Let’s face it, Google reviews are not just cute testimonials but are essential tools in making or breaking your real estate career.
According to a recent study, around 92% of home buyers begin their search online using Google, followed by looking at reviews that serve to verify the professional reputation of a real estate agent.
Homebuyers searching online are not easily impressed by your photo of a smiling face on your profile that appears on the search results page, rather they are more concerned about how you perform and maintain your track record as a real estate agent by going after Google reviews of you.
Users rely on the trustworthiness of Google reviews
The reason for this is that Google links an account to a real person with a Google account, this means that a review cannot be anonymous or make the mistake of linking the review to another person.
Google also prevents any attempt to delete a negative review about a person, providing authentic and transparent reviews, unlike other sites that allow for the anonymous posting or deleting any negative review they choose to remove.
Prospects use Google to look for a review about you
Google serves as the go-to background and profile checker by anyone and everyone. Regardless if you were recommended by a family member or friend, people will continue to check on your profile.
Those reviews give people an idea about your professional conduct and performance record, which helps determine people if they can count on you or not.
Google reviews are as good as personal referrals and matter more than good websites
A survey revealed that 85% of people regard online reviews as reliable and credible as personal recommendations.
No matter how highly-recommended you are by a colleague or a happy client, the absence of a Google review about you serves as a basis to not reach out to you. In contrast, when a prospect finds amazing Google reviews about you, they will definitely reach out to you with the same enthusiasm as the one who referred you.
People often find out about a page using Google reviews before going in. This is especially true when you own and manage an online storefront. At this day and age of click-bait sites and fake news, people count on Google reviews for reliable and credible websites populating the internet.
Google reviews provide proof that you are still an active agent
Google reviews serve to affirm if you are a well-rated professional agent. It also provides an informal historical background of your professional career, which would matter most for home buyers wanting to check out your professional background.
Remember that home buying requires a big commitment from people and they will do what they can to protect their interests. Being able to wow a client with a great experience is a good way to get good reviews and necessitates the need to consistently get positive Google reviews. It is also a good tool to measure your consistency in providing the best value for your professional relationships and real estate audience.
People should not take Google reviews as gospel. We are regularly bombarded with bad google reviews from people we have had no dealings with, then are harassed by companies telling us that if we pay them, they will get these suspicious bad google reviews removed. Google has simply created a business for dodgy people to write bad reviews then get paid to remove those same reviews. Google does not act quickly enough when you can prove that the review is false so you are left bagging your head against the wall constantly trying to fight inaccurate or fake reviews.