Reviews: Google vs Yelp vs Facebook

Local businesses need to understand that Google is the boss, and they need to make sure that Google is working FOR them to promote their business. Google reviews are the lifeblood of any business. Without them, you would have no chance of being found in search results. Evidently, it is THE first place customers go when searching for a business.

If you are a local business, your best strategy is to be visible in Google. In fact, a recent study showed that a business’s online presence has a greater impact on sales than their physical location. The best way to accomplish this is to have a strong website, and for most local businesses, a website is a necessity. However, you can also create a strong local presence by having reviews, photos, location information, and other information available in Google, which is the same information that will be displayed on the search results page.
Google reviews are an excellent way for potential customers to find your business and to learn about it. This is especially true if you are a local business. In fact, a Google review is often the most important piece of information that potential customers see before they make a purchase decision. If your local business is not getting positive reviews on Google, potential customers will simply move on to the next business in the search results.

Yelp is a solid player as well. Yelp is designed specifically for reviews. Yelp reviews are a great way to research businesses and find a location. Yelp’s review system is based on user-generated reviews. There is a reason why Yelp is a very trusted review site. The major difference between the two review platforms is that the result set of local businesses is still pulled and shown to you by Google (unless you are using Yelp App). Therefore, Google listings will always be on top of the results page and user does not need to make any additional clicks to search for those yellow stars. So if you can only ask your customer for 1 review, pick Google first.

Facebook reviews are available on page’s Reviews tab, ONLY if that business chooses to show this tab. Facebook only asks if one recommends the business or not. Yes or No… Considering that reviews are not that prominent on Facebook, a big chunk of potential customers will pick Google for a quick side-by-side comparison. No need to scout multiple FB pages. In fact, some say they would search for business’ reviews on FB AFTER they’d made a decision, just to double-check that there is nothing negative on the business they’d already picked.

So there you have it, three review platforms in order. The bottom line is if you have limited time and want to achieve the most impact, concentrate on attracting solid Google Reviews.

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