A business that gets a lot of positive reviews will have a significant advantage over a business that doesn’t. This advantage comes about since most review sites are highly ranked and trafficked so having a link on them is great both for SEO value and company exposure; and maybe most importantly, studies have noted that the majority of consumers trust online personal reviews and are influenced by them. Beyond the review sites, many business utilize their own review system, which works especially well for site’s that sell goods online.
I’ve noted this before, but considering how important “reputation” is now with regard to Google’s Penguin algorithm, and increasing the frequency of reviews for your business will definitely help your site’s ranking, and your business reputation. First it is important to note that poor reviews can happen to any business. I have heard it said that when someone has a good experience with a business they’ll tell 3 people, yet if they have a bad experience they’ll tell 10. So yes, negative feedback can happen and be potentially damaging, but this gives the business an opportunity to either rectify the problem or explain to other potential customers the basis of the complaint, and hence why it isn’t valid. If you receive a negative complaint on a review site then in most cases you do have the option to respond to the complaint directly, and if you can show that the review is simply intended to hurt your business most review sites will remove them. My personal feeling is that a few less than favorable reviews is okay, since it tells me that the reviews have not been doctored per se.
Based upon my research, following are the best suggestions I found for getting a business reviewed:
1. Get listed on review sites:
Popular options Yelp, Google Places, Yahoo Local, Merchant Circle, Citysearch, etc., though based upon your industry these may vary a bit. In most cases all you need to do is create a profile, and keep it updated. Be sure to respond to negative reviews in a cordial way, and thank those who give you great reviews.
2. Ask for social reviews:
Utilize your social media properties where possible; the obvious choices here are Facebook, Google+. and Twitter. You might want to consider an incentive option such as a contest for new reviews over a period of time.
3. Purchase follow-up:
Most businesses will follow up with a client who has purchased something, be it a product or service. When ensuring that the customer is satisfied ask them to share their experience on the review sites you’re listed upon, and provide links to the review pages for quick access.
4. Ask for reviews through marketing efforts:
Many businesses will request reviews at the bottom of their emails, in newsletters, and even web and print Ads. This goes hand in hand with the power of the call-to-action. I imagine with a bit of creativity one could create a great marketing slogan in this regard.
5. Ensure access is easy.
If you do implement your own review platform ensure that it is mobile friendly, so always test your forms in the feature phones to ensure ease of use, especially since not all form options work great with mobile.
6. Get honest reviews:
As we all know the spammers love to cause mischief. If you have your own review site it is crucial that there is a user profile system in place to discourage the anonymous review. The goal, be it a review website, or your own site’s reviews is to obtain trustworthy, relevant, and useful reviews which will be of benefit to both your business and potential clients.
7. Include your reviews on your website and social media:
Many businesses, such as restaurants and hospitality, will feature their reviews on sidebars, in the page itself, or have a page set aside for this. This in effect serves the same purpose as the traditional testimonial page, yet for many it will be perceived as more honest since the source is independent of the website.
8. Make reviewing easy:
Earlier I noted the importance of easy access, in this regard you also want to ensure that reviews can be made as easily as possible by providing the link to your specific page on a specific review site; and if you have your own review system you might want to use a rating scale from multiple choice list (1-poor to 10-great) with the option to leave comments. In addition, allowing someone to log-in through social media (Facebook, Google+, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc)is a great option.
9. Provide incentives:
I noted above that having a contest to encourage reviews is a good idea, and in this regard some have suggested offering trial periods for a service in the hope that your good will will encourage reviews. This goes along with the idea that websites that provide useful information, fun, engagement, and resources of value will be favored, … and consequently they will be shared more, and reviewed more. I know of one local designer (and no, not myself) that provides Starbuck gift certificates to her clients with a notice about “please review me”. Consequently she has more Yelp reviews that any other web developer that I know of.
If you do decide to implement your own review system look for the top ranked plugins/scripts that provide this functionality. I have seen popular review systems for both WordPress and Joomla, both for posts/pages and eCommerce products; and there are companies that provide this functionality as well for a monthly price.
Best of luck getting reviews, and if your a client, and haven’t reviewed us …. please do!
