On the point of starting, you roofing companies might not focus just yet on their reputation since only a few recognize their presence. They might not be dealing with what social media says about them just yet, too, because of the same reason.

But what if they get to start building their name and brand, and over time, their presence spreads a little wider, and their company getting bigger?

Then that’s the time they should really get on their feet and start monitoring what people are saying about them not just online, but everywhere.

A study found that 88% of consumers read online reviews to determine the quality of local business (like your roofing company), and 72% of consumers will take action after reading a positive review.

What does that mean? Imagine the loss of your company when you do not maintain a good reputation. 72% IS A LOT.

Social Media

You need to be on every social media platform to monitor what the people say about you on social media, especially on Facebook and Twitter.

And since we are all on a physical break and focusing on what’s digital, the more audience there will be on social media. Plus, we know how easy information is disseminated and scattered now. In one click, a whole community knows about it.

So when negative feedback of you gets the attention of the majority, then that’s a significant loss right there. And it might be extra hard to gain your customer’s trust back, if ever that may happen.

We need to be extra careful, although not all people will really like your service, or that some may intentionally ruin your reputation.

Responding to Reviews

Responding to reviews is as crucial as getting positive and negative feedback.

Even if the feedback is positive, it’s still a good thing to respond to it. It creates authenticity and sincerity to your customers. Knowing that you’ve responded to their reviews gives them the impression that you are very responsive and easy to contact. Also, responding to positive reviews make your clients feel cared for.

Whereas, when negative reviews arise, the same principle must still apply. It still needs a response. This is your chance to clarify and explain your side, BUT in the most respectful manner.

LEARN TO APOLOGIZE. It’s essential, though, that you always take ownership of the situation, even if you feel that it’s not your fault. If one review really offends you, do not take your anger out to your response. If possible, take time to cool off before making a response to that certain negative review. It’s not acceptable to argue with a customer. Things will just get even worse.

When a potential customer encounters that, they can commend you of your humility and responsiveness, and might lead to trusting you in the future.

Building your online reputation can get overwhelming. This just not needs a little time to spare on, but it requires a commitment. If you want to manage your reputation but have little knowledge of how to do it, that’s not a problem at all. Get started TODAY!

Reputation Management: Key for Essential Services

Forecasts claim that global GDP will lose about 346.98 billion U.S. dollars because of the Covid-19 Pandemic. Businesses providing “essential services” such as food and medical establishments are in no way immune from the effects of the pandemic. Just like any other business, they have to think of Nobel ways to keep themselves in the game.

If you are one of those businessmen tired of waiting for that “Eureka” moment to pop-up, well worry no more. Here are insightful views on how to keep your business relevant in this challenging time.

What do people say about you?

Generation Z poses a serious challenge to anyone, not just businesses. Today, people are not just talking behind your backs. They even talk in the “cloud” through the virtual space! And for businesses such as restaurants and dental clinics to keep their brands significant, they must have an excellent online reputation.

Falling on the traps

As a digital marketing consultant, I’ve seen how many businesses spent thousands of money to set up their websites with the hopes of fishing a lot of customers. And to their dismay, their websites don’t do justice on their spending.

Managing online reputation is not as easy as having a beautiful website. Sometimes, the ‘stunning’ effects could cause you potential clients. Putting many aesthetics could affect the page-load of your website, thereby repelling your customers instead of attracting them.

In some cases, owners are not aware that their business’ basic information is inaccurate. Known as NAP in digital marketing, the Name, Address, and Phone number must be on point to bridge customers towards you.

And to make things worse, negative feedback from angry diners are not responded to. These destructive comments will float in the air as representations of the service you offer.

These are traps many businesses often fall into, but with the right tool, issues like these could be resolved almost in an instant.

Online Reputation Management is Key

Here’s where Reputation Management comes in!

Reputation Management covers many areas of your online presence. In essence, it’s like making sure people are saying good things about you.

With today’s advancement, engineers made products that house all solutions to problems related to managing one’s online reputation. From a single product, you can remain on top of your business’s online reputation, including monitoring and improving listing accuracy and understanding what’s being said about your business online through mention, citation, and review monitoring.

Products like this lay the foundation for your business to earn 4-5 star ratings to establish trust and credibility with your customers!

This is the ‘Eureka’ Moment!

More than any time in the history of the world, our situation calls for an outstanding effort. Just like what you do when you create combo meals to make your clients feel special. Or introduce dental packages to bring smiles to your patients, Reputation Management could be that elusive “Eureka” moment you’ve been chasing.

Reaching out to your clients and responding to their voices has never been easy. With customized approaches, your customers will truly feel special.

The World is Full of Negative

2020 could not get any more interesting. For some, this year has been a roller coaster ride with a lot of falls. Indeed, the world is full of daunting experiences. And people may be critical and cynical about the existence of your business.

But at the end of the day, it’s your bread and butter that hangs in the balance. You would do all in your power to save it from perishing along with the negativities.

Establishing an excellent online reputation at this time of pandemic is vital for your business’ survival and could prove beneficial in the long run. It could be key to your business’ longevity.

Investing in Reputation Management

Rather than spending countless hours manually responding to each feedback you receive on your page, it would be prudent to invest in systems that would optimize your online ranking and give you organic traffic. This will give you your precious time back!

Unleashing the Potential of Digital Marketing

I haven’t seen the “Universal” answer to all marketing concerns yet. But I am a firm believer in the innate power of digital marketing in resolving business problems.  More than ever now is the time to explore and unleash its potential for our benefit.

No one wants to leave their hard-earned business to wither and die. With the challenge we now face, one good question to ask might be: would you sink or swim?

Curious about swimming through the waves of competition and getting on top? Let our pool of experts handle your online reputation for you! We offer a free toolkit to get you that online Word-of-Mouth working for your advantage. Contact us as [email protected] or click here for a schedule.

Online reputation can be–no–IS REALLY a big deal nowadays where everybody turns to the online world. Real estate is not an exemption. Well, everything and everybody should be cautious about their reputation.

Data from the National Association of Realtors shows 87% of buyers uses a real estate agent to purchase their home. Also, 93% of consumers went online for their primary source of information when looking for a home.

Do you know the power of online reviews? It can make or break a goal.

As to real estate, buyers already realize that they just don’t depend on their agents, but understand the power they have in their hands. That is, to conduct online research by utilizing customer reviews to pick their own agent who will help them buy the house they’re longing for.

On the shoes of real estate agencies, it’s a challenge for them to maintain a favourable reputation to the buyers through online reviews.

How much weight does a review carry for real estate agencies?

ONLINE REVIEWS

1. Reputation, of course.

For a real estate agency (or other agencies and companies) to stand out among the crowd and stand out among its competitors is to advance in online reviews for a favourable reputation. 

The more reviews, the more excellent the reputation is (of course, if it’s the positive reviews that dominate over the negative reviews). Everything stems out from an agency’s reputation. Going online and making a decision has already altered what natural science can do. Instead of using the brain to decide, it’s the online reviews that settle for them!

That’s how crucial online is. Now what agencies have to do is never to forget to request for a review from a client. One of the most popular methods is through email. Reviewtrackers.com would say that 70% of reviews come from emails. 

Another option is to send a quick SMS message with a link to a client to leave feedback on a particular review site.  Creating these emails and SMS messages for each new client can be time-consuming and effortful, which is why it is vital to invest in a company that has excellent reputation management skills. You can contact us by clicking this!

PERSONAL REVIEWS

2. Referrals

Statistics show that 90% of buyers use their real estate agent again in the future or refer them to others. BUT  although personal reviews carry as much significance with that of the online reviews, clients will trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations only if there are multiple reviews left by customers. Which goes back to point number one.

Given the right amount of reviews, agents will get an overall rating. According to reviewtrackers.com, consumers are looking for 112 reviews on average to determine if the total score is authentic.

Whether if it’s an online or personal review, people are easily influenced by negative reviews when it comes to decision making. Specifically, over 94% of customers said a negative review convinced them to avoid that business.

If then, a negative review has the power to do that, then it is a crucial thing to maintain a good image at all times. However, sometimes that is impossible because there will always be factors that will want to harm your business–not to mention envy alone can kill.

Showing off your real estate agent reviews increases your online reputation management efforts. With that increase, potential home buyers looking for an agent will eventually get convinced to hire your services.

Buyers get to look closely into the profile of their agents because a property isn’t a joke, but a significant purchase. It’s as heavy as achieving a lifetime dream. For this reason, clients want to work with someone they can trust. 

Need a hand to achieve those good reviews talked about earlier? We’ve got that covered for you! Contact us at [email protected] or click here for a schedule.

If you want more knowledge about reputation management and all others matters about your business, you can click here and access them whenever you want!

People get wiser for each generation. The advancement of technology creates access to any information in just a few clicks within their hands–anywhere, anytime!

With that being said, most people do not just go wherever they want to go on-the-spot or immediately without having prior knowledge about the place and services in that place.

This happens every time we hear the name of a food place for the very first time. Now people won’t just say “let’s go there” without doing a little dig on the area or without having his/her friend’s recommendation to go there.

Restaurants are highly competitive now, most notably in this pandemic where almost all struggle to out and buy some groceries to cook their own meals. The competition continues to heat up because, to be honest, THERE ARE MANY CHOICES OUT THERE.

The question is, how do you get the people to choose your restaurant? How do you make sure they aren’t going to be choosing your other competitors?

This is where the significance of a business’ reputation is highlighted.

If you have read the previous blog on Reputation Management (if not, click here), it stated that a business’ reputation is a crucial factor in the decision-making process of a customer, a client, an employee, and potential investors.

FLAVOR & FAVOR: The factors considered for a good restaurant reputation

FLAVOR

It’s common sense that a food business’s goal is to deliver good food for the people. Food is the primary factor in building a good reputation.

Have you ever heard somebody say, “It’s too hot in here, but the food’s excellent,” or “the food’s worth the wait!” ?

Having a satisfied tummy is already enough to earn a useful review, BUT! Aiming for that 5-star rating and good feedback from the people is topnotch!

FAVOR

Don’t even think of tolerating food degradation and just put all efforts on the customer service. Service might be secondary to food, but it’s always essential. Make the customers comfortable, tolerate their orders, and of course, don’t make them wait for a very long time.

Don’t be the reason for their appetite loss!

Let the customers be in your favour. What is good food when they don’t enjoy your company around them? Always avoid ending with a dispute with a customer; it could damage their perception of your business forever. We’re not dealing with just one person here; we’re also dealing with the witnesses of the incident and his/her friends where he/she could tell her experience to. The worst-case scenario would be when he/she would post her unfavourable experience on social media where everyone on the digital platform can see it.

EXPECTATIONS vs EXPERIENCE

Before going to the place, always remember that customers have their expectations with them. They’ll hold on to the words of recommendation from their friends, and they’ll trust the online reviews. They’re expecting to see how the food is presented on their plates as like how they’re displayed on advertisements.

Expectations can get really high. The challenge is to match their expectations or beat it even! The customer’s level of expectations is manifested through their experience.

Will their experience be the same as their expectations?

We can do an equation for that:

1.  Expectations > Experience
   When expectations are higher than their experience, then it could be considered as bad feedback. Their experience should justify expectations! 
2. Expectations = Experience
   Now, this generates good feedback. The fact that the food, the service, the ambiance, and everything else match with the expectations of the customer, then there’s a very high chance you’ll get that five stars!
3. Expectations < Experience
   This is what we’re talking about. The customers have their own level of expectation in mind, but here you are taking them to the NEXT level. It should always be a standard mindset to beat the customer’s expectations.

How to handle the negatives

The thing about food is that not all people have the same take on pineapples on pizza or raisins in bread. Food preference is very biased, consider the allergens and diet plans too. Not all people will like your food; you have to accept that. What’s essential is that you cook your food with quality, you serve the customers with quality, and assuredly your ratings, reviews, and feedback will also be of quality.

If you feel like you’re already doing your best in everything out of your food and service but still would like some help, please do not hesitate to contact us at [email protected] or schedule an appointment with us by clicking here!

It’s about lunch time and you feel a little lazy to cook your own food, so you look up on the internet to search for the best local restaurant to suit your cravings. You’re presented with a list of restaurants… what’s the first thing you do to make sure you order from the best local restaurant in terms of food, service, and overall quality?

RATINGS? REVIEWS? It all boils down to REPUTATION.

A business reputation is one of the most–if not, the most–crucial factor in terms of marketing your business. What makes it very powerful is that even if you have the best services and products, when you’ve got a bad reputation, then you’re might as well considered the worst.

What’s a Business Reputation?

According to ReputationManagement.com,

Reputation is a culmination of how society, including customers, stakeholders, employees, and the general public, views a business or individual.

Because it’s fairly abstract, we tend to measure company reputation on a qualitative scale that ranges from “good” to “bad” rather than with a numeric score. And, since it’s based on opinion, there are many factors that influence reputation, including statements, actions, associations, third-party commentary, social media, and especially Google search results.

Simply put, a business’ reputation is a business’ quality, the face of the company.

Why is reputation such a big deal?

Business reputation highlights the reviews of the people, whether if it’s through Google reviews or a comment from a friend. A business’ reputation highly influences a customer’s purchase deicisions. Not just that, but it also influences decisions of potential investors and future employees as well. You wouldn’t want to work at a company who had its reputation ruined, right? You want to buy from a reliable company, you want to work at a company with quality, and you want to invest in a trusted company.

But here’s the other side of the story, that even with just one negative comment, feedback or review from someone, that small negativity can greatly affect your business’ reputation.

Then what? What if that happens? How am I going to control it?

This is where Reputation Managament takes the spotlight.

What does a Reputation Management do?

Reputation Management deals with a business’ 4R’s–Respresentation, Ranking, Reliability, and Rumor.

1. Representation or Image

A company with a professional image has higher chances to attract customers than businesses who have a muddled image. Think of it as one’s first impressions on you.

Since there are some potential customers that don’t have any idea about your business at all, and if these people find negative reputation in your company, they won’t do business with you. Hence, as much as impossible, your company should get rid of the negative reputation before a situation like that arises.

On the bright side, reputation management shouldn’t be underestimated. Proper management of the reputation can help a business to get improved sales, and improved sales can greatly improve the brand image of the business.

2. Ranking in Search Engines

When you search for something in Google, let’s say, the best diet plan for moms, I bet you’d rely on just the first three results that comes up in your screen. That’s every business’ goal, to be ranked on the first page of the list of results.

Search engine rankings have a significant impact on a company’s online presence. A reputation management strategy should include creating local profiles and listings to boost your business’ ranking on search engine results pages (SERPs). If your company ranks high in SERPs, the more likely customers will find you and will definitely contact you.

Online reviews can create a huge impact on SEO. It’s because search engine algorithms know it very well that customers highly depend on the online reviews of the company when making a decision.

Remember that negative reputation invisibility increases SEO visibility.

3. Rumor and Misleading Information

There’s a saying that goes “People will still judge you in all that you do.”

In this generation, it is common to see businesses having social media profiles, business listings, and websites. Even if you are a company of quality, some people–most especially the netizens– will try to ruin your reputation by posting rumors and incorrect information. And if these wrong and misleading posts are not corrected immediately, your company’s reputation can be destroyed to the point of beyond repair.

Managing an online reputation is not simple, but having good reputation management can clear out misleading information and rumors about your company.

4. Reliability and Customer Trust

Gaining a customer’s trust isn’t just about persuading them to buy from you, but to return to you for more. One of the most powerful and most effective ways to gain the confidence of customers is through online reviews and personal, verbal recommendations. With customers trusting online reviews, gaining the trust of customers is essential. Customers who find your company reliable and credible are more likely to share this information with people they know, which helps generate more leads and revenue, and of course improve the overall reputation of your company.

Positive reviews can lead potential customers to trust your business even more. A good reputation means that the business is more credible than your competitors.

Here’s a tip though: while negative and unfavorable comments can influence the purchasing decision of a potential client, being unresponsive to that review as a business can make the situation even worse. If they see that a company has a bunch of unanswered complaints, it will be a red flag and they will be hesitant to do business with you.

As a business, let’s not compete with their pride, shall we? Being able to recover from an unfavorable review helps restore lost confidence in your company and helps regain trust with your clients and customers. Show your customers and potential business partners that you value their feedback as how you would value their presence by acknowledging that you have seen it and by letting them know that you will take it into consideration or mediate the issue through business protocol.

DO NOT BE AFRAID OF NEGATIVE REVIEWS!

They will eventually come. Businesses are like people, too. There’s insecurity, there’s competition, there are challenges, but despite all of that, a company with good business management overcomes all these things.

Your reputation isn’t all about the business, but how you handle the business.

If you found this information useful and would like some help, please do not hesitate to contact us at [email protected]

Getting More New Patients: Reviews And Why They Matter For Your Dental Office

Online reviews are more crucial than ever!
Let’s take a moment and think about the typical steps you take when finding out about that new cafe or that spa that you’ve never been to; You Google it! You find out what others have to say via reviews, then you go and find out for yourself based on those reviews. It’s the same process when a possible new patient is looking into your office.

88% of consumers look at reviews before considering a product, service or company. Having positive online reviews can establish credibility, build your online presence and inevitability bring in new patients.

The relevance of reviews is astounding; however, just having online reviews won’t matter if they are low rated. Good reviews are a MUST. 87% of consumers won’t consider a service, product, or company if it’s rated three stars or Sociallower.

Positive online dental reviews help with informing new patients. What previous and current patients are saying about you, your staff, your office and your services give you remarkable insight and the ability to take the steps and make the necessary improvements to run a successful office.

reviews for a dentist and their office is essential. It’s best to set up systems for your front desk staff and have them collect positive online reviews, using links and instructions sent to the patients’ phone, email, or social media page, on how to leave a review or testimonial for your office website, Social Media Pages, and of course, Google will enable you to build your online presence and gain new patients.

If you’ve tried this route,  and still need help getting started,  contact OC Interactive Marketing. A team of professionals dedicated to helping you grow your online presence.

When they’ve stopped working to win big quotes, practically every company I’ve worked for has done regular loss reviews. It was almost a knee-jerk response by management “how can this perhaps have occurred?”, despite the truth that the sales group typically knew well beforehand that they weren’t going to win. Despite being done relatively hardly ever, the win reviews are much more likely to produce future wins than loss reviews.

The factor is basic. Loss reviews focus on attempting to recognize the reasons you didn’t win– “mistakes”– and change them for the next time. In truth, the factors why you do not win are normally much less likely to be fixable mistakes than they are to be fundamental features of your items and your business. Things which are extremely difficult to alter. Possibly your culture didn’t fit, or your high-quality product line wasn’t ideal for a low-cost customer

With a winning analysis, nevertheless, you aim to determine the elements that helped you win. These factors are generally repeatable for other bids. The important thing is to find more customers who value these elements.

The secret is not to attempt to alter the unchangeable (naturally, if you do discover fixable mistakes then repair them)– however instead to recognize which types of clients value the things you are strong at and which don’t. You can then use this to identifying and screen potential new clients and quotes.

One of my previous customers, an IT services company had a very strong consultative culture. They thought that by dealing with their client to help them take ownership of their issues and jointly interacting to establish options (instead of just “informing them the response”) they would have a far more sustainable lead to the long term.

Like all business, they won some quotes, and they lost some. They would then interpret the feedback as suggesting they had to attempt to alter the method they used– to abandon their collective approach to win more business.

What worked for them was to stabilize the feedback from their losses with feedback from their wins. This permitted them to become aware of all the events where their collaborative culture had actually assisted them to win instead of losing. With this more balanced view they began to understand that instead of trying to win whatever, they ought to focus their efforts on those quotes where their culture and capabilities much better matched what the clients appreciated.

They began to qualify bids based on these criteria to permit them to see which ones they were well suitable for, and which ones the clients were looking for a different kind of technique. This focused method enabled them to make significant improvements in the number of quotes they won– and decrease the effort invested in bids where they truly stood no opportunity.

Nearly every company I’ve worked for has actually done routine loss reviews when they’ve stopped working to win big quotes. Despite being done fairly hardly ever, the win reviews are much more likely to produce future wins than loss reviews.

With a winning analysis, nevertheless, you intend to identify the aspects that assisted you to win. With this more well-balanced view they started to comprehend that instead of trying to win whatever, they ought to focus their efforts on those bids where their culture and capabilities much better matched what the customers appreciated.

Thanks to the Web, anyone in the world can publish content online. It’s getting to be a congested space, however, those who have authority will have the ability to construct their brand and increase their revenues more easily.

Authority at a Glance

Authority operates on a number of levels. There is domain authority, page authority, and professional authority within your niche.

Domain Authority— Domain authority relates to your domain traffic. Is your URL a frequently-visited site that draws in not only brand-new but repeat visitors? Do they check out as soon as they click in?

Page Authority— Page authority is frequently measured by online search engine results. Is your page in the leading 10 on the Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs) delivered by Google and other leading search engines?

Professional Authority— Regarding professional authority within your niche, name acknowledgment would often measure your level of authority. Would your name garner immediate acknowledgment by fellow experts in your specific niche in the same method that Emeril and Rach would?

Paying attention to your reviews and scores can assist improve your authority and amass more sales if you’re struggling with all three of these locations.

Rankings and Reviews at a Glance

Your track record has a lot to do with your authority level, whether you are taking a look at domain authority, page authority, or professional authority. One of the easiest and most effective methods to enhance your authority is to make it a point to give your ratings and reviews a little TLC. Nevertheless, prior to you getting to deal with that, you need to understand more about reviews and rankings as well as where to discover them.

Reviews and rankings can be found on “review websites” such as Yelp, social networks websites, and even your site. You should know how your ratings can motivate or prevent individuals from visiting your website especially if you are a brick and mortar company.

Some dating sites will allow people to post reviews. On the other hand, a high score and great review can build consumer self-confidence and make those who check out the info more ready to provide your business with a chance.

Tips to Build Authority Building with Reviews and scores

Sincerity is the best policy. Do not compose your own reviews from lots of accounts, or write fake bad reviews of your competitors no matter how appealing it may be.

Ask customers for sincere feedback. Request for recommendations, reviews, and reviews. Remind them in your email marketing. After they offer a review or review, whether unfavourable or positive, thank them with something such as a coupon, or something specifically associated with the review offered.

Avoid paying for reviews. DO NOT pay for reviews.

Create authority with search engines. Google is by far the biggest search engine and worth paying the most attention to.

Usage of Google for Business. Google for Business, https://www.google.com/business/, permits you to release a robust organization listing. The Gmail account you use can likewise connect to other free Google services such as YouTube for video marketing and Google+ (Google Plus) for social networks marketing.

Usage Google+ Hangouts. Let your consumers provide fast video reviews as well, and provide them to you to post to your channel.

Get reviews at your Google Business listing. People will be able to publish comments, rankings, and reviews. They will be made through the individual’s Gmail account, which needs to keep the system honest and minimize destructive or dishonest postings.

Increase your rankings and reviews for more authority by focusing on what people are stating about you online. Then implement good marketing techniques to take advantage of what’s working in addition to fix anything that isn’t working to your benefit.

There is domain authority, page authority, and professional authority within your niche.

Domain Authority— Domain authority relates to your domain traffic. Your credibility has a lot to do with your authority level, whether you are looking at domain authority, page authority, or professional authority. One of the easiest and most efficient ways to boost your authority is to make it a point to provide your scores and reviews a little TLC. Develop authority with search engines.

The importance of responding to customers online could not be more prevalent as reviews continue to grow more than ever before. Aside from the fact that reviews from customers help others decide whether they should visit a business or not, reviews are now more prevalent on search results pages—meaning a lot of eyes can see what is being said about your company online.

The influence that reviews have on shoppers is staggering: more than 88% of online shoppers incorporate reviews into their purchase decisions (Webrepublic, 2015). Businesses are told to get more reviews on review websites to keep attracting new customers. With so many review websites out there, where does a business even begin? Your business may be afraid to manage customer reviews on review sites as you may not want to end up in one of these situations:

• receive zero reviews
• receive zero recent online reviews
• receive negative online reviews
• or, your business simply has unmanaged online reviews across multiple review websites

Unfortunately, your business is missing out. This lack of free online word of mouth is actually hurting your business through inaction because reputation drives conversion.

1) Business reviews and social posts help shape your company’s online reputation

In fact, one of the worst things your business can do is ignore your online reviews and social posts. As easy as it is to make a mistake when handling your business’s online reputation, it can also be easy to recover if done properly (and with an apology). While damage will inevitably happen, your business can take steps to mitigate the degree of damage that can occur. The biggest mistake of all your company can make is not participating in helping to shape the conversation about your company online.

2) Business reviews provide valuable feedback for your business

While it can be easy for your business to take negative comments to heart, it is important to recognize that reviews are constructive feedback. All in all, reviews are valuable feedback! They help your company gauge their performance and see how you can improve. There is always room for improvement and a lot can be learned even from positive business reviews. Through reviews, your business can see which products or services you should be boasting, which needs work, and even discover which employees rock at customer service.

3) Your business reviews can now appear in search results

Search engines have caught on to the popularity of reviews and are now displaying them more prominently. So, if someone searches for your business, there is a chance that reviews from review websites could be displayed on the search engine results pages. In Google’s markup—the annotated content that appears in search—of a company or product, business reviews and ratings can now be included in search results. In other words, when a user performs a search on Google, Google will find and possibly display review summaries from online business reviews and consumer ratings. Below is an example of how business reviews now showing up in search results.

How can businesses get more reviews?

[spp_spv_hide]There are a variety of methods your business can employ to ask for more business reviews, including emailing consumers manually, using surveys, asking consumers to leave reviews with codes and review sites on their receipts, or utilizing review generation software to automate the business review process.

Three important review website management tips:

1) Remember to add or claim listings on the top review 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 business reviews!

2) Your business should keep asking customers for reviews

Asking the average customer for a review 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 they were provided. Your business should always remember to ask as customers are busy creatures and will not remember unless they are asked or reminded to leave feedback.

3) Customers are more open to leaving reviews on review sites

Why not just ask for business reviews or testimonials on your business’s website? Well, asking consumers to leave a review on your business’s website seems a lot more screened and inauthentic than simply asking consumers to leave reviews on a trusted review site. Since the review site is a third party, it feels more open for customers to leave an honest, unbiased review.

Business reviews are here to stay

In conclusion, there’s no getting away from business reviews. The good news is that there are methods to get more business reviews as well as effectively managing reviews from customers. Also, businesses needn’t fear negative online reviews, as there are ways to negate the effect of negative reviews. [/spp_spv_hide]

In the table below, U.S. Ranking, % U.S. Traffic and Average Monthly U.S. Traffic (unique visitors) data are sourced from Alexa. Businesses should strive to get business reviews on business review websites that are going concerns, review sites that people know about (and go to) and that are relatively friction-less (sites consumers have log ins or can go in easy to leave a review).

Getting to know the top 10 review sites

No 1 review site: Google

Average monthly US traffic (Alexa): 158.03 million
US ranking (Alexa): 1
Business reviews for: any business

Google My Business is a free tool for businesses to manage their online presence across Google, including Search and Maps. Google My Business puts business data on Search, Maps and Google+. Google customer reviews show up in search and are known to bolster SEO, so they are essential to the credibility of all businesses. Your business should aim to be on Google’s snack pack in order to be readily found when consumers perform a local search.

No 2 review site: Facebook

Average monthly US traffic (Alexa): 85.57 million
US ranking (Alexa): 3
Business reviews for: any business

Facebook is a social networking platform where users can create profiles, upload photos and videos, send messages and keep in touch with friends, family and follow their favorite businesses and brands. Since customers are connecting more with brands online, It is pertinent that your business is actively monitoring your social media mentions on social media platforms at all times. Facebook is gaining momentum towards being one of the most popular business review sites. Most users on the site already have a Facebook account, so the process to leave a business review is relatively friction-less.

No. 3 review site: Amazon

Average monthly US traffic (Alexa): 85.44 million
US ranking (Alexa): 4
Business reviews for: e-commerce related transactions

Amazon is a popular go-to business review site for e-commerce products. For companies who do any amount of e-commerce, Amazon is a key source of information. While Amazon as a review website is more targeted and fitting for Amazon marketplace partners, it is a worthy site to note, especially for retailers about what customers like about certain products and how the service aspect of transactions were handled.

No. 4 review site: Yelp

Average monthly US traffic (Alexa): 40.47 million
US ranking (Alexa): 52
Business reviews for: any business

Yelp is a review website where users can publish reviews about local businesses. Yelp has become a name synonymous with business reviews, as the site has over 102 million reviews and counting. As the world’s largest outlet for online customer reviews grows, it might be time for all small businesses to start caring about what consumers are saying online; and more specifically, about their Yelp reviews.

No. 5 review site: TripAdvisor

Average monthly US traffic (Alexa): 28.27 million
US ranking (Alexa): 88
Business reviews for: any business

TripAdvisor is an travel website company where users can leave business reviews of places they’ve visited. Users can also book rooms, find flights, discover to do and reserve tables at participating restaurants. TripAdvisor operates websites internationally in over 25 countries.

No. 6 review site: Yellowpages

Average monthly US traffic (Alexa): 10.5 million
US ranking (Alexa): 402
Business reviews for: any business

YellowPages is an online internet yellow pages directory owned by YP. YP is a local marketing solutions provider that focuses on helping local businesses (and the communities within) grow.
Companies can manage their reviews on the review site after claiming a free business listing on their page.

No. 7 review site: Better Business Bureau

Average monthly US traffic (Alexa): 6.15 million
US ranking (Alexa): 824
Business reviews for: any business
The Better Business Bureau aims to help people find and recommend businesses, brands and charities they can trust (bbb.org).

Based on a business rating review system, BBB educates consumers and assists people in finding trusted businesses. The Better Business Bureau tries to protect consumers from fraudulent business or scammers. Company profiles on BBB contain a short company bio and a history of complaints made about the business, as well as an A – F rating.

No. 8 review site: Manta

Average monthly US traffic (Alexa): 6.48 million
US ranking (Alexa): 1,002
Business reviews for: any business

Manta is an online small business service directory, search engine and review site that provides small businesses with the information to network. The site helps small businesses connect and grow through their community where users can buy from, partner with, and connect to companies.

No. 9 review site: Angie’s List

Average monthly US traffic (Alexa): 5.44 million
US ranking (Alexa): 1,150
Business reviews for: service related businesses

Angie’s List is a service listing and review website that offers user-based rankings and reviews of service professionals in local areas. Because Angie’s List is a paid review site, it is known to be less filled with rambling reviews from customers and spam. Members grade companies using a report card scale from A-F on price, quality, responsiveness, punctuality, and professionalism. Angie’s List is divided by categories such as house, auto, health, pets and services.

No. 10 review site: Foursquare

Average monthly US traffic (Alexa): 3.67 million
US ranking (Alexa): 1,561
Business reviews for: any business, mostly restaurants

Foursquare is a local search and discovery service mobile app. The app helps users discover new places/businesses through other Foursquare business reviews. Users can let friends know where they are and find out where their friends are. In any case, with 55 million monthly active users, Foursquare is a powerful force to monitor customer loyalty and feedback.