Independent estate agents - a great case-history

You've seen what HelpHound has done for the likes of Winkworth and Greene & Co, but how about a single branch independent? Well David Simpson, MD of Shepherds in Hertford, posted this on Linkedin yesterday...

...which just shows that you don't need massive muscle to make the most of reviews.

Over the time that Shepherds have been members they have seen many so-called reviews solutions come and go - from allAgents to Rateragent to Feefo to Trustpilot - the first plods on, the second evaporated some time ago, the third appears to have retreated back to online retail and the fourth has not been shown up in a great light by one of its most high-profile estate agency clients. Meanwhile HelpHound has helped Shepherds build up a virtually unrivalled position in its local search marketplace, by helping them focus on getting reviews to where they really matter: to their own website and to Google.

Here they are in the two most popular searches, first 'estate agent Hertford'...

...and next 'estate agents Hertford...

...in map search...

...passing the Google filter - you bet! And in their Google knowledge panel...

...helping to power some great SEO.

And on their website...

Oh! And not to forget, unlike many of their competitors (who are cherry-picking customers to write reviews) they are compliant with the CMA regulations - because anyone can write a review, at any time, just by clicking this button...

We cannot take all the credit - David and his team provide a first-class service (that is evident from reading their customers' reviews - a handful might be misleading, but 500+?) - but it does show just how important it is to choose the right reviews solution in the first place.

Is there any logic to Google local search?

The answer to this question (of vital importance to all businesses) is 'some'. At the moment the 'three pack' highlights three relevant businesses, of these some will be closest to the theoretical geographical centre of the search, some will exhibit little obvious logic.

Let's look at 'Estate agent Hertford':

Shepherds is close to the centre of Hertford, but William H Brown are far from being the next most central (King & Co and Churchills are closer) and as for Big Black Hen: according to Google they are nearly 1/2 mile from anything that could be considered to be the centre of town.

But is all of this about to become redundant?

As we've said before: Google's long-term success continues to depend on delivering the very best search results for its core audience: consumers. It has to be asking itself the question "Is there a better way?" And the answer is, of course, a resounding "Yes!" 

"Yes" how?

Unless you need A&E you are invariably not searching for the 'nearest' - pub/financial adviser/dentist. And you're certainly not searching for the business with the best SEO. What you really want is the BEST pub/financial adviser/dentist; that would really add value to your search experience. So how are Google going to deliver that value?

By ranking businesses in order of popularity: the BEST pub/financial adviser/dentist. How are they going to assess popularity? By looking at reviews. Whose reviews? Their own. Google's. 

It's not rocket science, is it? The vehicle is already there - the 'three pack' you see above, introduced earlier this year, so its not going to take a quantum leap for Google to serve...

"The best three businesses in [Hertford] in the opinion of our Google reviewers"

Beat the mad rush - look like this NOW...

 This client had NO Google reviews at the beginning of last year

... and keep on looking better and better every day until you are the top billed business of your kind in your area (and we're sure you won't stop even then). It's sure not to hurt you before Google introduce ranking, it sure will make sure you succeed when they do.

 

What does your membership of HelpHound say about your business?

We expend thousands of words on this blog showing you what effect membership will have on your business, but what about your customers. What effect does Dialogue™ have on them?

First, there are two key places most of you show your membership - on your module:

And in the header of your reviews:

And some of you expand on this:

So what important messages does this transmit to your customers? Here are the basics:

1. That you invite comments from all your customers
2. That any customer can write a review at any time
3. That you display all those reviews for everyone to see

But, more importantly, what does this say to your potential customer about your business?

• The key message you are transmitting is that you are sufficiently confident about the way your business conducts itself to expose it to ongoing and constant scrutiny

How attractive is this to your prospective customer? Everyone knows that no business is perfect, but equally everyone wants to choose a business that is as near as possible perfect for them. How reassuring for them to find dozens, if not hundreds, of reviews, the overwhelming majority of which are positive and informative? 

How reassuring is the content of those reviews when it addresses the the very issues of most concern to them?

How reassuring for them to find that your business has no way of suppressing negative comments and is therefore being entirely open and honest in its dealings with both existing and potential customers?

How much would you like to do business with a HelpHound client?