The problem with reviews or the
benefits of reviews, is that they spread like fire. Depending on whether they
are good or bad, they are going to have a positive or negative effect on your
business.
The Significance Of
Reviews
So why are reviews so important
other than the drastic effects they can have? Because they are submitted by
your customers whose opinion is trusted more than what you have to say about
your products and services. Thus,
reviews will influence the decision of your potential clients.
According to a study, 72% people trust
online reviews and regard them to be as significant as personal recommendations.
52% people also said that if the reviews are positive, they will more than likely
do business with the company.
So how does all of this affect you,
the business owner? You must keep a close tab on your customer reviews so that
you can get a deeper insight about how your business is being perceived. You
can also use reviews to figure out areas where you need more improvement. Once
you act on the feedback which your costumers have for you, you will enjoy
higher customer satisfaction levels, and might even be able to retain
them.
Other than this, online reviews can
also result in a higher rank on search engines such as Google. Even if you just
have a few of them, your rank will get a boost.
Credible Review Sites To
Be On
Which websites are regarded as the
most reputed? Let’s take a look.
1. Yelp
Yelp is probably the most popular of
all review websites on the internet. The website allows you to add your business
to their directory and monitor the reviews which customers leave about your
company. Other than this, you can also reach out to your customers publicly and
privately.
There are other great advantages of
being on Yelp. The website provides a complete report of your business
performance, and offers you tools to track the visitors on your page. You can even
create deals in an attempt to entice more people.
2. Google+
Being on Google+ is important not
just for the sake of reviews, but for SEO as well. Ever since Google acquired
Zagat, the user reviews on the site have been added to both the search results
and the social platform. Now when customers search about your business, and
view the review on Zagat, they are automatically transferred to Google+.
3. Facebook
You sure will know about the News
Feed section on Facebook. What you should also know is that customers use it
for word-of-mouth advertising. Your Facebook page is another place where they can
leave your feedback and reviews. You can monitor these along with likes, comments,
and other posts your customers upload. Thus, Facebook not only allows you to connect
to your customers but also contributes to your online visibility and brand
awareness.
4. Foursquare
Foursquare is a review site that lets
customers share their feedback, opinions, and suggestions. You can monitor all
of this when you establish your business on Foursquare. Just as with Yelp, you
can interact with customers, keep them updated with the latest news, offer them
attractive tools, and measure your success with a number of tools.
5. BBB
BBB is not always the site where
your customers will go and upload a positive review. Instead, they will go to
the site to complain about your business. BBB does notify you of these, and
then gives you an opportunity to cater to them and close them on a positive
note. In turn, your BBB rating improves and if you ignore, it will fall down,
making customers question your credibility.
Trying To Get More Reviews
Customer satisfaction, this is the
simplest way in which we can put it. Once you satisfy your clients, you can
request them to leave a review. If you serve their needs well, they will be happy
to do so. Just make sure to make things easier for them. Give them details
about the view sites and send them links. And if you can, go a step ahead and offer
them an incentive of some sort. A discount is a really good idea to motivate customers
to write an opinion about your business.
When you do get a couple of reviews,
also upload them on your website in a dedicated Testimonials section or a
review page.
Bit Make Sure You Are Not
Doing Any Of The Following
Reviews are advantageous, but that
is only so if you take care of a few things. Not biding by the tips we share in
this section can cause your Google rank to fall down.
§ Never post a review about yourself
on any website and make sure none of your employees are doing this. Google
considers this a negative practice and if your customers find out, they are
going to publicize your bins negatively.
§ Your reviews should never be
uploaded by someone who shares your last name. Thus, your family members cannot
help you with this.
§ Make sure that one person submits
only one review. Google can figure out multiple reviews being submitted from
the same computer, which again affects your rank.
§ Your reviews should appear consistently
with time. Getting too many of them uploaded on the same day will not do you
much good until they are spread out.
Does your business appear on any of
the above websites? And more importantly, are the reviews positive? You are lucky
if that is the case, and if it’s not, put in more efforts and increase your brand
awareness. That will have more people talking about you, and eventually some of
them might leave a review about your small business.
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