7 Secret Weapons to Getting Reviews on Google Places, Yelp, and Other Business Review Sites

Website design By BotEap.comAmazon’s business model was a huge game changer for book and now product sales. The approach was totally innovative on many levels, but probably the most significant was the incorporation of high-end fan reviews into the mix. If you’re like me, you’ve made a decision whether or not to buy a specific item on Amazon simply based on these reviews from average citizens.

Website design By BotEap.comThe statistics confirm it. Just the existence of a review makes some kind of double action likely. Positive reviews are an important factor in purchasing decisions. And we all know how devastating a major negative review can be.

Website design By BotEap.comIn recent years, fan review has become a huge factor in the business of small business local search engine marketing. Reviews are driving SMB rankings on Google Places, the most critical advertising place on the internet today. Yelp reviews are so critical that local business owners have sued Yelp for its methods of “selecting” which reviews are shown and which are filtered out.

Website design By BotEap.comSurprisingly, with all this emphasis on reviews, well over half of the listings on Google Places do NOT show any reviews. Many businesses have negative reviews showing up on Yelp or Google Places with no response, although responses are possible. Certainly, there are owners who have problems with the Internet or are simply too busy to take advantage of this form of free advertising. On the other hand, there may be many owners who are too shy or humble to ask. Unfortunately, it is the only business that finds reviews that just pop up without any effort on the part of management. So here are seven actions to add to your to-do list.

  1. Get over. If you’re providing good products or services to your customers, many will be happy to help your business with a review. Not everyone. Some of their clients are also internet suckers.
  2. Just ask. Anyone who has direct customer interaction at your company should simply ask people to provide a review or two or three. Some of them will likely tell you that they commonly review local companies they do business with.
  3. Provide a “team”. Help those who need help with a simple brochure that explains how to create and leaves a review for you. Give very specific instructions on where to find the review area in each local search engine or directory. Let them know in advance if they will need to sign up or get an account to review.
  4. Request reviews on your blog. In fact, post a standing request on your website, blog, Facebook, and anywhere else you have an online presence.
  5. Personal requests to best friends. Send a personal letter or email to major customers and attach the instruction kit. Your best customers are the ones most likely to give you glowing reviews. Hey!
  6. Follow up. If people promise you a review, don’t hesitate to ask later if they’ve done it. They may be stuck as to what to write or how to get it to the site you asked for. Even the best instructions sometimes don’t result in success on the internet.
  7. Thank those who act. Some online business review sites discourage payment or discounts for reviews. But there’s nothing wrong with a nice thank you after the fact. This thank you makes more sense if it includes a coupon or a nice gift. This of course also opens the door to asking for more reviews.
Website design By BotEap.comBonus: send a mass email. If you have an email list (and if you don’t, you should), send a review request to the entire list. If you need help preparing an email list or creating a mass email, two new tools for this task make things easier. ShoutDog and Ripple Effect are designed to help with all of these methods of upselling through reviews, but focus on the email effort. You can find more information about these companies at http://www.GooglePlacesHelp.blogspot.com

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