2020-09-14 Comments : 0
Much before a customer chooses your business he will definitely think of getting opinions about it. He will only step in to your store after taking reviews, without ever engaging with your company directly. All this is possible through online review sites. These sites make it easy for customers to pick up businesses and compare ratings, without ever leaving their home. They do their research on review sites and do not really care what you have to say about your business.
What Are Business Review Sites?
Business Review Sites are "online proof" of what others talk about your business. Despite of having thousands of local business review sites, there are some that matter more than the rest combined. So a potential customer often starts searching using certain keywords in a search engine, while using a service-oriented keyword followed or preceded by the place in which they're searching (ex: best Italian restaurant in Bangalore). So you should first pay attention to the most important keywords already showing up on search engines. Once you've selected the keywords, here are ten Business Review Sites that weigh heavy and have a huge online presence that your business should be taking advantage of.
1. Google My Business
Google is the ultimate search referrer. When you search for any business you will see some reviews that show up for your search. Google My Business ensures that when a customer looks your company on Google Search and Google Maps, they find it. Your listing will also showswhere and how to visit your shop. This is because of google's Pigeon algorithm update that uses distance and location ranking parameters to provide improved local search results. So, for your business's, website to be optimized for search, you'll want to set up verified accounts with local directories, especially Google's, called Google My Business. If you get reviews, comments, and so on, especially on Google, it can give you a boost in search. But, only verified local Google+ pages can respond to reviews.
Google Maps will pull that information and reviews into the app, thus having a lot of content in there will make your business look more reputable. Since it's free, it's an affordable marketing tool for small and big businesses alike.
2. Amazon Customer Reviews
Earlier in 1995, Amazon was one of the first online stores to allow consumers to post reviews of products, and it still remains one of the most important sites for customers looking to make their purchase decisions. Even if people buy a product elsewhere, and if it's sold on Amazon.com, then many people will look up its Amazon review before they buy it.
How a customer provides reviews? Through those shiny gold stars and written customer reviews. All the products are rated on a five-star rating, and the percentage comes down by each star, followed by most helpful written reviews.
3. Trustpilot
A consumer review platform that has been expanded out of Europe into 65 countries,including the U.S, helps companies from all over the world actively collect customer reviews. Customers write both product and seller reviews, keeping it third-party verified.
Although they have a free basic version, their paid versions let you create customizable reviews, share ratings and reviews on social media, and link review data to your internal business systems.
4. Glassdoor
This is one of the biggest reviewing sites for employers, today. Here how you treat your employees matter more than your products and services. Users can share what it's like to work at their respective companies. This site also shows which companies are rated highest by their employees. If any user writes a negative review about your company,then it will affect your company's future, and hiring a best talent becomes very difficult. On Glassdoor, you can't change any of the user reviews; you just have to respond to it promptly.
Glassdoor helps you to build your employment brand so you can target and recruit candidates, and also to get right feedback, which helps you to improve what you are lacking within the organization.
5. Mouth Shut
This is a home to millions of feedbacks written by consumers on products and services across all the categories and is a highly popular and trusted consumer feedback network. You can not only read reviews but also post your opinions and ratings about everything. Apart from offering consumers a free platform to show their opinions, it also has many programs for businesses that wish to gain from the large repository of reviews to improve their products and brand reputation.
6. Reviewsxp
Reviewsxp is an Indian-based platform which strives hard to improve their services and give you a more personalized experience by asking you for your feedback on their various services and content from time to time. You can read and write reviews about the brand you love. These reviews help you to shop smarter. You can search for any products, brands,service providers, etc. for which they have paid for, and make decisions based on those reviews. Thus, Reviewsxp helps you to share your experiences on any brands and products and help fellow consumers shop well.
7. Consumer Affairs
Consumer Affairs is a for-profit company and is not a government agency or affiliated with any government organization. This platform offers information for consumers such as news,reviews and ratings from consumers, buyer's guides and information on specific topics. It provides companies reviews using an "overall satisfaction rating" This rating is scored on a one to five-star scale that's updated every time a new review is submitted. Every company's page provides a list of its reviews, which includes the consumer's star rating as well as a short explanation for their score.
Consumer Affairs allows consumers to submit review recordings, which are two-minute videos where people talk about their experience with a brand. This makes the review much more captivating because you can actually see the person talk and express their true feelings about the company.
8. Yelp
Yelp was founded in the year 2004 to connect residents of San Francisco to local businesses,since then has become a household name across the world. It is a free review site that allows consumers rate businesses on a five-star scale. Any business can set up their profile
on Yelp for free, and users can set up their own free profiles to review a business. You can respond to reviewers, but it's good to take a balanced and polite approach to any negative reviews you receive, because Yelp is a pretty tight-knit community.
Yelp reviews rank well with search engines, and is seen as reputable and trustworthy. All thanks to an algorithm implemented in the year 2006 that, while not necessarily perfect, helps to curb fake reviews.
In order to gain control of your profile, check to see if your business is already listed; if so,then "claim" the listing with phone call verification. You can also feature paid ads for businesses and, therefore, increase visibility. Paying businesses won't change their negative reviews; therefore they will still be genuine.
Yelp contains information like store hours and location information, so your profile will often turn up when people Google your business. Yelp offers a full list of mobile apps that allow users to access it on the go.
9. Angie's List
Angie's List was founded in 1995, is a "higher-end" review site that solicits user recommendations for local businesses in Columbus, Ohio. It's database moved to the Internet in 1999, and since then has become a dominant force in local user review websites. Angie's List charges a membership fee for users to read and post their reviews, though listings are free for companies. It doesn't allow writing anonymous reviews, which helps cut down on fake reviews,and companies can respond to the reviews posted about them.
Once you have a page for your company, encourage your customers to leave reviews on Angie's list, however, only members are allowed to do it.
10. Facebook Ratings and Reviews
Facebook allows its fans to leave ratings and reviews of your business. This place is called Facebook Ratings & Reviews. It is found on the left-hand side of your Facebook Page, and you can't move or remove it like any other parts of your Page.
Anyone on Facebook can post a rating or review of a business. In order to give reviews, users should go to the Reviews section of your Page, click the stars to choose a rating, and then can write an optional review. They can make the review public, visible to friends, or visible only to them. Reviews on Facebook travel quickly, making your business noticed in less time.
Conclusion:
If you plan on using local business review sites to help bring in new customers to your business,keep the following tips in mind in order to best utilize these services:
1) Ask customers to review after they visit or make a purchase from you. Some of them would be happy to give their reviews.
2) Reply to the reviews and let the users know that you value and appreciate their honest opinion, which will increase their trust towards business.
3) No business is perfect, so don't panic if reviews are less than 100% positive. Instead, use this as a learning tool for improving your business. Follow up and try to fix that problem.
Customers will be more satisfied with a company in which there was an issue and the issue was resolved.
We Wish You Good Luck In Your Business!
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