Figure out how to Find Positive Online Reviews.
Below are a few suggestions for encouraging more reviews of one’s business. Some result from my own personal experiences as an evaluation site “super user” and some are simply good old-fashioned common sense. Your comments are welcome. Just no 1-star ratings please!
Be involved in the most effective review sites.
Not totally all review sites are produced equal. Look for those that have features to cut back fake reviews and give business owners tools for giving an answer to reviews buy google reviews. Activate your business account and optimize your business listing (it’s free). By claiming your listing you will receive notices when new reviews are posted and traffic reports on what many users viewed your business page each week.
Be proactive with all your reviews.
Thank your reviewers because of their feedback, both positive and negative, in an appropriate manner. Yelp.com, the greatest review site, allows business owners to respond publicly or privately to your reviews. Your own message is a great way to acknowledge a writer and it shows you’re paying attention as the business enterprise owner. Caution: don’t be rude or defensive in just about any way. I’ve seen this backfire big time when a reviewer publicly posted the business enterprise owner’s rude response using their updated (and even more negative) review! Make sure you see my upcoming post on the best way to respond effectively to negative reviews.
Make the most of offers in your listing page.
Some review sites such as for example Yelp allows businesses to publish offers on the listing page. Since users of the sites are far more apt to be active reviewers themselves, you’re directing your offer to the most effective online “influencers” ;.
Link to review sites in your website.
Include the site logo together with your other social media links, “Follow us on…” Again, I would only link to the absolute most responsible online review sites like Yelp.
Promote your presence on review sites.
Add a link in your e-newsletter, include it in your advertising and social media pages. You can even blog about your reviews and link back to the particular review page. Don’t let several negative posts make you want to run and hide. Your existing customer base obviously thinks well of you or they wouldn’t be doing business with you, so preach it to your choir!
Point-of-Sale signage.
Many review sites offer point of sale materials, such as for example static clings and stickers that retailers can attach with their door or cash register to market their site.
Be active in the Online Community.
Be a dynamic reviewer yourself. It’s a great way to gain understanding of town and fun to complete! Just don’t review your own business or your competitors. You’ll likely get caught at it and the penalty isn’t with the risk.
Lastly, it is recognized as bad etiquette to directly solicit friends and customers for reviews. And quite frankly, this tactic might not do any good. Some review sites are suffering from algorithms to filter out reviews from one-time reviewers or people that have incomplete profiles simply because they are generally less credible as well as fake. However, promoting your business’s presence on a specific review sites is a good practice and will naturally cause more and better quality reviews. Online reviews not only benefit your website’s search engine optimization, but your recommendations advertising!
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