The internet is the ultimate space for businesses to compete and secure business every day. In the beginning, it was fairly straightforward. All they need to do is create websites and sporadically distribute advertisements across the internet. This was enough to fetch business. Now, businesses need to move in a highly dynamic and volatile environment […]
The internet is the ultimate space for businesses to compete and secure business every day. In the beginning, it was fairly straightforward. All they need to do is create websites and sporadically distribute advertisements across the internet. This was enough to fetch business.
Now, businesses need to move in a highly dynamic and volatile environment to keep afloat. SEO and SEM are some of the most dominant practices to become highly visible and extremely trustworthy so that people would not think twice to spend their hard-earned cash.
A customer review is personalized feedback by a client after purchasing a product or hiring a service. Since the development and application of algorithms for search engine functions, it has gained a lot of traction as it offers search engines a positive indicator that a service or product is indeed legitimate and ultimately the business behind it.
Customer reviews are usually personalized text accompanied by star ratings, mostly out of 5, and some other forms of remarks.
For both search engines and human users on the internet, a positive customer review is a boost or an assurance that a certain service and the business behind is legitimate and trustworthy.
The result of this trust is often quantifiable where search engines reward high-performing businesses with improved SERPs and satisfied customers offer more business resulting in more revenue.
Estimates have shown immense power of conversion and sales in customer reviews. According to a study, more than 87% of consumers rely on customer reviews before placing an order at a new business.
This is the new word of mouth that people trust as opposed to the marketing materials that brands love to develop and propagate.
If you are a local business, there are high chances that you struggle with the new business almost every day. For cities and counties that receive a good influx of tourists and vacationers, having a strong virtual footing can bridge many gaps.
So, here are some top customer review companies to get reviews and secure traction in the virtual space for new customers.
Businesses can get more than just monetary leverage by going with reviewing websites. Here are some of the benefits:
The platforms for customer reviews we have listed in the previous heading can serve different types of businesses better, depending on the customer base and the range of services.
For instance, small motels and lodgings can get the advantage of Angie’s List and Trustpilot because many travelers depend on that site. Similarly, Google My Business is a trusted outlet for people who need local services such as plumbing, electrical work, and so on.
It is evident from the extensive research that businesses that have aced the review sites game are reaping exceptional rewards in terms of improved revenue and more exposure for prospects.
That’s why businesses need to expand and have to cast a wider net to capture a bigger chunk of the market share.
Every platform has its own set of features that can help businesses get more visibility through feedback and reviews. Google My Business is the holy grail of local businesses for the many intuitive features, such as Google Maps integration, multimedia for business activity, and so on.
Simply creating profiles is not going to be enough for businesses to get a real advantage from these platforms. Just like modern search engines, there are millions of businesses on these websites and they need to employ several techniques and procedures to get the real benefit.
There are chances that a single business may have more than one account on these platforms. This can stop the business from getting all the attention of the customers because feedback could be lost on fake accounts.
So, the first thing to do is to claim the business profiles on the sites, especially on Google My Business, because it will set the whole Google business solutions in motion for the brand.
There are chances that even when businesses provide the best services, they cannot get many positive reviews. This is a real problem because they need the good word to get attention and secure trust.
That’s why businesses need to develop strategies and come up with non-evasive methods to encourage and ask customers to leave feedback.
Since reviews help businesses to gain trust which results in more revenue, many resort to fake or paid reviews when they could not muster many real ones. This may sound like a business tactic to some but it can be disastrous.
Google Search has become very sophisticated in weeding out fake reviews, businesses, and sites. If a business indulges in this activity, there are chances of getting caught which could lead to getting blacklisted by the search engines.
The race is on for getting more customer reviews. Businesses that are on top of these developments end up getting more expansion and customer support. So, businesses must have a solid review-gathering mechanism in place for better outreach and goodwill.
This is a common practice these days that businesses showcase goodwill and customer reviews received by clients on their websites. Hardly any website is devoid of that. This has a positive effect on visitors as they see the reviews and get the idea that a business is indeed legitimate and fulfills its promises.
The best thing is that businesses have more than one way to do that. There are countless widgets and plugins that they employ to highlight five-star reviews, comments, and ratings.
Through the bandwagon effect and building trust, businesses will get more reviews which will show on their bottom line.
Online businesses, especially e-commerce, have become a norm. People order products from anywhere in the world and get them shipped to their addresses within a couple of days. Depending on the overall level of service, including different aspects such as delivery time, customer experience, and so on, they provide feedback.
The problem is the days or weeks that pass between ordering and receiving an order. This is where brands can step up. By tracking the order and then estimating the time of arrival, they can follow up on orders. By politely asking the customer to leave a review, they can accumulate a good number resulting in more customer trust and reliability.
Brands cannot indulge in teaching people what they want and how they want. Instead of telling what and how they conduct their business, they should ask customers how they can improve their services.
There are many ways of doing that, from picking up after purchase or slipping in a short survey while customers are placing their orders, companies can improve their services and get affection in return. This is evident from the practices done by big brands where they make every customer feel special and in charge and let them decide how they want to be entertained. This is where the real difference in the review game comes.
Reviews come in all forms, shapes, and sizes. Whether good or bad, the silent treatment is the worse one. Many brands appreciate and highlight positive reviews but do not do anything for the negative ones.
Instead, they should be receptive to criticism and take the discussion further by asking customers what went wrong. In many cases, this often leads to the resolution of the problem, and the customer is satisfied in the end.
The best customer review platforms are not only for the customers but for the brands too. They should create profiles and interact with customers to make sure that they are on top of recent developments in every relevant domain or sphere.
As mentioned in the previous sections, they can connect with customers and interact with them through sections.
Search engines take notice of brands that engage with customers and prospects at multiple levels. This gives out a signal that those businesses are trustworthy and get rankings to boost as a reward.
In addition to this, users are flocking social media and asking questions and queries regarding brands’ products and services. They need someone to answer those questions. So, engagement is a win-win!
Marketing materials can be misleading or too persuasive. That’s why people still rely on one another for recommendations and suggestions. One reason why brands should have vigorous channels to collect and showcase reviews is that it is the digital version of word of mouth where they can truly capitalize positive sentiment of the customers.
There are many tips and hacks when it comes to getting more Google reviews from customers. So, here are some tested ones:
There are many reasons why a business would appreciate a positive review or overall feedback from the customer. It helps them gain trust and more traction with the prospects. It also helps them in getting more visibility and exposure online. As result, all of this positive sentiment is translated into more revenue and profits for the brand.
Following are some of the ways businesses can get customers to leave best reviews online more often:
Local businesses need the review sites the most. They often struggle with limited demand and need a boost in sales to keep afloat. Review websites for businesses can put them on the map in terms of online visibility, trust, and sales projections.
That’s why it is not something nice to have for a local business, but essential to make sure they stay in business.
Modern consumers seek reviews and feedback before making a purchase. That’s why it pays to have reviews on your websites. There are many factors to it, including how detailed they are and how they are displayed on the website for prospects to see and respond to.
This is a standard these days and all new brands follow these practices to get the best response.
Business online reviews sites are extremely beneficial to businesses as they help them gain a rapport with both customers and prospects. This article has touched all the bases in terms of what customer reviews are and how they can improve the overall experience for customers and improve ROIs for brands.
We have also mentioned some of the best business review sites that are frequented and trusted by customers. So, if you are a brand that needs to gain or preserve customer trust and reliability in your name, go through the article and get useful insights!
