CitySearch.com - It's not
as popular as it was a few years ago, but CitySearch is still
where many people go to choose a restaurant or other local business.
Use any site where you know your customers are. Mike
Blumenthal suggests choosing the sites that your customers favor.
How would you know that? Well, you could Google your direct
competitors to see where they've been reviewed, and make sure you
have listings on those sites. If you own a pet supply business,
and you know of sites where pet owners exchange news and tips -
and you can list your business there - do it.
AboutUs.org has a page
about virtually every site on the Web. Each website profile has
editable fields where you can add your contact information, a
short summary about your site and your logo. There's also a
wiki section where you can write as much as you like about
your site and your business, and include links back to your
site on keywords that matter for your business. Under the
AboutUs DoFollow policy,
those links can become follow links, and add some
SEO
value for your site.
How To Get Reviews: Make it Easy
Mike Blumenthal says you must make it very easy for people to
review your business. One great strategy is to create a special
page for reviews on your website - for example,
'''http://www.MyLocalBusiness.
com/reviews''' - so people can leave
their comments easily on your site. You can put the URL for that
page on your business card, and hand it out to everybody. You could
even print up a special thank you card with the reviews page
printed on it, and slip it in with your customers' purchases when
you bag them.
Mike also suggests creating a QR code for your reviews page, and
having it printed up fairly large, to display in your storefront
window. A customer can then scan the QR code with her phone, and
maybe even write a review of your business right then and there.
Or have the QR code link to your Google Places profile.
Once you've listed your business at the sites mentioned in the
section above, you can also print the URLs for those listings on
a card, or use QR codes, to make it easy for people to get to your
review sites. One caution: You can't directly ask people to review
you on Yelp - that can get you banned from the site. Nonetheless,
lots of people know and use Yelp, so it's still a good idea to be
listed there.
How To Get Good Reviews
It may sound simple, but the best way to get reviews is to deliver
a good experience. Treat customers with courtesy and respect, provide
a good product or professional-level service, and most of your
reviews will be good.
Another easy way: Ask for reviews. When someone tells you how
pleased they are with your company, ask them if they'd be willing
to put it in writing. Guide them to the location where you'd most
like the review to appear. Making it easy for them makes it more
likely they'll do it.
Anticipate that things will sometimes go wrong, and give people
a way to let you know what's gone wrong, so you can put it right
immediately. Display your phone number prominently on every page
of your website, so people can call you. If the phone isn't the
best option, or you want to give more options, put a big "Contact
Us" button on every page, and provide full contact options on the
page it links to. It goes without saying that when people contact
you with a problem, you must help them quickly and graciously.
Providing quick and easy ways to contact you engenders trust in
people who come to your website. If you're willing to be contacted
that easily, you must be trustworthy - the exact opposite of those
shady sites that provide no contact information at all.
Another big benefit: Helping a dissatisfied or perplexed customer
can earn you an enthusiastic fan who's more than willing to give
you a good review. And that review is one more building block for
growing your online presence.