Ask yourself this question: How often do you buy something online without seeking out the reviews first? If you’re like most people, you want to read the opinions of your peers so you can make an informed decision and decide whether to buy the product or service. And as this is so important in your purchase journey, you should certainly add online reviews to your website when attempting to sell your stuff. But not any old review will do. So how do you seek out the best online reviews for your organisation?
Coming Up With a Strategy
Don’t treat reviews as an afterthought — make them an integral part of your marketing mix. Put yourself and your products or services out there so people can find you and lodge their opinion.
Google Review Options
There are many different resources, but your Google Business Profile is arguably the most important. Your performance here will dictate how far up you appear in search engine results and those all-important local maps. You’re developing a star rating, and your total number of reviews will be a key factor in your SEO success.
Setting up a Google Business Profile is relatively easy, and you will start by linking to your physical address. Then, Google will send you a code via snail mail to that location, so they can verify that you are the owner. When everything is set up, add some high-quality photos and update all the relevant descriptions and fields. It will help if you put as much effort into this as you do your website.
If you’re ready to solicit reviews, make sure that your customer service is top-notch and that people have a good reason to give you such a good review in the first place. Then, go to the Google profile and copy a short URL so you can request reviews from your customers. Also, add your business profile to your email marketing campaigns and encourage people to state their views. Finally, if you have some long-term and valuable customers, go out of your way to request a review from them.
Also, if other staff in your organisation interact with customers, ensure they get into the habit of asking for a review.
Industry Review Sites
There are also several industry-specific review sites around. They won’t affect your search engine results as much, but good reviews can undoubtedly impact your reputation. Sometimes, good ratings here could cause your business to be displayed in one of those handy search snippets.
Use the same approach with these sites as you would for Google Business. However, don’t fall into the trap of spreading your resources too thinly by trying to master too many review sites. Choose sites that relate more directly to your average customer instead.
Third-Party Sites Like Trustpilot
You will undoubtedly have heard of Trustpilot. This is probably the top product review site and has a good reputation in the eyes of Google and other search engines. In addition, these third-party sites are vetted for accuracy, so customers will be more inclined to trust the information they find here, knowing that it cannot be manipulated. Your customers may be likelier to leave you a review, and you’ll always get a deserved score.
Learning More
These are just some ways to gather good reviews to help market your organisation. If you’d like some more in-depth support to succeed, why not take advantage of the specific training provided by Amire? The experts here can also introduce you to social media as a powerful way of garnering reviews.
