{"id":487,"date":"2017-06-15T13:30:25","date_gmt":"2017-06-15T12:30:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/optimumfeedback.com\/blog\/?p=487"},"modified":"2019-12-30T15:16:11","modified_gmt":"2019-12-30T14:16:11","slug":"step-step-guide-getting-online-reviews","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/flyte360.com\/blog\/step-step-guide-getting-online-reviews\/","title":{"rendered":"Step-by-Step Guide to Getting More Online Reviews"},"content":{"rendered":"

There\u2019s no question about the growing importance of online reviews, even if your business is entirely offline.<\/span><\/p>\n

Increasing your online reviews can be tricky if you don\u2019t have an action plan, or if you\u2019re in the type of business where your customers aren\u2019t likely to go online and review you.<\/span><\/p>\n

Luckily, there are many simple things that can significantly increase the number of reviews your business gets, as well as making sure that those reviews turn out positive.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Online<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a 5-Point Action Plan to start getting more online reviews for your business today.<\/span><\/p>\n

1. Make Your Business Easy to Review<\/span><\/h1>\n

People tend to be lazy by nature, and this includes your clients!<\/span><\/p>\n

Good marketers have always realized that the only way to get someone do things that don\u2019t directly benefit themselves is to make it <\/span>as easy and frictionless as possible<\/b>.<\/span><\/p>\n

What does this mean for you? A few things:<\/span><\/p>\n

Make sure your business is visible across all major review sites.<\/b><\/h2>\n

Having a profile on Yelp is all good, but not all of your customers will use Yelp. Some of them may be happy to give you a review, but only on <\/span>Google where they\u2019re probably already signed in<\/span>. Others might prefer <\/span>Facebook<\/span> or another platform.<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s important that your business is listed on ALL the major review sites even if you decided to primarily focus on just one. This includes generic sites like Google Reviews, Yelp and Facebook, but also industry-specific review sites too. If you\u2019re a lawyer, you\u2019ll want to appear on Laywers.com and Avvo.com. If you\u2019re running a restaurant then TripAdvisor and OpenTable are a must.<\/span><\/p>\n

Do your research to see which review sites matter in your industry and open up a business profile there. Most of these sites will allow you to list your company free of charge. <\/span><\/p>\n

Complete your profile information. It only takes a minute!<\/b><\/h2>\n

There\u2019s nothing less inviting for your customers than to review a business that hasn\u2019t set itself up fully on the review site.<\/span><\/p>\n

A mini-study that we completed showed people are <\/span>87% more likely to review businesses <\/b>that have an established-looking profile, as opposed to those that don\u2019t.<\/span><\/p>\n

Here\u2019s an example of a restaurant with an established Yelp profile:<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Good<\/p>\n

As you can see, it includes nice photos of the place, an accurate address, opening times and if you scrolled further down you\u2019d even see a snapshot of their menu.<\/span><\/p>\n

Not only does this clearly indicate that the business cares about their reviews, it also makes it much easier for potential customers to find it.<\/span><\/p>\n

So go ahead and beef up your review site profiles – there\u2019s really no excuse not to!<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Optimum<\/a><\/p>\n

2. Ask and You Shall Receive<\/span><\/h1>\n

Many of our reputation management clients come to us with the same story:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIn my industry, customers are simply not in the habit of leaving reviews!\u201d<\/b><\/p>\n

This might be true if you sell the kind of products or services where your store entrance can only be found in a side-alley, but for the majority of businesses, this myth is quickly becoming extinct. <\/span><\/p>\n

If you were to look at reviews for other businesses in your industry, you\u2019ll almost definitely find ones that have A LOT of reviews already. These are the businesses that have a head start and steal your customers away as more consumers rely on reviews to make decisions about everything they purchase.<\/span><\/p>\n

This is why it\u2019s <\/span>even more important <\/b>to proactively source reviews in industries where leaving reviews is not a habit that most people have.<\/span><\/p>\n

So how do we do it?<\/span><\/p>\n

By asking!<\/b><\/p>\n

\"Getting<\/p>\n

But how do we do it? There are several ways:<\/span><\/p>\n

Option 1: Ask them in person<\/b><\/h2>\n

The option that requires the least amount of preparation is just that – asking your clients!<\/span><\/p>\n

When a client is about to leave your business, ask them if they could take the time to review their experience on Yelp (or Google \/ Facebook, depending on your current priority).<\/span><\/p>\n

This doesn\u2019t result in a huge influx of reviews as customers tend to forget, but if you\u2019re serving 15 clients a day and just 1 of them leaves a review, that\u2019s 180 reviews in 6 months, which is <\/span>7 times<\/b> more than the average US business has altogether.<\/span><\/p>\n

Option 2: Distribute \u201creview cards\u201d<\/b><\/h2>\n

A little more time-consuming to set up, but also far more effective, is distributing \u201creview cards\u201d – small cards with the web address where your business can be reviewed.<\/span><\/p>\n

These review cards can also double as discount vouchers or promotional coupons that serve a dual purpose:<\/span><\/p>\n