By: Dennis Paul | May 4, 2016

How to Establish your Business on Review Sites

How to Establish your Business on Review Sites

The most important thing with small companies for online reputation.

How to Establish your Business on Review Sites. One of the most important things to a modern day business is developing a positive reputation online. However, if you are just starting your business or have yet to develop yourself review sites, knowing exactly how to complete this process can be difficult.

According to a new survey by Dimensional Research, an overwhelming 90 percent of respondents who recalled reading online reviews claimed that positive online reviews influenced buying decisions, while 86 percent said buying decisions were influenced by negative online reviews.

Since customers are now willing to spend the time necessary to find the best option for their purchases, it is more important than ever for them to be  able to find your business on the websites  they are most likely to visit. For this reason, you should begin by making sure that your business has been added to the major review sites.

How to Establish your Business on Review Sites

1. Join the Basic Review Sites

While there may be some review sites that are specifically related to the industry that your company is a part of, it is crucial that you are at least a member of Google+ and Facebook. These are the first places that a consumer will begin looking at and start posting reviews for businesses. Therefore,  they are definitely ones that you will want to be a part of.

You will need to devote time to build up the information that you post on these sites and make sure that you update them regularly with information that is crucial to your consumers. If you have multiple locations, this can be very beneficial when it comes time to manage the activities occurring at these remote locations.   Repair Bad Reputation offers clients 60 plus review sites for around $500 a year. Could be worth the investment?

73% of consumers say positive reviews increase their trust of a business

2. Encourage but don’t ask for Reviews

This is a pretty tricky one because many review sites do not let you ask for positive reviews, in fact asking for reviews to sites like yelp and google are against policy.  So, as oppose of asking ‘encourage‘.  While some customers will naturally find themselves posting reviews for your company online, most of these customers are those who are less than thrilled with your services. It is best to encourage happy customers to give feedback and if interested share that feedback with the online audience but do not directly ask for reviews.

There are a number of things you can’t do: For example, offering a discount on their next purchase or a coupon code after participating in a survey will likely give them the encouragement that they need to post a review online and then have all your reviews removed.

How to Establish your Business on Review Sites. Here are some secrets of what you can do:

a. It is a great idea to offer them a membership in a reward program so that they can build up points to use in the store. Not only will they feel as if they are a valued customer, but they will be more likely to post positive reviews online and shop with you again in the future.

b. If you get a compliment in the store or an email to follow up, always say – ‘Hey, would you share your thoughts with our online community. It is not against policy to send direct links to listings that accept reviews.

c. Collect that list of VIP’s or regulars and ask for some feedback. Again don’t ask for positive reviews.

d. If you send out emails, include links. If you have an HTML signature include links. If you don’t start sending out emails and build an HTML signature. Include links once again to your review sites.

e. Social Media marketing. What else can we say include links to your review sites?

f. The most important thing is always QUALITY SERVICE.

Respond to Negative Complaints on Review Sites

One thing that many businesses fail to do is to address concerns written by people who leave negative reviews. If someone posts a negative comment or negative information in review sites, it is important that you contact these individuals and attempt to address their concerns. Other customers will see that you truly care about your customers and are willing to take care of issues that may show up from time to time.  Sometimes, your biggest enemy can become your best advocate when they feel like you care. So, CARE and LEARN and MAKE CHANGES to how you do business.

It is likely that a negative review will happen from time to time, however, it is important to address them one on one with the customer. You should avoid having an argument with someone online and should instead encourage the customer to give you a call directly or ask if you can contact them privately.  If you find that a lot of reviews are being written giving the same feedback about what your business is doing wrong – CHANGE THE WAY YOU DO BUSINESS. Here at Repair Bad Reputation we often see consumers complaining about customer reviews on review sites, look up the reviews and turn to the potential clients and say, ‘Have you ever thought about doing business better?  There is no way we can help’.

The Positive Affect of Review Sites

Not only do reviews sites build your business and establish you online, but they can help give you a simple marketing tool that can help bring new customers in your front door. Make sure that you have links posted on your website that will allow potential customers to see what others are saying about your company.

Brightlocal in 2014 in search engine land said 88% Of Consumers Trust Online Reviews As Much As Personal Recommendations

How to Establish your Business on Review Sites: Review sites are not only is this a great way to build trust with your potential customers, but it is a great way to showcase all the things that you can do for them if they decide to purchase your products or rely on your services. Plus, when you respond to any negative reviews that surface, your potential customers will realize that you will take care of any issue that they may have and are not hiding anything from them.

How to Establish your Business on Review Sites: Conclusion

Developing yourself on review sites is an important step for any business to accomplish. Customers are now relying heavily on what they find online before making most of their purchasing decisions and so it is important that you maintain a healthy online presence.

At times, managing an online reputation may become overwhelming for some businesses and in these instances; it pays to enlist the help of an online reputation management company. These companies can help businesses maintain a healthy reputation online and will work with them to promote the positive things about their businesses. There is no doubt that your reputation online matters, now it is time to invest in growing out your review sites.