'Reviews or Testimonials'? - Go Google!

Some of you will have seen this advertisement from a reviews site, in this case targeting estate agents...

...so let's analyse its content.

The main thrust

We have no argument at all with this - testimonials, in the 'Mrs P from Hertford' form so often seen, are so 'last century', and we think most businesses are on board with the contention that reviews are the way ahead these days.

But when we move on to the content of the advertisement we begin to have issues. Try asking the question 'Why not Google?' to each point they make. Here we go...

• 'Unbiased': Google 'don't stop any reviews, good or bad'. It could be argued that the odd 'fake' review appears on Google, but these are very rare indeed (remember that a Google account is needed to write a review, and that Google are 'watching' every move the fake reviewer is making on the web). On the other hand one could argue that reviews sites incorporate mechanisms that favour their business customers - try writing a review on one of this site's businesses (and be sure to let us know if you succeed)*.

• 'Transparent': We are unsure as the meaning of this in the context of 'Our reviews are indexed with Google, but does it matter? Get Google reviews and they sure as eggs will be 'indexed with Google' then!

• 'Trustworthy': We won't take issue with 'all our reviews are 100% authentic' until we mine deeper and ask questions like 'was every customer asked to write a review?' (we are sure they are for online retail, but have doubts when it comes to some service businesses - does every estate agent, for instance, invite every single tenant to write a review when they check out of a property? Can such a customer write a review if they want to?**). Even for online retail - can a customer write a review a year post-purchase, when they will be able to make an informed comment about the longevity of the product they purchased?

*this - being unable to write a review when a consumer wants to - is a major cause of something we call 'deflection' (essential reading) where a business ends up looking great on an all-but-invisible reviews site and much less attractive where it matters: on Google.

**the answer, for those interested, is 'No'. This may be seen as some businesses as a 'benefit' - those businesses would do well to consult the CMA's regulations.

Go Google! - and Go HelpHound!

Back to the title of this article: our message is loud and clear - get Google reviews.

That only leaves one question for us to answer: why use HelpHound? And the answer to that is twofold...

• if you are a service business or a professional service you, and your reviewers, will need moderation. Buying a pair of shoes? A Google score of 4 out of 5 won't put you off. Searching for an oncologist? You would want the highest score - and the most accurate reviews - possible. HelpHound's moderation enables both business and reviewer ensure that the reviews ultimately posted are as accurate as they possibly can be.

• Your business needs independently verified reviews on its own website*** - to drive business through your website (and to enable our moderation to work)

***There is a 'third option' on the market currently - review aggregation: - importing reviews from external sites, Google, Facebook and the reviews sites and displaying them on your website - but this bypasses moderation, resulting in potentially inaccurate or misleading reviews appearing front-and-centre of the business's own website, like this...

...which would be fine if the reviews were accurate, but we suspect many are not, and would have benefitted - business, reviewer and consumer (reader) alike - from our moderation.

It's not as if you would be making any sacrifices...

This is what a typical HelpHound client looks like in a specific search...

   ...great Google score, great reviews - and 'rich snippets' (bottom right) - underlying it, their own reviews, moderated by HelpHound, showing as a star rating in organic search (top left)

...and a local search...

  unedited - today's search results - check for yourself!

Call us!

Review 'aggregators' - and why they are the wrong solution

What is an 'aggregator'? An aggregator simply displays reviews from all over the web - usually Google and all the reviews sites - on the business's own website and in search. It sounds like a good idea (they certainly promote it as one!) - until a customer writes an unfair, inaccurate or potentially misleading review on an external platform that neither the business in question, nor the aggregator, has any control over.

And, make no bones, the kind of negative reviews you see in the examples below, do harm businesses - just because no-one rings or emails a business saying "I'm not using your business because I read a negative review" it doesn't mean that doesn't happen - it does, all the time. According to a recent survey by the Chartered Institute of Marketing 93% of consumers now actively consult reviews before doing business - and we're guessing the remaining 7% don't have access to the web!

Here is an example of an aggregator...

...simply showing - on the business's own website - what any potential client might reasonably be expected to find on Google...

 This Google score is not necessarily an indicator of a business that is unpopular with a significant proportion of its customers, but it is an indicator of a business that has chosen the wrong review management solution

...and, if that is not enough 'self-harming' - here is more evidence to show how it has the potential to do serious damage to the business in question...

This is the most recent review published on Google and then re-published on the business's own website by the aggregator

Here is another aggregator and another business's website...

...with the results highlighted in search...

You cannot argue with the aggregator's SEO: but here it is working directly against the interests of their client

The root cause of this? Lack of moderation. We are sure that the businesses themselves, when quizzed about the individual negative reviews, would all have reasons why many of them were inaccurate and/or misleading (the word 'unfair' often crops up when we speak to businesses) - but the external sites have no moderation beyond their T&Cs, they will publish a review is it complies with those, and almost reviews short of the outright libellous will. 

Any business that takes its reputation seriously, as we are sure those in the examples above do, should be looking at professional review management, not an aggregator. 


Further reading...

Aggregators make much of 'stars in search' being a core benefit, and we agree with that, but with one important difference: the stars that matter, above all, are Google stars. Google has the visibility and the credibility businesses need, but they also need moderation, as the above article makes clear. For more on 'stars in search' read this, for a description of HelpHound's moderation process read this.