Customers can share their experiences online through review websites. You can also use them to improve customer service and build loyalty. Website reviews are critical for all types businesses, including those that are local, regional, or e-commerce.
Review: The Best Website
Customers are more likely to trust online reviews than they are to recommendations from friends and families. A good strategy for online reputation management should involve actively asking customers to leave reviews on your website and social media.
Customers can also be encouraged to leave reviews with stickers or badges at your store, on the website, or on their menus, receipts and invoices. Customers will feel better about their contribution to the community. It also helps you improve your reputation.
How to Get Your Business on the Right Sites
Whether you're running a local business or a national chain, it's essential to be on the biggest and most popular sites your industry has. These are the sites that have the most reach and that most customers use to make their buying decisions.
The Big Three: Yelp and Google.
If you're in the business of selling products or services online, it's essential to be listed on the major review sites, like Yelp, Google, and Facebook. These are where customers most often search for products or services. Being listed on these review sites can improve your search engine ranking, and help you increase conversion rates.
These three sites are the most popular online review sites. However, there are other options available that may be of benefit to your company. For example, if you're in the travel industry, TripAdvisor is the best place to find reviews of hotels, airlines, and other businesses.
Another important site is Amazon, where reviews are an integral part of the business's customer experience. Since long, they encourage customers to leave reviews about their experiences with Amazon.
It is a good idea for customers to only review mainstream sites that adhere to reasonable review content guidelines.
The BBB, a non-profit consumer advocacy organization, evaluates businesses according to a set standard. They encourage customers give honest feedback about their experiences to business owners and assign them an A to F rating to make sure they're not false or misleading.
Angie's List (a U.S.-based service business review site) and Manta (a small business review, search engine and community that allows you to connect and grow are two other sites you might not have thought of.
Citysearch is a review site that offers the same functionality as other sites. But it also features "best" lists, which allow users and businesses to vote for their top choices in a variety if categories. It's easy to create a business profile and add a review. But, it's also possible pay for more options.