Online business reviews influence your customers’ decisions, whether you want them to or not. Take any statistical website, and you’ll understand the extent of this truth. However, it’s not so bad if you think about it for a second.
People rarely endorse a business with bad reviews, which gives you a chance to improve. The more improvement customers see in your offerings, the more willing they’ll be to do business with you. And if you have positive reviews, there’s no need to worry. They’ll become your best advocates, bringing you more customers and improving your business.
If you want to learn more about the influence of reviews and methods to collect them, this article can help. So, let’s start.
How Online Reviews Affect Business
Online reviews help customers choose whether or not they want to do business with a particular company. But that’s not the only purpose they serve. Here’s how online reviews affect businesses.
Firstly, they can significantly impact your business’s revenue and profits. Better reviews mean you’ll be able to make more sales. On the other hand, bad reviews might discourage customers from purchasing from you.
But even then, if you take it seriously, negative feedback can create a positive impact. Genuine negative reviews allow you to identify areas of improvement. They tell you what customers expect from your business and how you’ll fulfill those expectations.
Responding to these bad reviews can improve your business. Eventually, you’ll get positive reviews while ensuring you give your customers what they want.
Moreover, replying to online reviews and interacting with negative ones builds trust and credibility. Customers feel more comfortable sharing their thoughts with you. Lastly, positive online reputations mean better visibility online.
3 Best Methods To Get Online Reviews for Your Business
Now that you know how online reviews affect your business, let’s see how you can enjoy those effects. There are various methods to ask customers to leave reviews, including in-person survey templates and WiFi marketing.
However, unsolicited reviews do happen. Customers voluntarily leave these reviews on various platforms. Both solicited and unsolicited reviews combine to make your online reputation. But for the sake of this article, we’ll focus on solicited reviews. So, here’s how to get reviews for your business.
1. Give Exceptional Customer Service
Offering exceptional customer service is an indirect way of getting solicited reviews. If you give your customers an exceptional experience, they’ll return happy and ready to praise your business publicly.
Even if they don’t give you a review voluntarily, happy customers will be more receptive to review requests. You can ask them to fill out in-person survey forms or scan a QR code to leave a review online. Since they’ll be happy with your service, they won’t be able to decline the request.
2. Add a Review Link to Your Emails
Sending a review request link through emails gives you a personal way of asking customers for reviews. Since there’s more space, you can elaborate on how customer opinions help you improve your products and services.
Besides, those messages will reach customers directly. So, if you make the message enticing, customers will be more likely to respond.
However, make sure you send these emails at the right time. For example, when customers make a purchase, you can ask them about their experience with your ordering system.
You can also ask about your offering when customers receive their orders. Requesting reviews during these times is likely to get you a response.
3. Use WiFi Marketing for Automated Review Requests
Let’s end this list with WiFi marketing, a tactic that offers more than just free WiFi. Just like giving exceptional service, free and reliable WiFi makes customers happy. You must know what happy customers can do for your online reputation.
So, prompt customers to complete a small survey when they disconnect from your network. Some businesses waste this potential of WiFi marketing by only asking about the WiFI experience. Don’t make the same mistake; use WiFi marketing to its fullest.
3 Best Business Review Sites According to Industry
Statistics have proved the importance of review platforms time and time again. For example, BrightLocal found that 81% of consumers trust Google reviews for local businesses. Therefore, having a presence on Google is non-negotiable.
However, apart from Google, there are various review sites that consumers turn to when they want to judge a business. Some trust Yelp more for restaurants, while others trust TripAdvisor for such businesses. Due to this, it’s best to learn about these sites and have a presence on all that suit your business.
If you’re unsure where to start, the following sections discuss the three best business review sites according to industry.
1. Yelp for Restaurants and Eateries
Yelp is a well-known review site for local businesses, especially restaurants. It’s so famous that some search engines have ditched their review feature to integrate Yelp reviews!
It’s the first place diners turn to when looking for places to eat. Therefore, not having a listing here means missing out on multiple actionable insights.
Besides, Yelp has several strict policies and strategies to ensure the reviews are authentic. Such things make customers trust the platform. You should have a presence there if you work in this industry. Most importantly, you should be effective at getting reviews on Yelp.
The best part is that you can create business listings for free here. If you offer online booking, Yelp has an integrated booking feature to make your work easier.
Moreover, you can advertise your business to push the listing to the top. In these cases, Yelp will mark your listing as a “Sponsored result.”
Another feature that will make you wonder is the reporting feature. It lets you know things like your monthly reviews and even user activity after viewing your Yelp listing.
2. TripAdvisor for Hotels
If you own a hotel or vacation rental, you can’t do without a TripAdvisor listing. That’s because whenever tourists need recommendations on places to stay or spots to visit, they turn to TripAdvisor.
Other businesses that can benefit from a TripAdvisor listing include:
- Transportation services
- Entertainment venues
- Other lodging accommodations
Again, creating a listing here is free. All the reviews you get on Tripadvisor will be on a scale of one to five.
The platform also asks active users to mention when they visited and pictures for a more detailed review. This, along with features like business comparisons, makes TripAdvisor a favorable site for customers and, in return, for you.
3. Google for All Businesses
As mentioned earlier, Google is the first place people turn to when looking for online reviews for businesses. In fact, very few people don’t consult Google before making a buying decision.
All you have to do is create a Google My Business (GMB) profile and update your business information. That will get your business on Google. Once that happens, people can Google your business and leave their reviews.
However, if you want the listing to appear trustworthy and get more reviews, focus on your Google reviews and search engine optimization (SEO).
A Google Business Profile (GBP) also makes it easier for customers to find you when they’re searching for local businesses to support. The better your reputation is on Google, the higher your listing will appear.
On Managing Online Business Reviews
When it comes to online business reviews, collecting them is not enough. You also need to manage them. In other words, you must monitor and respond to reviews from multiple sources.
Responding to positive, negative, and fake reviews allows you to control your business’s online reputation and others’ perspectives of it. Here’s how.
When you respond to a positive review with gratitude, you make a good impression on potential customers. They think of you as a brand that cares about what customers say.
Thanking customers for positive reviews also builds a special connection to them. When that happens, they’re happier to leave more reviews in the future.
On the other hand, responding to a negative review shows that you aren’t afraid of owning up to your mistakes. You care about your customers’ issues and want to make things right for the reviewer.
For that, you must apologize for the mistake and present solutions.
Consider incentivizing the customer for the inconvenience they have endured. But whatever you do, remember to remain calm. Denying your mistake and arguing with the reviewer will only make matters worse.
Ignoring negative customer reviews is another thing you should never do. Timely resolution is something potential customers will always appreciate.
Now, if you don’t have a system to monitor ratings and reviews, you might accidentally ignore reviews. Therefore, it’s important to turn on notifications for social media, email, review websites, etc. You can even invest in a feedback system to manage reviews in one place.
Should You Rely on Online Reviews Alone?
Even though managing online business reviews helps get a better reputation, you shouldn’t rely on them alone. You must also engage with your customers in-store to get deeper insights.
Tactics like focus groups and interviews allow you to uncover things you might have never caught in an audit.
Getting regular online reviews on business review websites is essential to grow your business. To automate this part of your operations, try Beambox.
It’s a WiFi marketing platform that helps you get more positive reviews and prevent negative ones from going online. Start your trial now!
