When it comes to local search engine optimization, reviews on sites like Facebook, Google, Yelp and the Better Business Bureau are a large part of the success equation. Having not only strong reviews, but a large quantity of them, helps to attract local buyers to your business.
So, how do you go about acquiring more reviews? Well, to help you come up with new ideas we went right to the source: business owners. They were asked to provide their best tip for increasing the number of online reviews, and below is what was suggested. Hopefully this insight will help you come up with new and innovative ways to help your business attract more reviews online.
- Create a dedicated review page on your website.
“Create a page on your website dedicated to showcasing your reviews, and also have logos from all the review sites that are linked to your profiles. Then have a call-to-action inviting people to go review your business. If they had a great experience many will take the time to leave a review.” — Tom Munroe, CEO of RugStudio
- Get into the habit of asking.
“Ask for them. Implement a follow-up campaign for all existing customers. Encourage and ask every user or customer for a GOOD review of your business. The more you make asking for reviews habit, the more reviews you will get.” — Shawn Schulze of HomeArea.com
- Go great work and deliver value.
“Do great work. The better you work performance the easier it is to request your happy customers to write a review. The natural consequence of being a solid company with solid service if solid performance reviews.” — Shawn Freeman, Founder and CEO of TWT Group
- Link to review sites in your email signature.
“Include a link to all reviews sites in all email communication, from receipts and invoices to newsletters. This is something you can include in your email signature and it will naturally receive attention and those that want to review your business will do so without you having to annoy them.” — Jim Epton of Dom Huga Ltd
- Provide links to all your review platforms.
“Include an email soliciting reviews in follow-up sequences that you send to past customers. Something as simple as ‘we would love to hear what you think’ is all it takes. Then, link out to all of your review platforms like Facebook, Google and Yelp. Make it as easy as possible for them.” — Ari Evans of AAA Handbags
- Treat your customers like gold.
“First, you need to be a business that treats its customers like gold. Make sure your staff and managers have a core philosophy of going above and beyond, making sure everyone has a stellar experience. Then simply ask people to leave a review on your various social media channels.” — Joseph W. Belluck of Belluck & Fox, LLP
- Remember it’s a number game — ask everyone.
“Ask. Simply ask your current and former clients for reviews. We send an email and ask them to leave us a review if they can. It doesn’t always compel them to leave a review though, so you have you to ask a lot of them in order to get a few.” — Ben Walker, Founder of Transcription Outsourcing, LLC
- Come up with creative ways to ask for reviews.
“Just ask. You will find that your customers will gladly leave you a review if you just ask them. You can put a sign near your register or include a little note in your email confirmations. They often won’t think about doing it on their own, but if you ask, they are usually happy to do it.” — Christopher Dziak, CEO of Pure Nootropics
- Use an automated tool.
“Use one of the different automated tools out there if possible. Once set up, this is a smooth process and allows for many reviews without any additional work by the business. Also, tell each customer to review your business always.” — Marc Webb, Founder of Real PDL Help
- Create an automated email follow-up campaign.
“Create an email drip campaign that specifically targets past customers and asks them to leave a review. You can also ask them to send a link to their review to a dedicated email, and then you can send them a discount code or a special thank you for taking their time to do so.” — Matt Herron, CEO of AnswerFirst
- Offer incentives.
“Offer incentives for reviews. Try multiple ideas like offering product samples to new customers or discounts on future purchases for existing customers. Just make sure the reviewer discloses those incentives in their review.” — Matthew Kolb of All High Schools
- Reduce friction.
“Reduce friction for your customers by creating short links for your review pages. Businesses win with reviews when they make leaving them as easy and frictionless as possible. You also need to ensure you have a plan to actually reach out and ask for them, so it needs to be proactive.” — Sean Christman, Founder of Slamdot
- Find the sweet-spot time to ask for a review.
“Find out when the best time to ask your satisfied customers is and build a campaign around that. For example, if you are an e-commerce store, maybe you want to send an email 48 hours after the delivery was received, while you are still on their mind. A simple email thanking them in advance works.” — Andrew Tran, Founder of Therapy