Category: Reputation Management

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Marketing Marketing Reputation Management SEO

What Every Roofer Needs to Know About Online Reputation Management

Roofers What Is SEO And What Does It Stand For

As a roofing contractor, you might find yourself overwhelmed each day, with thousands of things to worry about and manage

But controlling and monitoring what property owners say about your roofing business online should be an easy thing to do.

Every roofing contractor needs a solid online reputation management strategy to dominate the local roofing market.

We live in a digital world where your online reputation can be your significant liability. Property owners are increasingly using Google as their sidekick before deciding whether they are going to hire you for services or go to your competitors.

As a roofer, you need a robust online presence to thrive in the modern digital world.

Why is Online Reputation Management so Crucial for Roofers Today?

When you are starting your roofing business, there is little or no time to manage your online reputation.

More often than not, no customer is talking about your business online at that time.

But here is where the problem comes in.

As your roofing business expands and grows in your area, more property owners will start talking about your business online.

You need to monitor what they say and find.

Property Owners/Customers Care about Your Reviews

If customers are concerned about your reputation, then you should as well.

A recent study found out that over 80% of clients read online reviews to know which roofing contractor they are going to hire, and over more than 70% take an appropriate action based on what information found in those reviews.

 This shows that you could be losing a considerable chunk of roofing leads if your online reputation is not as impressive as it should be.

Online Reputation Management Tips for Roofing Contractors

There are tons of websites where property owners can leave online reviews. Still, this post will provide actionable online reputation tips for your business.

Claim All Your Listings

Your roofing company must claim all its business listing online. As a roofer, you need to go beyond Google My Business Listing. Ensure that your information is accurate across the web so that, regardless of how a prospect finds you, they will have crucial contact details to reach out to you.

Ensuring that your contact details are accurate will help to create trust with clients and make your listing legit in the eyes of the customers. If a prospect finds your business on a review site or directory and finds out the number you have indicated out of service, they will assume that your business is invalid or you are out of business.

Another main reason why consistency across various business listing is crucial is that search engines like Google check for compatibility to determine your roofing company is valid or not. If there are different phone numbers and addresses across Yelp, BBB, Facebook, and Angie’s list plus other directories, Google will not rank your business highly because it will appear more illegitimate.

Finally, after you have claimed all your roofing business listings online, you can control what customers say about your company. Besides giving you a chance to update your contact details, you will be able to optimize your company description, add photos, and respond to client reviews.

Get More Online Reviews

Online reviews are among the first things that property owners look for to determine whether or not they are going to hire your roofing business. Let’s face; several factors need to be considered when hiring a roofing contractor. It is not like going to the beauty parlor or finding a movie shop- the roof is what stands between your family and the elements. You must trust the roofer that you have hired to install, replace, or repair it.

If your roofing business does not have an excellent star rating average, or worse still doesn’t have any reviews, then you are losing an opportunity to acquire new clients online. It means that you need to start working hard to get more positive reviews online.

Although you are not supposed to bribe property owners to give you reviews or tell them what kind of review they should provide you, merely requesting for them is acceptable and an effective method of generating more reports online.

Respond to Reviews

Generating online reviews is a great step towards maintaining your roofing business online reputation. Still, your task is not done yet; you need to all reports (including the negative ones).

When you respond to negative reviews, share your version of the story with the one who left the review plus others who will read it. Unhappy customers always don’t know why things happened the way they did, and explaining it to them may diffuse the situation.

It is crucial, though, to own up the problem, even if you feel that it is not your fault. This does not imply that you have to take responsibility. Still, you should try to apologize for the bad experience they had with your roofing business. Never argue or insult a reviewer; if your tempers are high, given yourself time to cool off before you respond to a negative review.

One of the best methods of dealing with a negative review is to invite the reviewer to resolve the issue offline. This will save you from arguments or set the record straight with your customer on a public forum, and it shows that you are willing to rectify the bad experience.

Register for Google Alerts

When it comes to the online reputation of your roofing business, you cannot manage it properly if you set and leave it to gather dust. An effective online reputation management strategy means real-time, ongoing management, which implies that you have to know what customers are saying about your roofing business online.

One of the best methods to stay on top of what customers are saying about your roofing business online is to sign up for Google alerts. Google alerts are free, and you can use them to manage all types of things, including your roofing brand mentions. You can also use such signals to monitor what customers are saying about your competitors online, giving you the much-needed competitive advantage.

Hire BlackStorm Roofing Marketing to Manage Your Online Reputation 

The priority of every roofing business is its bottom line. Fortunately, our team will help you to develop a unique online review management strategy that will make you a top-rated roofing company in your area. They will automatically ask for reviews from customers after they have transacted with you.

There are several things that you can do to build and maintain your online reputation, and it can be overwhelming if you have other tasks that need your attention. That’s why you need to outsource your online review management to our team. If you need to know more about how you can manage the online reputation of your roofing business, schedule a free strategy session with our experts to see how our team can help you today!

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Industry Knowledge Lead Generation Reputation Management Roofing

How to Build Better Relationships With Your Roofing Clients

Build Better Relationships With Your Roofing Clients

The roofing industry is incredibly fast-moving and fluid, which can affect contractor-customer relationships. As a roofing contractor, you must develop strong customer relationship skills, particularly if you want to work with the client again or have that client refer you to their friends or relatives. Not only do positive customer relationships contribute to your business’s success, it directly impacts your roofing company brand. Here are the ten simple yet powerful steps you can take to create long-lasting client relationships, get referrals, and ultimately book more roofing jobs.

Make Communication Comfortable and Easy

Make Communication Comfortable and Easy

Solid customer relationships need active communication, and that implies clients must be comfortable contacting your business. Let customers know if you are best reached via emails, Slack, text messages, Skype, or any other communication method. 

It would help if you also tried to understand how customers prefer to be contacted.

Your communication with the customer during the project should be as frequent and lively as possible. Regular contact can help to build trust and makes sure that your client is cared for and that their property is in good hands.

Establish Rapport and Credibility Right Away    

When first meeting with a customer. They must earn your trust. This sets the tone for the whole project. The objective is to assure them that your business is the right one for the task.

First, make sure that you convince they are in safe hands. They want to be sure that they got the best solution (your roofing company) even if they don’t know much about your business. Acknowledge that you fully understand their challenges, and they will sit to listen to your marketing strategy.

It could help if you could refer to your previous customers who had a similar problem. Showing that you have helped other property owners with the same challenges makes them feel more secure in trusting you with their roofing projects. You can achieve this on your roofing website through customer testimonials.

Set Expectations and Deliver Them

As a roofer, do what you have committed to and deliver on what you have promised a customer. And don’t just meet expectations; surpass them with incredible results, energy, and communication.

You can begin by setting realistic expectations with your customer from the onset, from what you intend to deliver to how you will offer and how you will keep in touch to improve that relationship.

Always remember the key ingredient to delivering and surpassing expectations-your attitude! Never underestimate the power of a cool, calm, and positive attitude to instill confidence in your potential client.

Express Customer Appreciation

Expressing your gratitude intentionally shows your customers that your roofing business values them and their properties. 

Roofing contractors can convey such appreciations through a gift box, thank you card, or a gift card. Whether you have just completed a roofing project or want to spread some cheer, property owners appreciate the little gestures that show they are exceptional in your business.

Maintain an Active Social Media Presence and an Updated Roofing Website

Maintain an Active Social Media Presence and an Updated Roofing Website

Outdated or inaccurate information leads to frustration and loss of trust. If prospects cannot find what they are searching for, they will navigate away to your competitor’s website. Make sure that you update your business contact details when anything changes. Besides, make sure that you are responding to queries that prospects might have regarding your company.

Own Your Mistakes (Ad be results-oriented)

Mishaps and mistakes are bound to occur; the problem is how you bounce back from them.

This implies addressing the challenges right away (and apologizing if you are on the wrong), coming up with real solutions to what went wrong, and following up until rectified.

Ask for a Referral 

Ask for a Referral 

Your strongest roofing leads should come from referrals. An excellent online reputation and word-of-mouth recommendations are efficient ways of acquiring new customers. Requesting your clients for a referral is a crucial step in the follow-up process. You can give incentives through discounts on future projects such as window replacement or gutter repair to encourage existing clients to refer their friends or relatives to your business. 

Check-in Frequently 

Sending your client a personalized check-in email a few weeks after completing their roofing project is a practical yet inexpensive method of following up with your customers. Ensuring that their repair or installation is performing as expected and that their problem has been solved is vital to creating a lasting relationship with your customer. Furthermore, customizing emails for every client instead of sending generic emails shows your client that they are crucial in your business and that you are concerned about their satisfaction.

Ask For Feedback

Ask For Feedback

Obtaining feedback is not just for wrapping up completed roofing projects. But you should deliberately and consistently ask your customer how you can improve the way you work together.

When you have finally onboarded them, for instance, call them to know how it went, what they loved about the entire process, and if there is anything that could have been done differently. This will show interest in their happiness and opinion, but you also learn important information for future customers you may have onboard.

As a roofer, you should create an open relationship where feedback is welcomed and respected to form a basis of long term partnerships.

Stay Connected to Your Leads/ Customers

Achieving roofing business success boils down to nurturing and building relationships. A relationship with a client does not end when the project is completed. Maintaining relationships with clients increases the chances of booking more jobs, not just referrals. Sending something small like a holiday card can make a huge difference.

Keep the discussion going with your customer or lead after the sales meeting. Provide added value by sending relevant roofing industry updates and news to clients or prospects.

Use These Tips to build stronger Relationship With Your Clients.

Acquiring new customers is a crucial part of running your roofing company. But if you want your roofing company to succeed in the long term, you should concentrate on managing relationships with existing customers. This will help to keep your customers coming back to book jobs for many years to come. If you want to create a new roofing website to improve your online presence, kindly schedule a free strategy session with our experts today!

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Growth Strategies Local SEO Marketing Reputation Management Roofing SEO Website Design

Watch out! The Top 13 Mistakes to Avoid When Creating a Roofing Website (And What to Do Instead)

Mistakes to Avoid When Creating a Roofing Website

eady to take your roofing company online?

The first thing you need is a reliable and attractive website to deliver company strategy to clients. 

Nowadays, practically every roofing business – small or large has a website. If you don’t have a roofing website, you could miss out on potential leads and unlimited traffic. Most roofers have no idea where to start when it comes to creating a perfect website. To assist you to avoid their common pitfalls, here are the ten things you must avoid in your roofing website (and what to do instead)

Do Not Try to Make a Sale

Most visitors coming to your roofing website don’t have any clue about your business. They are only researching and are searching for various options.

If you attempt to make a sale right on your roofing website, you will turn away most of these property owners and possibly lose many leads. You want to get the property owner on the phone straight away, and that’s what your website should be created to achieve. 

While it is true that you built your roofing website to book more jobs, you need to have something that makes you unique. Tell your prospects about the “why” and what needs does your service or product fill-in? All of these details will give your customers more of a unique experience and set your business apart in the crowded marketplace.

Roofing Website Call to Action

Call to Action

Now that prospects/ clients have landed on your roofing website, it should be obvious what they require to do next. A classic blunder that most roofers make is failing to offer this vital information. But you must tell prospects/ customers what you are requesting from them. This could be downloading an e-book or booking a job, but you need to persuade them to complete the action carefully. If a visitor has made it this far, it means that you have done a great job to hook their interests with your content and design, but you need to take your relationship with the customer to the next level.

Things Avoid When Creating a Roofing Website

Neglecting the Look of their Website

When looking at the pitfalls to avoid while creating a roofing website, having a cluttered homepage is undoubtedly one of them. A messy website will make your roofing company lose potential leads. Your roofing website should look professional and pleasant. Examine your roofing website from a property owner’s perspective and make sure it portrays the quality and professionalism you can offer as a roofer.

Navigation

When visitors land on your roofing website, they want to find the information they are searching for quickly. This implies that the last thing you should have on your company website is lousy navigation. 

Here are some tips that will help to simplify your client experience:

  • Use a theme; with a reliable CMS and a good theme, your roofing website can look friendly and professional.
  • Stick with the standards; Adhere to the primary navigation standard.
  • Avoid Overwhelming your clients:  Your clients should be able to see your points quickly, and that’s why you should not add too much clutter on your pages.

Not Including Testimonials

When a prospect first lands on your roofing website, they don’t have sufficient information to trust your company straight away. You can help them trust your business by including a few testimonials on each page of your roofing website.

Testimonials from your previous clients are influential in creating trust with your potential customers. Ensure that any visitor who comes to your roofing website can read the testimonials without looking for them.

Make the Roofing Website Responsive

Not Making the Website Responsive

All roofing websites should be responsive today. This is because most customers browse more on their tablets and smartphones than on desktops. That said, your website needs to perform and look as good on a small screen as in a large one.

You can do many things to make your roofing website responsive; the easiest one is a partner with a reputable website designer who specializes in responsive sites. Using an experienced web design agency like Blackstorm Roofing Marketing will help you create a unique roofing website that will set your business apart from the competition.

Failing to Update the Roofing Website Regularly 

Nothing is more frustrating than a roofing website that’s not updated. If your last entry to your blog or website was done four months ago, you send signals that you don’t care about prospects that frequent your site. Ensure your contact details are updated, and the hours of operation are clearly stated on your website.

Roofing SEO

Ignoring Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

While some roofers wrongly think that poorly designed websites mean negative user experience, its content can break or make lead and traffic generation. Topnotch content offers exceptional value and makes your site visible to search engines.

Unfortunately, there is no magic recipe to obtain high rankings on the search engines.

What’s more:

High search engine results don’t occur overnight. Conventional SEO is used to mix thin content, stuffed keywords, and lots of haphazard backlinks (whether credible or not)

Search engine algorithms have changed a lot and have incorporated various factors into ranking the site.

If you want your roofing website to be found on top of Google search results, consider the following factors;

  •  Focus on Long-Tail Roofing Keywords

Long-tail keywords are the direction that the prospect’s searches are heading –a more natural approach.

It will be easier for you to rank for long-tail keywords than the shorter ones, and this will bring your business more qualified leads.

For example:

Instead of “roof installation,” you can try this long-tail keyword, “how much does roof installation cost?”

Other examples of roofing long-tail keywords can be found if you do an initial search on Google for the shorter keywords (otherwise known as the head term)

  • Post High-Quality Content Regularly

A stale roofing website will not develop a more substantial relationship with repeat clients or prospects. You must provide informative, fresh, and unique content. This frequent, topnotch content is nowadays regarded as a common SEO practice.

This adage still holds: content is king. 

Consider incorporating an active blog component to your roofing website. 

A blog will help you share helpful expertise and the latest roofing industry trends. Give your prospects value that will, in turn, make them trust you and build your brand. 

Select topics that offer vital information and engage readers, in a well-structured format of at least 1000 words (if not more)

  • Encourage Social Engagement

One thing that can set your small roofing business apart from large brands is the ability to connect with your clients on a personal level.

An excellent way to enhance such relationships is via social network sites like Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook. These outlets offer a perfect way to strengthen your customer service recognition and brand identity. Combine regular blog posting and social sharing; you stand a higher chance of showing on top of Google results.Website Contact Details

Tough to Find Contact Details

Your roofing company should be everybody’s business!

Clients and Prospects need to get in touch with your company quickly.

Mostly, roofing website owners do not show their contact details like phone numbers or emails prominently on the footer and header, or a dedicated contact us page.

As a roofer, you should make it easy for clients/prospects to contact you either by phone or email, or both. Have a contact us page or list your contact information at the bottom of your homepage. If contacting you directly is a step towards generating new leads, failing to include contact details could be a huge problem. 

Place a clear call to action in the header with a direct phone number (example, call 700-555-555 for a free estimate today).

Slow Website Loading

Slow Loading Times

If your roofing website loads slowly, you will lose potential leads/clients. By slow, we mean that your roofing website takes more than three seconds to load. In a world of instant gratification that we live in, we expect web pages to load faster and give the required information with ease.

According to Google, over 50% of mobile users leave a site that takes more than three seconds to load. A slow roofing website can negatively impact your search engine rankings.

This website pitfall may be a technical issue. So, it is crucial to get your web designer involved to look for ways of speeding up your website.

For new website design, make sure that having a fast loading website is at the top of your priorities when giving out instructions to your website design agency.

Forgetting the Analytics

A roofing website is not something that you create and forget about. The trends in customer preference and website design are constantly changing, and it is crucial to stay updated on what is happening in your industry. Fortunately, there are many analytical tools, including Google webmaster tools, that can assist in monitoring your roofing website’s performance. The more you understand the pages driving conversions and those slowing your website, the faster your roofing company can grow.

Unclear and Inconsistent Brand Messaging

Brand messaging is a success factor for all the major roofing contractors, but it is starting to gain traction among small roofing business owners.

The key here is storytelling.

This means that you need to create compelling content that connects your audience at an emotional level.

If you are like every other roofer out there; why should prospects or clients care?

To stand out, your messaging has to come from your brand beliefs and values. This is what will set your business apart from the competition.

Here is the most crucial part:

Your roofing website content should address your target audience’s motivations and needs, not your accomplishments or agendas.

 Talk less about yourself and discuss more about solving your client’s pain points. It is a discussion that builds trust, which leads to more booked jobs or increased roofing sales.

Lack of Intuitive Roofing Website Design

Lack of Intuitive Design

The functionality of your roofing website should be intuitive to visitors. This means that they require knowing what and where to click to move to another page on your website.

Your menu should be visible on the home page and have clear icons where visitors can find what they require.

If users require too much effort to find specific information on your site, they will move to another area where the data is readily available.

Reminder: Make Sure You Don’t Have a Poorly Designed Roofing Website.

Generate more roofing leads with these easy and quick solutions to solve significant website design pitfalls. Include these practices when designing a new roofing website;

  • Use a compelling Call to Action that drives prospects down to the conversion funnel.
  • Have Google Analytics installed to monitor the performance of your roofing website
  • Provide crystal messaging to the right target audience
  • Post blog content regularly, focus on long-tail keywords, and share it on social media platforms.
  • Optimize the loading speed of your roofing website and keep prospects/clients engaged.
  • Make sure your roofing website provides an excellent mobile user experience.
  • Place a visible email or phone number in the header and the contact us section of your website.
  • Educate property owners about the benefits they will get by booking a job with your company instead of trying to make a sale.

Build Roofing Website

Build Your Roofing Website Today 

With all the tasks to juggle as a roofing contractor, you should hire a reputable website design agency like Blackstorm Roofing Marketing. We help design roofing websites that generate leads for your company by offering an excellent user experience for your clients. 

And more importantly, avoid all the standard website design pitfalls discussed in this post.

Besides roofing web design and development, we will offer free consultation on content marketing to attract prospects, effective search engine optimization techniques, and a successful reputation management strategy.

If you want to build a new online presence for your roofing brand or revamp an existing roofing website, please schedule a free strategy session with our growth experts today! 

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Local Marketing Local SEO Marketing Off-Page SEO On-Page SEO Organic Traffic PPC Promotion Reputation Management SEO Social Media Website Traffic

Top 8 Reasons to Hire an SEO Agency For Your Plumbing + HVAC Marketing

Top 8 Reasons to Hire an SEO Agency For Your Plumbing + HVAC Marketing

Do you want your plumbing + HVAC website to be found online by potential clients and leads?

Are you planning to hire an SEO agency but don’t know the advantages they can bring to your plumbing + HVAC business?

If so, this post will explain the advantages of hiring a reputable SEO agency instead of doing it on your own.

SEO is the process of improving your plumbing + HVAC website in a way that allows people to visit your site, find you online, and have a great experience.

SEO can be a tricky game, so you must hire a reputable Plumbing + HVAC SEO agency to get the desired results.

Here are crucial reasons why you should hire a Plumbing + HVAC SEO agency instead of trying to achieve results on your own

Hiring a Plumbing + HVAC SEO Agency Saves Manpower and Money

Handling plumbing + HVAC SEO on your own can be an overwhelming task. You might have an in-house SEO team, which implies that you will be paying salaries plus other accrued benefits.

However, with the plumbing + HVAC SEO agency, you will only pay for the services offered and have various professionals handling various areas of your plumbing + HVAC marketing to guarantee desired results. Your plumbing + HVAC business will save more money, hiring a plumbing + HVAC SEO agency than working with an in-house team to deal with your plumbing + HVAC marketing online.

Reason 1) A Plumbing + HVAC SEO Agency Has the Experience & Expertise to Produce Desired Results

As a plumbing + HVAC contractor, you might have read various topics about SEO, but you cannot be able to optimize your plumbing + HVAC website. Experienced plumbing + HVAC SEO agencies make a living assisting plumbing + HVAC contractors in succeeding in their online SEO campaigns. Consequently, they are well-equipped and have extensive knowledge of this SEO game. Since these agencies have worked with many plumbing + HVAC contractors over the years, they will use the skills and experience to deliver the desired results.

Reason 2) A Plumbing + HVAC SEO agency Frees up Your Time So that you can focus on running Your Business

As a plumbing + HVAC contractor, it is unlikely that you have all the resources and time needed to launch an effective SEO campaign. You have bills to pay, workers to manage, and phone calls to answer/make. That leaves you with little or time to concentrate on an SEO campaign.

Hiring a professional plumbing + HVAC SEO agency can minimize the stress of doing SEO campaigns alone, and makes sure that it is done correctly. An SEO agency will handle everything from researching your industry to mapping out the campaign. This gives you enough time to continue running your plumbing + HVAC business like a pro.

Reason 3) A Plumbing + HVAC SEO Agency Delivers the Best Results

Even though your plumbing + HVAC website may be well-designed, it will not meet its goal if it’s not obtaining good traffic. When you hire a reputable plumbing + HVAC agency, you will gain the desired results. These professionals will first assess your plumbing + HVAC website and ensure that it is functioning optimally. They will make sure that your site converts leads to clients.

Reason 4) An SEO Agency Guarantees High Return on Investment

Search engine optimization involves a lot of things more than just getting high traffic to your site. It helps to attract relevant traffic that can be converted from leads to potential customers in the long term. SEO professionals know how to entice prospects who are currently searching for plumbing + HVAC services or products in your area. Consequently, you will achieve high returns than what you had initially invested, which gives you a chance to build your plumbing + HVAC brand.

Reason 5) A Plumbing + HVAC SEO Agency helps you to Gain Advantage over Competition

Blackstorm Plumbing + HVAC marketing team will do a comprehensive research about what your competitors are doing to dominate local search rankings. As a result, they will develop workable strategies that will help your business beat competition and put your business as an authority in the plumbing + HVAC niche. A right SEO agency will help you to do this and yield better results.

Reason 6) SEO Maintenance and Fixes

As you already know, SEO is not a onetime thing; it is a continuous process. Regular SEO maintenance is needed to keep a well-formed and optimized plumbing + HVAC website; this agency maintains SEO rankings and fixes any bug that might occur anytime. So having regular checkups for your plumbing + HVAC website will make it be ranked high by search engines.

Reason 7) Plumbing + HVAC SEO Agencies Have Access to Analytics and Tools

One of the crucial aspects of SEO is spying your competition, what they are doing online, and develop a strategy that will outrank them in the market.

However, you cannot know what your competitors are doing if you don’t have the right tools.

Professional plumbing + HVAC SEO agencies like Blackstorm plumbing + HVAC marketing have analytics and tools needed to spy on completion and develop a unique SEO strategy for your plumbing + HVAC business.

These tools also help them to know the progress and success of your SEO campaign.

Reason 8) An SEO Agency Will Help You Get the Right Long-Tail Plumbing + HVAC Keywords

As a plumbing + HVAC contractor, long-tail keywords should be your primary focus. They have less competition compared to shorter keywords. Finding the right long-tail plumbing + HVAC keywords will help your site to rank faster because they have low or no competition.

Wrapping it up

The fact is that hiring a plumbing + HVAC SEO agency will help your business to found online by prospects or customers looking for your product or services. When your website gets ranked highly by search engines, which means it will get high traffic.

With thousands of plumbing + HVAC SEO agencies around the world, it can be challenging to choose the right one.

If you are looking for a reputable SEO company to market your plumbing + HVAC business, Blackstorm plumbing + HVAC marketing is your best bet.

What Sets Blackstorm’s Plumbing + HVAC Marketing SEO Services Apart from the Rest?

Dedicated SEO Professionals

At Blackstorm plumbing + HVAC marketing, we strive to make the complicated plumbing + HVAC marketing process more straightforward for our customers. We will allocate one SEO professional to analyze your business competition, and develop a unique strategy for your plumbing + HVAC business.

Transparent Reporting & Pricing

While our competitors use mirrors and smoke, we remain open, and you can see actually how our SEO efforts are boosting your online revenue. Also, we charge only what is reflected in our quote (No hidden charges).

Ready to get started? Contact us for a free Plumbing + HVAC SEO strategy session today!

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GMB Reputation Management Reviews

How To Respond To Reviews About Your Plumbing + HVAC Business

How To Respond To Reviews About Your Plumbing + HVAC Business

For any business owner, everyone knows that reviews come with the territory. Any business will receive negative reviews at some point in their career or another and hopefully, your business has positive reviews too. Reading the positive reviews can leave you encouraged and help your business, but negative ones can often be hard to read, hard to take, and can sometimes even hurt your business sales drastically.

How you and your company respond to positive and negative reviews will determine how well your business does and how it’s perceived to your customers. How they see you is one of the most important parts of running your business. But with all these different reviews, how can you make sure you’re responding in a way that’s going to enhance your business and not hurt it? Well, this article is going to break down exactly how you can respond to both positive and negative reviews in a way that will help your business flourish.

Firstly, you need to make sure that all of your responses are formal and polite. It doesn’t matter if you’re commenting on positive or negative reviews, but how your customers see and read your responses will determine how they perceive you and their perception of you will determine if they’re going to continue to be your customers or not. You have to protect you and your company’s reputation, so when you respond to any reviews, you need to carefully think through it, especially when you deal with negative reviews. The last thing you want to do is take a negative review, which reflects badly on your company and makes it worse by responding in the wrong way.

To handle positive reviews, you need to make sure you do three major things:

1) Track reviews. If you’re getting reviews, especially positive ones, you want to make sure you know who is giving out those positive reviews for your business. There are a lot of sites that can help you keep track, such as Yelp, Product Review, Trip Advisor, and more. Each time your business is reviewed, they will let you know.

2) Decide who handles the reviews your business receives. You need to have someone assigned who will read and respond to the reviews you get. This person is one you want to make sure knows how to respond politely and someone who has experience in the area – an inexperienced person who handles this could hurt your company, so you want to make sure you get the right person for the job.

3) Claim or create your business page. Sites like Yelp (mentioned above), Zomato, and Google Places use data gathered from online to create a page for your business. Some do this automatically, which is great for you, but others will only do it after you’re reviewed.

Some of the things you want to keep in mind when handling any type of reviews for your business is:

1) Always respond to positive reviews. Most people’s automatic responses are to respond to negative reviews but when you read a positive one, you want to thank that person and show that you really care. If you don’t respond to your customers, people who went out of their way to review your brand or business, it tells others that you don’t care about them and that could cause you to lose customers, which is the last thing that you want.

2) Handle negative reviews well. If you get into an argument with anyone who leaves a negative review, customers are going to see that you aren’t calm and they may even choose not to work with your business because of the bad attitude they see. You are a business and therefore, should respond politely and professionally. Always remember that, even when a negative review is left. Another thing to help with negative reviews is to take what they say into consideration. It may not be correct and it may be ridiculous, but you never know when someone’s honest feedback can help you improve your business which may end with you getting more customers if these issues are addressed at some point.

3) Whatever you do, never ever post fake reviews. Do not hire writers to leave reviews of your content, do not write them yourself. It may take a while, but let the reviews come naturally on their own. If you’re ever caught doing fake ones, your reputation will be ruined and your business will be hurt because of it.

4) Follow the rules of whatever site the reviews are left on. If you don’t, it could also end with you having a bad reputation, which again, is the last thing your business needs.

Whatever you do, here are things you don’t want to do:

1) Do not bribe your customers in exchange for reviews. This reflects poorly on you and your brand.
2) Do not send emails asking everyone in your email list for positive reviews. Begging for reviews looks just as bad as bribing does.

Here are some things you can do to make reviewing more convenient for your customers.

1) Use the logos of review sites in your store and your website.

2) In your store, give away comment cards that include the logos and website addresses of review sites.

3) Put a review us now button on your website

4) Always give your customers new and good reasons to review your business (examples of this would be new offers, products, etc).

5) Politely ask customers who have expressed to you that they’re really happy with your brand or business to leave a review.

6) Set a goal to get a few new reviews each month.

Setting up your own business can be hard and keeping it running can be even worse at times. Getting reviews can make or break your business in so many different ways. Too many negative reviews can lead customers away from you and your brand and too many positive ones can make them suspicious. Even though you have no control over what reviews are left, there are things you can do to help and hopefully, this article at least broke down the ways in which you can respond. The last thing you want to do is to respond in a way that reflects badly on your business. You and your business have enough to worry about without the added trouble of a bad response on your part. Remember to respond to all reviews, show that you care, and never ever argue with someone or respond rudely to negative ones. Be professional, especially if you want to be taken seriously as a professional.

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