Client Online Reviews – How to get em, where to put em

Online ReviewsDid you ever wonder why it is that when you search for certain products and services all of the top rankings in the search engines always seem to point to big brands or national retail outfits? There could be any number of reasons as to why that is but one of the contributing factors has to do with customer reviews.

You might be asking about now what customer reviews have to do with search engine rankings? Well the answer is each review is interpreted by the search engines as validation that the content reviewed, whether it be a page, product or service, is exactly what it appears to be. After all nobody would go out of their way to leave a review about how fresh and tasty a pizza was on a site selling Lipitor.

That fresh and tasty pizza review suggests that not only is the reviewed product page about pizza but given that someone went out of their way to leave the review, it is a better bet for the search engine to recommend that pizza parlour to searchers looking for pizza in their neighborhood. That customer review makes it a little easier for the search engines to understand what a web page or site is about. The search engine has more to base their recommendations on other than just what the web site claims the topic is.

Independent, 3rd party verification goes a long way in validation and the search engines take full advantage of them and so should your business website. This doesn’t mean that in order to do so all you have to do is get as many customer reviews as possible, sure volume is helpful but the number of reviews isn’t quite as powerful as getting reviews from active and authoritative user accounts. An argument could be made that increasing the number of reviews would increase the chances of receiving a review from a more influential account. So for the purposes of this post we will look at going for volume over active reviewers.

In order to get online reviews for your products or services the key is to make the process of leaving a review as easy as possible. Try adding links to your review profiles in as many places as you can. For example when someone makes a purchase from your website make sure to include a review link on your thank you page or email. Odds on a receiving a review are greatly improved by including that review link.

Further to that it is a good idea to include links to as many of the review sites as possible. By doing this you increase the odds of getting a review based on the fact that not everybody uses and has an account on the same review site. After all Yelp isn’t the only game in town so make it easy for customers to leave a review by offering as many links as possible without over doing it. Examples of some of the more popular review sites are Angie’s List, Yelp, Yahoo LocalGoogle Local,  LinkedIn, and TrustLink.

Naturally one of the best ways to get a review from a customer is to just ask them. Don’t be shy. What is the worst that can happen, them saying no? Simply suggest to them that their opinions matter and that you would love to get their feedback. Follow by asking if they ever read reviews and tell them that you have used them to aid you in making purchasing decisions and others do as well and that is why you are asking if they wouldn’t mind leaving a review online? You would be surprised at how successful this honest approach can be.

Something else you can try to get a review is to offer some kind of an incentive for that review. After it is all said and done it took your customer a little extra effort to leave a review and a little thank you would not be inappropriate. Regardless of the review being favorable or not, that review is beneficial to your business and their honesty should be met with appreciation. Should someone leave a negative review you can use that to help improve your business and if possible you should reward them with a response of some kind. Incentives don’t always have to come in the form of a discount, sometimes the incentive can be in the form of a customer knowing that you are actually listening to their feedback and are trying to improve their experience with your business.

Another thing to take in to consideration is just who is your customer. Do you cater to young people and their pursuits or does your customer base know no age demographic? If your customer base is predominantly young people then the odds are pretty good that your clients already know how to use the online review systems and likely already have accounts. However, some of your customers may not be familiar with leaving reviews online so for them you may need to guide them on how this is done. It is in your best interest to invest the time on the various review sites, learn how they work so you can help those people who want to help your business.

I have added the basic instructions on how to leave a review on the various review sites.

Yahoo Local

  • Submit ratings and reviews
  • Submitting a rating for a business or service
  • Sign in with your Yahoo ID.
  • -See our help article about signing up for a Yahoo ID.
  • Click the business you want to review.
  • Click Write a review under the address and phone number at the top of the businesses’ details page.
  • You can also submit your review by clicking the Write a review link in the search results page.

Google

  • Open Google Maps and make sure you’re signed in.
  • Search for a place.
  • Below the search box, click Write a review.
  • In the window that appears, click the stars to score the place. If you want, you can also write a review.

Yelp

  • To write a review you’ll need to create a Yelp user account if you don’t already have one.
  • Once you’re logged in, you can locate the business you’re trying to review by using the search bar located at the top of any page on the website or from the search button on the app. Enter what you’re looking for in the first window (either a specific business or a category), and the location in the second.
  • There are also search filters you can use to narrow your results.
  • Once you’ve located the business page, it’s simple: click or tap Write a Review and you’ll be led through the remaining steps to finish.
  • Please note that if you’re unable to locate the business, you may need to add it to Yelp.

Angie’s List

  • If you want to leave a review for one of our agents on Angie’s List, please follow the steps below.
  • Login to your account.
  • After logging in, you will see a “Write a Review” button on the right side, just under your ‘Account’, click on that.
  • On the next screen, you will see a search field.
  • Type in “The company name” and choose the location (if applicable).
  • Upon selecting it, you will be taken to the actual Review screen containing various options (be as detailed as possible).
  • After carefully completing all the fields with honest information, check the ‘Confirmation box’ that is a necessary step to do in order to complete the review.
  • The last step is to click on the yellow ‘Submit Review’ button. If you want to preview your review, click on the ‘Preview Review’ or if you haven’t filled the entire review form and want to save it so that you can complete the review later, click on the ‘Save as Draft’ button.

Linkedin

  • Roll your mouse over the Companies link from the top navigation bar and click the Find Companies link from the menu that appears. On the Companies page, click the Service Providers link.
  • On the Service Providers page that appears, click the Make a Recommendation tab.
  • Enter the first name, last name, and e-mail address of who you are recommending, or click the Select from Your Connections List link to find someone in your network.
  • Click the Continue button.
  • Select the position this service provider had when you hired him, an option from the Service Category drop-down list, and the year you first hired or worked with him.
  • Scroll down and pick the top attributes that best describe this service provider.
  • Scroll down and write your recommendation and click Send.

Trustlink

  • Use the FIND navigation above to locate the name of the company you want to review (you can submit new companies there, too).
  • Click on the name to go to the company’s profile page.
  • At the company’s profile page click on the Write a Review button in the middle (little guy with red pencil).
  • A window will pop up with room to enter a headline, review and rating.
  • Once you’re done writing, click the submit button at the bottom and your review is posted! (If you’re not registered or signed in the window will help with that).
The following two tabs change content below.
Search Engines are now one of the biggest lead generators for any online company, and Les Romhanyi is passionate about Google and Bing and everything ‘SERP.’ Truly an SEO expert in organic search optimization, Les has optimized websites for search engines before it was even called Search Engine Optimization, going back to 1995 while working on the Net Sheppard project. In the nearly two decades since, Les has provided SEO services to some of the most competitive and difficult business verticals, such as online gambling, pharmaceuticals, and real estate.