Have you noticed how it now says “Recommendations and Reviews” under the Reviews tab on all Facebook business pages?
The change has confused business owners and customers alike. And if you’re a business owner who understands the importance of customer reviews, it might even be somewhat concerning.
In fact, this change has been in effect for several years now. So you’re not alone in wondering what has happened!
Below, find out the difference between Facebook Reviews and Recommendations, why Facebook made this change, and, most importantly, how to get more Facebook reviews for your business – effectively and organically.
Facebook Reviews Vs Facebook Recommendations
To answer the central question, the main difference between Facebook Recommendations and Facebook Reviews is how customers provide their review.
Facebook Recommendations are still reviews.
But now, on all Facebook Business Pages, instead of Facebook users being asked to “Write a review”, they are asked “Do you recommend [Business Page]?” Users can click “Yes” or “No”, after which they are prompted to write a review and click on select descriptions, such as “Great value” and “Fun atmosphere”.
If submitted, the recommendation appears on the Business Page along with the user’s review (if one is written), which can be liked/reacted to and commented on like a regular post. This also applies when a user does not recommend a business.
But what about star ratings?
You might have noticed that this new process does not involve users providing a star rating – and that’s because it doesn’t. Star ratings still exist, however, calculated by whether or not users recommend the Facebook Business: “Yes” being 5 stars and “No” being 1 star.
It can seem harsh to receive a one-star rating in this way, which makes it all the more important to receive positive Facebook feedback from your customers.
Still, despite the change, recommendations are still labeled as “Reviews” on the tabs section of all Facebook Business Pages.
Why Did Facebook Change Reviews To Recommendations?
Facebook has not provided an official statement as to why it renamed reviews as recommendations. But it is widely thought that the decision was made to increase Business Page engagement for Facebook users, as “recommending” is simply more appealing than writing a review; it’s quicker and requires less effort.
When a Facebook user recommends a business, it can be displayed to their friends (as a normal Facebook post – unless the recommendation is set to private) and this is another reason Facebook made the change: to increase engagement between Facebook users and Business Pages.
Ultimately, since Facebook is a social media platform, it makes sense that they want to make posting reviews quick and more engaging for users.
The Benefits Of Facebook Reviews (Recommendations)
So, what are the benefits of Facebook Recommendations?
If your business is new to Facebook Business Pages, the benefits are worth knowing as, aside from the free word of mouth marketing you’re receiving from your customers, recommendations have more power than you might think!
First, it’s no secret that Facebook is incredibly popular. This is enough of a reason to create a Facebook Business Page and collect customer reviews, since this will work wonders for improving your visibility and appeal.
Facebook Recommendations will also help to promote your business in News Feeds, as well as in search results whenever a user uses Facebook’s search feature to find local businesses.
After all, the more positive recommendations you have, the higher your rating will be, increasing the likeliness of Facebook users being drawn to your business.
What’s more, your Facebook Recommendations can also sometimes appear on Google’s search engine results pages, resulting in organic traffic to your Facebook Page whenever relevant search terms are typed into Google.
Do Facebook Recommendations Improve SEO?
Unfortunately, the short answer here is no: Facebook Recommendations do not have an effect on search engine optimization. This means that even if your Facebook Business Page has many recommendations, it won’t improve how highly you rank on Google’s search engine results pages.
Despite that, don’t forget that recommendations can help your business get promoted in Facebook users’ News Feeds, as well as appear sometimes in Google’s search engine results pages (displayed beside your business in relevant search results).
For businesses looking to improve their reach, both of these are good enough reasons to earn and collect as many Facebook Recommendations as possible.
Can You Request A Recommendation on Facebook?
Now that you know the difference between Recommendations and Reviews—and how important recommendations are—how do you get more of them?
Make sure to remember that recommendations are positive feedback, so requesting a Facebook Recommendation is the same as asking for a positive review. Due to this, it should be done carefully.
Common methods include requesting reviews in person after doing business with a customer, sending email follow-ups, creating Facebook posts, and placing signs or banners in your place of business.
However, it has to be said that these methods are simply not that effective and involve more work than what is necessary.
Get More Facebook Recommendations – The Best Way
Running a business is enough work as it is without throwing review requests into the mix. Unfortunately, getting reviews is important for building a credible reputation and increasing reach, so businesses should not skip it.
Manually requesting reviews requires too much effort – especially since it’s not as effective as it’s thought to be.
The key is to automate review requests. Not only that, however, but to streamline the review process so that posting reviews is made as easy as possible for your customers.
ReputationStacker is a tool that does that for you. It generates real customer reviews for your business, using an effective funnel that even reduces the chances of receiving a negative review.
Getting more Facebook Recommendations doesn’t have to be complicated or difficult – not when your business is using ReputationStacker.
