For most internet marketers, whether consultants or do-it-yourself business owners or managers, the issue of customer reviews on Google Places (formerly Google Maps) Yelp, CitySearch, Yahoo, YellowPages, or MerchantCircle is confined to the occasional flame (highly negative review) or the pleasant surprise of seeing a nice review. But those in the hotel or restaurant business have seen the future and the future is "he who has the most reviews wins."
Do a search for hotels near Orlando or Italian Restaurant San Diego. 50 reviews might not get you into the critical Google Places seven pack (page 1 of Google). In fact 500 reviews might not do the trick. What does that mean for the bakeries, orthodontists, locksmiths and bike shops who haven't a single review, but are happy seeing their name on the 2nd page of Google Places, which statics show that only 30% of visitors go to page 2. It is only a matter of time for most before the competition will realize the importance of reviews.
One of my clients managed after a great deal of work to hit the top of an extremely competitive category in Los Angeles. He lasted for a few weeks at number one until a competitor struck back with 6 reviews. Another competitor came in with three, dropping my client to number three on Google Places, reducing his lead generation considerably.
He is now scrambling to add reviews, but the other guys are too. A year ago, it was rare to see a review of categories like bike shops or bakeries, but now the top of the Google Places almost always has three or more. With Google Places aggregating the reviews from the other Local Search Engines, the review competition is starting to heat up.
In meetings that I had with managers of both CitySearch and Yelp there was no question that they were pushing the review angle as the driving force of local internet marketing. It is very clear that everything else being somewhat equal when it comes to Search Engine Optimization and Internet Marketing, total reviews matter a bunch on rankings for Google Places. There isn't a direct corollary, because Google gives points for many other aspects of the listing. But the reviews are a big weight.
In addition to the drive for position on Google Places, there is also the issue of online reputation. All online marketers and some small business owners know that a few negative reviews can effect behavior of clients and prospects. I have personally made decisions based on these reviews. The easiest and least expensive method for dealing with negative reviews is to overwhelm them with positive reviews.
The opposite is also true. The positive reviews are beneficial in and of themselves. If a searcher is trying to decide between two potential suppliers, he may very well choose the one with a single positive review over one that has no reviews at all. Haven't you done this?
Let's now assume that we all agree with the premise:
Accumulating dozens or even hundreds of positive reviews can help your business' online presence, preempt your competitors from getting more reviews than your business, and help you to manage your reputation.
Now then, how do you generate the reviews you need?
There are many ways to accomplish the result. This article will focus on three:
- Ask for the review while you are still with the customer. Assuming you believe that the experience has been a positive one, just boldly ask them if they would be willing to do a review. Be prepared to provide them with some direction on how to do this as the review process can be cumbersome.
- Provide links or forms on your website, Facebook Fan Page, Blog, or any other place you might intersect with your public.
- Ask through your email campaign. Or if you don' t have an email database and campaign, start one with this as your main goal.
Page1Listings.com (an Internet Marketing and Search Engine Optimization company specializing in Google Places Optimization) has created an easy and unique method for helping your business with the above three methods to generate positive reviews. It is called the ShoutDog Review Program. The ShoutDog logo will soon be seen on websites, blogs, Fan Pages, and emails. And it will also show up on a reminder business card that can be handed to clients. All of these tools will lead the customer to an easy three step website specially created for the generating reviews for your business. There they will be able to easily access the local search engines and directories that offer reviews, and they will land on the actual listing of the business where the review option is offered.
Randy Kirk is the president of internet marketing company, Page1Listings. Among the services offered by the company, [http://www.Shoutdog.com] provides a huge potential ROI as reviews become more and more important for online marketing. Kirk is the author of several business books including Warner Business Books 4.6 star "Running A 21st Century Small Business." The book is available on Amazon.
http://www.Page1Listings.com specializes in helping very small companies (1-50 employees) with marketing both on and off the internet.
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