Reputation matters in every industry. But for hotels, a bad or even mediocre reputation can be disastrous.

That’s because hotels are one of the things consumers are most likely to use online reviews to find, and research shows that the lodging industry is one in which reputation matters most to consumers.

So in this competitive field, when Airbnb is eating up an ever-growing chunk of the lodging industry’s profits, setting yourself apart from your area’s other hotel options should be an essential part of your business model.

How do you do that? If you’re picturing an expensive marketing campaign and months of strategy meetings, think again. Improving your reputation is as simple as getting more online reviews, and with the right programs in place, getting those reviews might become one of the easiest parts of your job.

At first glance, moving services might seem like one of those industries untouched by the rise of the internet.

Travel agencies, shipping companies, book stores: they’ve all radically changed in recent decades.

But moving is still moving, and although companies may get new business through their websites, they can mostly operate in the same way they always have, right?

Not exactly. One important aspect of modern life plays a huge part in how you get and keep customers:

Online reviews already affect your business, for better or worse.

And if it’s the latter, you can easily turn the tide and start making online reviews work for you.

Pat needs to hire someone to install new cabinets and build a kitchen addition. The job is going to cost Pat thousands of dollars, and he knows that he’s going to have to spend weeks, maybe months, working with the person he hires. And whatever contractor he chooses is going to be in his home and around his family every day.
Pat can’t trust just anyone with this responsibility. There are a ton of factors to consider here. He needs to know that he’s hiring someone who does good-quality work, charges fair prices, adheres to a schedule and is trustworthy and respectful.

His coworker recommends someone, but with so much at stake, Pat wants to know that lots of people have had good experiences with whichever contractor he hires.

So Pat heads to his favorite review site. The contractor his coworker recommended has no reviews, but Contractor X has 15 reviews an overall rating of 4.4 stars. The crowd has spoken, and Contractor X gets a new customer in Pat.

Let’s look into this and find out what Contractor X is doing to get these reviews.

Sam likes a bargain, but she’s heard a lot recently about the importance of shopping at local businesses as a way to support the local economy. So when Sam decides it’s time to buy a new washing machine, she wants to give her business to a local appliance store.

Still, she’s on a tight budget, and she wants to make sure she can get a good deal and good customer service, so she heads to Yelp to check out the options.

Unfortunately, Sam’s local appliance store only has two reviews, and they’re from a few years ago. She wonders if the store’s prices have gone up since then or if it’s even still open.

She was at the big box store last week, and she knows that she can always get friendly service and decent prices there. So although Sam would like to support a local place, she’s not willing to take the risk without knowing that other people in her community would recommend it.

That’s just one example of the ways in which online reviews can affect your success as a local business. Big box and and even smaller chain stores have strong reputations and huge marketing budgets. Plus, customers are used to shopping in them.

If they haven’t been to your business recently or at all, they might need some convincing to give it a try… and that’s where the tremendous power of local online reviews comes into play.