9 Tips to Make Online Reviews Work for Your Business

9 Tips to Make Online Reviews Work for Your Business

• Apr 10, 2015
• Dan Hoff
• 0

by Sean Hoff

Have you checked what people have said in online reviews about your business in the last month? In the past 6 months? How about in the last year?

If you are not actively engaging with the online reviews of your business, you are missing out on an incredible opportunity to draw in new business.

Just how incredible is the opportunity for you? The influence that these reviews wield may surprise you. In a recent Survey, Brightlocal, a UK based company that specializes in SEO optimization and localization, found that 88% of customers trust reviews they find online as much as a personal recommendation.

With more people using these reviews to make buying decisions, it is more essential than ever to engage and manage your online reviews. Here are 9 Tips to Make Online Reviews Work for Your Business so that you can get the most out of these reviews and leverage them for your benefit:

Verify your contact info

First, if you have not reviewed the information for your business on search engines and review sites, do so now. Make sure all your phone, website, physical location are all listed correctly. Tons of glowing comments do nothing if customers can’t find you due to incorrect listings.

Give customers the chance to review you

While you are not allowed to solicit positive reviews, you can help your customers find you on these sites and let them know you welcome their feedback.

There’s more than one fish in the sea

Search engines such as Google, Bing, Yahoo! Along with social media platforms are just some of the other places that offer consumers a chance to review products and services. Don’t focus on just one, but remember that people search and research in a number of ways.

Make them stick!

When it comes to Yelp, customers can check in on their mobile device at your location. You can entice them to do so by offering an online coupon for checking in. Customers who check in are prompted to review you next time they log in, and their reviews are also less likely to be removed for being fake.

The more the merrier

85% of customers read 10 reviews, with a smaller, but growing number who read 20 or more. A greater number of positive reviews instills more confidence, and helps to drown out any negative ones.

Make your job easier

The Brightlocal survey also found that 72% of people trusted local businesses more because of positive reviews. In business it is all about building trust and value; imagine how much easier it would be to start with trust already established.

Turning negatives into positives

In the case of a negative review, take the chance to respond quickly and politely to the concerns raised. If you are able to resolve the issue, reviews can be corrected and updated by the customer to show how you made it right.

Engage but don’t argue

Leave a brief, polite and professional response to their review in which you show concern and invite them to contact you directly to discuss the matter. Emotions can run high when a customer feels wronged, and letting that play out for all to see will not help the situation be resolved, or help your business.

Be the review you want posted

In the end, positive reviews are written by happy and satisfied customers. Remember that with these powerful social platforms, each and every customer has a chance to share their impressions with the world. If you want to see great reviews, give each customer an experience that makes them want to tell everyone how great it was.

These are just a few simple ways to get started, and also a great reminder that having an online presence is no longer an option. Increasingly, customers are trusting online reviews in making their buying decisions. Remember that being there can carry its own set of rewards and if you work them right they can have a huge impact on the success of your business.

Your website, your online review listings, and ratings are an increasingly important element of your marketing. They are a strategic asset and as a strategic asset they should drive business results for you.

Like any asset, you can maximize its value or you can waste it by leaving it to chance. We don’t think that this is something that should be simply left to chance. It needs to be managed and managed properly. That is what we do.

We understand this better than most because, unlike most, our experience goes far beyond consulting. We’ve worked as marketers for a broad range of companies in a diverse range of industries, dealing with many of the same issues you face yourself. Give us a call, we can help.

Whether you need to recover your reputation from a bad set of reviews, need new sources of business or need a complete program to cultivate and nurture the customers you already have, were ready to help.

Comments are closed.