Increase Your Business’ Google Star Rating | Vicinus.ai

For businesses with a low star rating on Google My Business (GMB), increasing your positive reviews can be a challenge. After all, a google star rating is one of the first things potential customers look at when they first discover your business.

From understanding the quality of your products/services to making sure that your business is authentic, Google star ratings go a long way.

Additionally, having a low Google star rating on your GMB listing even determines where your business listing ranks on Google search results. This is because Google wants to show the very best businesses on the local map pack which means that lower star ratings aren’t shown as frequently.

However, if you do have a lower star rating, don’t worry! There are many ways in which you can improve your Google star rating below.

Why Do I Have a Low Google Star Rating?

This is the first question you must ask yourself before starting to try and improve your star ratings. 

Ask yourself these questions:

• Has my customer service been inadequate?
• Are these star ratings reflective of my business practices?
• Does the business have a negative public image?

If you believe that these reviews aren’t reflective of your business as a whole, asking for real-time customer feedback is a great way to determine this. Perhaps after a purchase, you can ask your customers, or send out a short questionnaire to get to the bottom of what is giving you a low star rating.

Should I Respond To Every Review To Increase My Google Star Rating?

Whether you have received a glowing positive rating, or a scathing negative one, responding to your reviews is one of the most important parts of building up your star rating.

The reviewers not only understand the effort your business is making to make sure its customers are happy, but it may also resolve some problems too!

In one of our previous blog posts, ‘Should You Be Worried About Negative Reviews?’ we suggested that:

‘Negative reviews don’t have to damage your business reputation. You can actually use them to your advantage. By this we mean, don’t just respond to your positive reviews, also respond to those low-star reviews. This is because 45% of consumers are more likely to visit a business if it responds to negative reviews.’

This means that responding to reviews, whether negative or positive, can actually lead to a positive outcome.

Whether the issue is resolved by responding to a review or not, you are still showing potential customers that you are trying your best to ensure they are happy with your products and/or services.

If you are struggling to respond to all of your reviews, this is where Vicinus can help you out. 

Vicinus assists with monitoring reviews through machine learning sentiment analysis. Additionally, an integrated CRM (Customer Relationship Management) increases review quantity.

Monitoring reviews and interacting with customers will help increase brand trust, conversions, and user actions.

For more information, please check out our website here, or contact us for a free demo: contact@vicinus.ai

Do I Need To Optimise My Google My Business Page To Increase My Google Star Rating?

As your GMB profile makes it easy for customers to not only find you but also to leave a review about your business, optimising your listing is definitely the way to go.

A few ways you can optimise your GMB profile are:

• Making sure your NAP (name, address & phone number) data are accurate and updated
• Add key attributes to your listing such as Wifi, parking, diets etc. (obviously, this is dependent on the type of business you are)
• Add high-quality photos and videos to your profile
• Write a business description with both short and long-tail keywords
• Use the Q&A’s section to understand your audience’s needs 
• Showcase offers and events using GMB Posts
• If you are part of the foodservice industry, add your menu/product collection
• Encourage customers to ‘follow’ you using Google Maps
• Request Google reviews and connect to a trusted review site such as Yelp
• Update business hours, description, address etc., with any changes to your business frequently updated on your profile
• Make use of GMB insights to learn about your target audience

For more information, check our GMB yourself!

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