5 Reasons General Contractors Should Care About Online Reviews

In an online economy, customer reviews are a business owner’s best friend.

In fact, about 93% of customers won’t engage with a local business until they’ve read several positive evaluations.

This is particularly important for general contractors to understand considering this industry has intense online competition, an increased desire for customer loyalty, and a strong reliance on word-of-mouth marketing.

Let’s dive into the "why"—here are five major ways positive online reviews can support your general contracting business.

1. Establish Credibility

Customers rely on business reviews because they offer unfiltered feedback about a company’s products and services. Positive feedback has the power to instill trust in potential clients, while negative reviews tend to provide the opposite effect.

Hearing positive reviews is like getting a recommendation from a friend.

General contracting companies benefit from this greatly because people are more likely to invest in potentially pricey home repairs with a trusted contractor recommended by a friend than a random, local business with no listed feedback online.

Keep in mind that many customers won’t try out a new business if it has anything less than a 3-star rating. On top of this, customers read nine to ten reviews on average before making a purchase decision.

It’s in your business’s best interest to seek out reviews and use them to establish your company’s credibility.

2. Increase Sales

In the same way that reviews establish credibility, they can also increase sales.

Positive reviews have been known to increase customer conversions by about 270%.

An increased conversion rate stemming from positive reviews usually coincides with more expensive products and services, such as residential or commercial general contracting projects. In other words? The more expensive your product or service, the more your customers are going to rely on reviews before purchasing.

Positive reviews can also increase sales through initial customer capture. A positive review advertised online can help grab your audience’s attention right off the bat.

But what about negative reviews? It might sound counterintuitive, but bad reviews have the power to benefit your sales too.

Good reviews make you look...well, good! But bad reviews allow you to interact with your customers’ feedback—adding authenticity and a level of personality to your brand, which customers value.

3. Improve Your SEO

When customers search “general contractors near me” on Google, you want your business name to show up first.

Of course you want people to see your business listing accompanied by lots of rave reviews, but in general, the more reviews you have, the better your SEO will be. Here’s why:

• Reviews often contain industry-specific keywords, which help boost your ranking results.
• Google puts a special emphasis on reviews when it comes to website rankings.
• Review responses show Google that you are engaged and active online. (You can also use your responses as an opportunity to include more keywords.)
• People tend to stay on your site longer when there are genuine, thorough reviews to read. This can significantly decrease your bounce rate.

Ultimately, reviews are a straightforward way to stay on top of the ever-changing game of SEO.

4. Improve Your Operations

Feedback is key for making improvements in your day-to-day business practices, and reviews are an excellent way to gain specific insight from customers.

Whether positive or negative, reviews serve as a first-hand source of knowledge on what people want or expect from a general contracting company.

When your business receives a glowing review, you’ll want to share it, respond to it, and promote it. On top of this, try to absorb what the client complimented specifically and carry that forward into your next project with other clients.

In the same light, you’re encouraged to make changes based on negative feedback too. Perhaps a customer had a bad experience with one of your contractors, or maybe their review will shed light on a generally frustrating business practice of yours.

In both cases, negative reviews have a positive side, as they hold opportunity for internal development.

All types of reviews impact your business reputation, and therefore your success. Take part in the conversation and use all types of customer evaluations to your advantage.

5. Free Marketing From Happy Clients

One of the most exciting benefits of online business reviews is that they allow your happiest clients to advertise for you.

At zero cost to you, a satisfied customer will support your marketing efforts by boasting about their great experience with your company. Other people then read their reviews and may decide to give your general contracting company a try.

That’s a win-win-win!

This concept is known as reputation marketing, and it’s proven successful for many businesses that have expanded their digital platform.

You can still play a role by being an active participant in your own review process. Do so by sending out review requests directly to happy clients. You can also ask someone in person if they were satisfied with your work and would be willing to leave you a good review.

It all starts with one review, but you can never have too many.

Get the Most Out of Online Reviews

Whether you’re a new business looking to get your name out there, or an established company trying to improve your local rating, client reviews will benefit your general contracting business greatly.

One of the easiest ways to start ramping up your review efforts is with the get reviews get reviews tool, which lets you easily request and share feedback and ratings from your clients.

Check it out today with GoSite’s Free Trial. You, your business, and your customers will be happy you did!