Google business reviews, in addition to reviews on other popular platforms like Yelp, Facebook and the BBB (Better Business Bureau), are more important now than ever before. Attracting a consistent flow of inbound tree service reviews will help position your tree service business at the top of your local market — it’s an integral part of marketing your tree service business.
Why are Google Tree Service Reviews Important?
Well, more consumers are now turning to Google reviews prior to making a purchase decision, meaning they are going to read through all of the reviews on your Google My Business profile prior to hiring your tree service company. It’s such a common practice these days that you have to assume that every potential customer is going to comb through your Google tree service reviews before even contacting you.
Accumulating strong tree service Google reviews helps to position your company as a local authority in the eyes of potential consumers, as well as contributing to your local tree service SEO results — all without having to dip into your allocated marketing and advertising budget.
What is a Google Review?
A Google review is a star rating and written description of the experience, positive or negative, left by past customers. Google allows anyone to leave a review on any business, as long as they have a valid Google account.
While this open policy can sometimes lead to inaccurate and false reviews, Google does provide a way for businesses to report inaccurate reviews. Their spam and fraud guards do a great job at blocking most false and/or fake reviews from being posted in the first place.
Technically speaking, it’s very simple to generate Google reviews by simply asking for them. You can ask past customers to visit your Google business listing and leave a review or implement a procedure that follows up with customers right after their tree service and asks them to leave a review. You will often find that simply asking is all it takes. If you truly provided excellent service your customers are going to be more than happy to oblige.
Importance of Google Reviews for Your Tree Service Business
Clever marketing campaigns and aggressive advertising aside, Google reviews provide consumers with the transparency and authenticity they desire, while acting as social proof — simply put, they judge your tree service business based on your online reviews.
When a potential customer in your area searches for a tree service business and your listing is displayed at the top that is just half of the battle — top listing or not, negative or unfavorable reviews are not going to push that potential customer towards a conversion.
Now, combine top Google local SEO results with a consistent flow of positive reviews and you have a recipe for success — this translates into leads and eventual sales.
Google Reviews will Help Position Your Tree Service Business Higher in the Search Results
A consistent flow of positive reviews is a good indication that a local business provides a great service and has a lot of happy customers, right? Well, don’t you think Google takes this into consideration and uses this data in its algorithm?
Of course they do, because their goal is to provide their users with results best-matched to their search query — and results that are more likely to provide those users with the best overall customer-experience.
Attracting positive Google reviews for your tree service business will help several ways. Consider these five key takeaways — they will help you understand their importance as well as help you attract more of them on a frequent basis.
1. New Reviews on a Consistent Basis Instills Consumer Trust
When you are constantly attracting new tree service reviews it accomplishes two things. It begins to build a long history of satisfied customers, which shows potential customers that you are a trusted business that has delivered excellent service over the course of your existence.
Second, it ensures that you always have recent reviews. When someone is looking at your Google reviews they want to see satisfied customers, and they tend to take recent reviews into consideration the most when making their decision. Tree service Google reviews from the past month are going to weigh more heavily on the decision process than reviews from a year ago.
2. Positive Reviews Result in Higher Lead Conversion Rates
When you generate Google reviews on a consistent and regular basis, you are building up your credibility, which then translates into consumer trust. Over time this greatly improves your lead conversion rates.
If someone is looking at the Google search results and sees four tree service businesses listed, and three of them have a few reviews and the fourth has more than thirty, how are they going to react?
They are going to naturally trust the business that is clearly dominating in terms of reviews. Does that necessarily mean that they are a better company or perform a better service? No, but they are going to receive the most leads, and from that, convert the most customers. It’s a numbers game, and if you get more Google reviews than the competition you will position your business to generate more leads thanks to achieving a higher conversion rate.
3. Your Customers are Going to Read Reviews Before Making a Hiring Decision
Plain and simple, if you want to grow your tree service business you need to make sure you are always attracting new Google reviews. Not only do they contribute to your ranking position on the Google Maps results, but they are also going to be a major influencer when it comes to the final hiring decision.
Google reviews contribute to tree service SEO, and help position you at the top of the results — businesses with more reviews are going to naturally attract more clicks. But, the sheer number of reviews alone isn’t going to do the convincing — it’s the actual context of the reviews that will give a potential customer the confidence to contact (and hire) your tree service business.
4. Consumers View Online Reviews Like Personal Recommendations
Word of mouth recommendations and referrals are highly powerful, as the potential customer was told about the outstanding work and service you provide by someone he or she fully trusts. That is why referrals have an extremely high probability of closing.
Well, in the digital age many consumers now trust online Google reviews — even those left by complete strangers — the way they trust a referral or recommendation from a close personal friend. This is why adding Google reviews consistently to your Google My Business profile are such an important part of your tree service marketing campaign.
When you step back and assume that each Google review carries the same weight as a personal referral, it becomes apparent that you need to adjust your strategy to include methods that directly and indirectly ask your previous customers to leave a Google review for your tree service business.
5. Most Customers will Leave a Review is Asked
You need Google reviews for your tree service business, but how do you attract these testimonials from customers? It’s actually much easier than you might think — you simply have to ask for them.
The majority of your past customers won’t voluntarily visit your Google business profile to leave a review, and not because they weren’t absolutely thrilled with the service received. It’s just not something that most consumers think to do without being reminded or asked.
Something as simple as an automated follow-up email thanking them for their business, along with the ask — and a link to your Google business profile — is all it takes. This alone will help you convert the majority of your customers into a review.
You can then personally reach out via a phone call to the ones that don’t leave a review — not everyone is proactive when it comes to email inbox management. Between an automated email “ask” and personal phone calls, you will see your Google reviews skyrocket in numbers.
