Readers will notice the lack of a question mark at the end of our headline; few people need to be told that private education faces a severe challenge in the coming months and years, with the introduction of VAT on fees and increasing taxes on the sources of those fees.
The story so far
Google reviews are no longer seen as 'novel' by consumers of high-value services such as medicine, finance, the law and - yes - education. They are now, after over fifteen years (Google first introduced reviews in 2007), seen as a trusted source and referred to by a large section of the population
Of all the sectors mentioned in the caption above the one that has taken the least notice - and advantage - of Google reviews, by far, is education. Just look at these searches for independent schools - first in London...
Then in Oxford...
What stands out? We suggest...
- None of the schools, in either location, has anywhere near the number of reviews needed for a prospective parent to seriously consider them to be a useful resource when researching current parents' opinions
- All have left themselves open to the unhelpful kind of 'spam' review that dominates the more famous (and, one might argue, the least financially and reputationally vulnerable) schools...
- None has yet found a way to safely engage with Google reviews
ModerationThe answer to the question posed above is 'moderation'. By inviting reviews to the school in the first instance (before Google) so an independent agency - HelpHound is one such - can be engaged to read every review and mediate between the reviewer and the school where errors of fact or misleading statements have been made*, before a corrected or amended version is then published on the school's website and then, and only then, to Google.
This kind of thing? Not so much
Moderation - there's more detail here - effectively acts as a safety net for both school and reviewer (parent/guardian) and the results are, and will continue to be, overwhelmingly positive: any doubts schools may have over parents' willingness to write a review have evaporated: experience shows that parents see the act of writing a review, to the school's website and to Google, as a way of thanking the school for the care they have shown towards their child.
- Fees - see just how little the outlay will be, compared with the potential returns
- Guarantee - all the financial risk removed