How Online Reviews Help Your Business Small businesses can use online reviews to stand out from local competitors. With search engines like Google and in online business directories like Yelp, how and when a business appears in results is often impacted by its rating and number of reviews. That’s why it’s important for small businesses to get more online reviews from customers. Reviews have the power to impact purchasing decisions and can give your business more credibility. If a potential customer reads a review from another customer’s experience, it can impact whether they decide to visit your business or not. And in many cases, before customers buy products, they’ll read reviews before they decide to purchase the item. You can also get valuable feedback from customers about your business. This is important to pay attention to, regardless of whether the reviews were negative or positive. In fact, reviewing and responding to negative reviews can yield positive results, as you can address issues with your products or services that make them better and potentially win back a customer. Another benefit of receiving online reviews is that they help build trust with customers. If customers see that you engage and respond to reviews on a regular basis, they may feel more confident trusting what your business has to offer. Lastly, reviews can help gain referrals to your business and assist in word-of-mouth marketing over time. When there’s talk about your business in local business directories and on social media platforms like Facebook, you’re likely to get noticed by more people. If you need help setting up your local business listings and getting more online reviews, Local Search Fuel by Hurrdat is a great solution. Our turnkey solution helps small businesses improve their visibility in local search results and attract new customers. Need help managing your local business listings online? Local Search Fuel offers a free local business listings scan. Visit localsearchfuel.com to get started!