How important are reviews?

Ever wondered where those results come from when you search a business name or a business service in Google and see the results on a map?

The answer is Google Business Profile.

Your listing appears right when people are searching for your business or businesses like yours on Google Search and Maps.

Google Business Profile makes it easy to create and update your listing — so you can stand out, and bring customers in.

It’s free and if you don’t already have a listing, you should!

Set up an account

Head over to Google and simply follow the prompts to set up an account, or login to an existing Google account and add all your details.

Don’t forget to get your account verified. Google will usually send a postcard in the mail to verify your address.

Work from home address?

If you work from home or visit customers onsite, you don’t need to show your actual address. Instead you can show the area that you service.

So who’s reading reviews of your business?

Customers are making decisions about your business before you’ve even met. Reviews are a massive part of our decision making process today and you can’t ignore them.

Star ratings can help businesses earn trust from potential customers, improve local search rankings, and boost conversions.

Facts & figures

Over two thirds of Australian consumers (68%) read online reviews or blogs to find out what others think about products or services of interest. They average reading seven reviews before making a purchase decision.
Customers are more likely to click on a result with rating stars, as opposed to a result without stars. The better your click-through rate, the more confidence Google has in placing your business higher in results.
43% of Australian consumers provide online ratings for a wide range of products or services, averaging seven in the last year. This incidence is higher for females and those aged 18-39.
48% of consumers won’t even look twice at a business with less than 4-stars.

You can't ignore them

A common response from clients when I tell them to get onto their reviews is "I am scared of eliciting a bad review". So they sit on their hands with no reviews. Bad news is, even if you don't set up a Google Business profile, people can still leave reviews, as Google will automatically generate a Business Profile for you based on your digital footprint, such as your website and/or any business social media accounts. What this means is that anybody can leave a negative review, and if you don't own the profile, you won't have any avenue to respond. This can spell disaster for your online reputation!

It also means that because you haven't been proactively seeking positive reviews, all that potential customers will see is one bad review from one disgruntled customer. Google has a complicated algorithm for displaying an average star rating, dependant on many things which I won't go into here. Google may also aggregate reviews from other local review sites and it can take up to two weeks to get new reviews to show in your overall score.

If you haven’t been asking for feedback, it’s time you pay more attention to the connections you create with both previous and prospective customers.

To put it simply, you need to be building up your good reviews to dilute any negative reviews that may appear in the future.

If you're still scared, try asking for reviews from customers that you KNOW will leave a good review. Whatever you do, DO NOT fake it. People can smell a fake review miles away, including Google. Just don't go there.

How to ask for a review on Google

It goes without saying that the most genuine and natural looking reviews are the ones that customers leave without any prompting. That’s not to say you can’t prompt someone into writing a review by asking them directly what they thought of your business.

Tips for asking for reviews

Get your timing right - not too early or too late
Make it easy - sounds obvious, but tell people how to do it
Give options - Google or Facebook

Get a link to send to customers

Google has a handy article on how to get your link. Read here.

Giving your client a link makes it easy for them. This direct link means there is no searching, frustration or abandonment of the review mid-process when the client starts to leave a review.
The only drawback is that the customer must have a Google account and be logged in to leave a review. That’s why offering a Facebook option as well is a good idea.

Example review request

Here's an example of what I send to my clients. Mind you, only a small percentage ever respond. Not because they haven't been happy with their service, they are too busy, forget or just can't be bothered. This gives you more reason to ask all of them!

"I just wanted to reach out and say thank you for your business. We hope your experience was enjoyable and you are happy with the results.

I also wanted to mention that reviews are really important to a small business like Fruitful Creative.

If you had a good experience, we would greatly appreciate it if you could take a minute to leave a review by following the link here: https://g.page/r/Cfwov17MihXJEAg/review

(note you will need to be signed in to Google to do so).

If you don't have a Google account, no problems, you can also leave a review on Facebook as well, by searching for Fruitful Creative in Facebook, and tapping on the Reviews tab.

And just in case there was something you are not happy about, please let us know straight away so we can fix it!

If you require any more graphic or web design work done in the future, we would be happy to help you out, just contact us and we'll get right onto it."

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When a client allows you creative freedom.

By Trina Johnson • 21 Jul, 2023

It doesn't happen all that often, but once in a while you will hear those magic words from a client "I trust you, do what you think looks good". And that's what Anne from Friends of Hazelhurst said to me recently when she was briefing a new website. Trusting a designer on style for your website is like trusting a master chef to cook up a delectable feast. You provide the ingredients (your ideas and content), and they'll whip up a visual delight that'll have your audience licking their screens (figuratively, of course). When it comes to following to a design brief from a client, there are more times than I care to admit where I have handed over a website or print design that is NOTHING like I would have created had I been given creative freedom. No matter how hard you try, some clients just won't see your vision, and even if they do "see" it, they don't "get" it. At the end of the day, you still gotta pay the bills, so yes I admit I have served up designs that will NEVER see the light of day on my portfolio. ;) That was not the case with the lovely folk from Friends of Hazelhurst, a local social enterprise group dedicated to supporting and engaging local artists and the art community. I was invited to attend one of their gatherings and had the wicked opportunity to have a stickybeak around the heritage listed Broadhurst Cottage. The interiors of the cottage are to-die-for art deco and I spent the afternoon taking photographs and finding out more about the fascinating history of the cottage. Spending this time here helped me to start to develop a plan about how the website might look. I came up with a look that was a little left of centre. It needed to be "arty" and creative, so I went with strong, black & white typography with a minimalist menu and then focused on textures and colours found throughout the cottage and grounds. The pink camellias used on the home page are strongly associated with the history of the cottage. The information on the site was structured in a better way and the site is now populated with relevant images and content making it a better source of information than the previous static, uninspiring and uninformative site. Check out their new site live now: https://www.friendsofhazelhurst.org/

Adobe Photoshop Generative Fill - A Game Changer

By Trina Johnson • 31 May, 2023

Testing out the new Adobe Photoshop Generative Fill. Use the slider below to see before/after.

Getting Shopify right.

By Trina Johnson • 09 Feb, 2023

I was contacted by another Shopify designer who was in deep over their head and wanted me to help out with what was supposed to be some finishing touches. I am always happy to help anyone who needs it, whether they be a direct client or someone looking for a Shopify contractor, doesn't matter to me. Unfortunately the Shopify designer the client had engaged hadn't even set up some basics. There were no product tags, no auto collections, no shipping set up, nothing except a theme install and a few basic colour changes. Eventually the client contacted me directly and I had to deliver the bad news that the site was nowhere near launch as she had been told. There was so much to do. We agreed to work directly. I started again almost from scratch and included a whole new look as well as features such as shop by brand, a mega menu, wholesale setup, advanced shopping filters, rewards program, email marketing integration, blog, electronic gift vouchers, various shipping options and more. We were able to launch with all of the features now implemented and working seamlessly, and I continue to work with Natural Good Life with ongoing new features and functionality. Moral of the story is, check out someone's work first before you hire them for a Shopify job. Ask to see some examples, look for reviews. Anyone can jump into Shopify, add some content, colours and a logo but it takes a Shopify Expert to take your store to the next level.

A new look + complete workflow overhaul for Hair Education Company

By Trina Johnson • 09 Feb, 2023

Elite Hair Education came to me in 2021 with a little time on their hands. COVID had shut down most of their work - hands-on hairdressing workshops, and so it was a good time for them to give their system an overhaul. First was their look! Their original website was a hodge podge of bright green and purple, dated stock images, a myriad of inconsistencies, duplicate (but differing) information and overall a hot mess. I created a colour palette, typography hierarchy and consistency in photography style, as well as a tone-of-voice for copywriting. I then did an audit/overhaul of their systems. All their bookings were done manually on an Excel spreadsheet and scraps of paper. Course reminders and follow-ups were also manual. It was going to be a complete overhaul of their systems. With a huge amount of resolve and a desire to help these lovely clients, I came up with booking system options which would integrate nicely into their new site. They loved it. Finally, it all came together. I streamlined and simplified the information on the new website, making sure it was consistent AND good looking. The new systems I put in place just about halved their manual admin work. They were so happy they hired me to another site for an app they have created.