. And
a one-star increase in the average rating can
bump up your revenue by 5 to 9 percent.
So it’s blatantly obvious why anyone who runs a
business would want to remove negative reviews.
ACCORDING TO YELP, A RESTAURANT WITH A 4-STAR
RATING IS 63% MORE LIKELY TO BE FULL AT ANY GIVEN
TIME THAN A RESTAURANT WITH JUST A 3-STAR AVERAGE RATING.