Striving to get more online reviews? Traffic talks, and the more consumers visit a business review site, the more they are likely to leave and read other business reviews.
How Can Your Business Get More Reviews?
There are various methods your business can employ to ask for more business reviews, including: emailing consumers manually, using surveys, asking consumers to leave feedback with codes on their receipts, or utilizing request software to automate the business review process.
Three Important Review Website Management Tips:
Add or Claim Listings on the Top Sites
It’s a good idea to add or claim a listing or business profile on the most popular review sites (unless your business doesn’t fit with the niche), correct your business’s listing information and start getting more feedback!
Ask Customers for Reviews
Asking the average customer for a feedback can be hard work. Granted, it is often easiest to get reviews from consumers that are either really happy or really unhappy with the level of service provided to them.
Your business should always ask as customers are busy creatures and will not remember unless they are asked or reminded to leave feedback.
Customers are More Open to Leaving Feedback Online
Why not just ask for feedback or testimonials on your business’s website? Asking for feedback on your business’s website can seem more screened and inauthentic than simply asking consumers to leave reviews on a trusted review site. Since the review site is a third party, customers feel more open to leaving an honest, unbiased review.
The Top Review Site and How to Increase Your Customer Feedback
Google Reviews is the top review site, averaging 150.03 million users monthly in the US via Alexa.
Google My Business is a free tool for your business to manage their online presence across Google, including Search and Maps. Google is the go-to search engine of choice: as more and more consumers conduct multiple searches on it every day, more businesses are vying for top SERP results.
Remember: You must verify your business information to complete your Google Business Profile registration.
Your Google Business Profile puts business data on Search, Maps, and Google+. Because of this, customers can easily find a location from desktop, mobile, or anything in between.
Google customer reviews show up in search and are known to bolster SEO, so they are essential to the credibility of all businesses.
Google is the King of Web Traffic
Did you know that Google’s search engine performs over 3.5 billion searches per day? Users can leave reviews for your business efficiently and simply. The less friction involved in the business review process, the easier it is to get more reviews. Getting ratings through a business’s Google Business Profile is a great place to start.
How to Get More Reviews on Google
Step 1. Send out requests. Available online reputation tools and services can help to simplify this process. Gather feedback from real customers quickly and easily.
Step 2. Link your Google review page to the business website. Much like attaching social pages to a website through their logos, you can also create this shortcut to the Google reviews page.
Step 3. Create a Google feedback landing page on the business website. This will also be helpful for SEO purposes as the reviews will have keywords. Having reviews pulled directly onto the business site should encourage other site visitors to leave reviews.
Step 4. Create a Google feedback CTA banner or button. This should live on the homepage of your business website, where most traffic will land. Make it as convenient as possible.
Business Reviews are Here to Stay
In conclusion, there is no getting away from online business feedback—sorry, folks. The good news is that there are methods to get more feedback AND manage responses to those insights.
Also, your businesses shouldn’t fear negative online reviews; there are ways to negate the effect of negative reviews (see what we did there?)! The best part…our reputation management tools actually provide you suggestions and insight on how to respond to both negative AND positive customer feedback. We’ll help you be a contender.