Every business owner out there knows the importance of having good online reviews. According to Inc., 91% of people read online reviews, and 84% trust them like a friend. If you’re not sure where your reviews stand, it might be time for online reputation management services.
Online reputation management is extremely important. You can handle it yourself, or you can outsource it to another company, like ZenChange. The critical thing is that you get it done, one way or the other.
Unfortunately, not every business owner does. Not even close. According to a survey conducted by BrightLocal during the Local Business Marketing Summit this year, 76% of business owners plan to spend more time on online reputation management themselves or hire online reputation management services, but only 44% currently have software in place.
Here are some other findings of the survey.
The Importance of Your Business’s Reputation
In the survey, 87% of people polled thought that a positive business reputation was “very important” to business success. It’s good to see that the majority of people understand how critical it is to have a good online reputation.
In order to nurture that online reputation, business owners to need to devote a significant amount of their time.
Do You Have Enough Time?
When thinking about managing their online reputation, most business owners agree that time is an important factor. According to the results of the survey, the average amount of time that business owners spent—from enterprises and SMBs to agencies and freelancers—was about 17% of their work week.
The biggest factor stopping most business owners from putting more effort into their online reputation management? You guessed it—T-I-M-E.
Exactly half of the people who responded to the survey said that they just didn’t have enough time in the day to handle their own online reviews.
How ZenChange Can Help: Online Reputation Management Services
At ZenChange, we know that small business owners are some of the busiest people in the world. If you don’t have enough time to keep your online reviews in good standing, talk to us about our online reputation management services.