LinkNow Media | Customer Reviews

The Web is Waiting For You

Month: November 2016

Online Presence: Tips for Startups

start up

We’ve talked a few times about the importance of responding to online reviews. Whether you’re dealing with a favorable opinion or harsh criticism, it’s important that you acknowledge your customers and respond appropriately. However, before you can respond to any reviews, you first need to be aware that you’ve received reviews. This can be a difficult and time-consuming task for a new business owner juggling several responsibilities. Who has time to keep up with all that? Luckily, there are many tools available that will help you keep up with what people are saying about your business, such as:

Which Monitor Tool is Best?

Some of these tools are more robust than others, so you’ll want to research each one to determine which is best suited for your business. As a startup, it’s in your best interest to go with a more dynamic tool. No one knows who you are, and that means you’ll need a strong web presence from the get-go.

Why Monitoring is Important for New Businesses

People trust online reviews in the same way they trust personal recommendations, but you’re not going to earn trust overnight. Establishing solid relationships with your customers takes time and effort, and it starts online. These days, people are expecting to see a company response, so you can’t afford to not reply. This is your chance to show your customers that you are approachable and can relate to their situation, whether it’s good or bad. It’s also an opportunity to spread the word about how people can get in touch with you, whether that’s by phone, email, or social media.

Why Do You Need A Strong Online Presence?

How people perceive your company is everything, and the stakes are higher for startups. You don’t have the chance to establish yourself then transition online. You’re doing these things tandem, and it can be a lot to handle. Monitoring tools like the ones listed above can make the process of responding a lot less tedious.

Having a strong online presence is an important factor in the success of your business, and having a conversation with your customers in the comments section on review sites like Yelp, Angie’s List, and Trip Advisor is a huge part of that. It’s unfortunate that so many startups fail in the first 5 years simply because business owners struggle when it comes to managing their online presence.

Closing

This is just the tip of the iceberg. We are always looking for new tools that help small business owners manage their online presence, so stay tuned.

How to Push Down a Negative Review

pushIn previous posts, we’ve talked about ways you can turn a negative review into an opportunity to show your clients how far you will go to meet their satisfaction. This week we’re offering advice about what to do when individuals share unfavorable opinions about your business on their personal blog or website.

Dealing with A Negative Blogger?

Everyone has something on the internet they wish would disappear. You can get on your knees and plead to Google all you want to remove the article from search results, but unless legal action is warranted, it is very unlikely that Google will remove the post. Of course, you always have the option of calling whoever wrote the review and explain your side of the story, but the chances of them taking it down are slim to nothing. You also run the risk of opening an old wound and making matters worse. That’s the last thing you want to happen.

If you can’t remove it, MOVE IT!

Most people do not go past the first page of Google’s search results when searching for a product or service, so getting the negative mention to appear on the second or third page is the goal here. This process is called Online Reputation Management (ORM), and it can be done by blogging, link building, citations management, or building a profile on any social media page, such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, or Tumblr. Here are some ORM tips:

Blog Away!

A blog is an effective way to push a negative review to the second page of Google, and you don’t have to limit yourself to just one. Most industries lend themselves to a few different categories. If you’re an interior designer, for example, you can dedicate one blog to home decorating and another to office furniture trends. You’re only limited by your imagination. Consider using visuals, such as videos, GIFs, and Memes. With content becoming more interactive, your blog needs to engage and entertain your audience. Visuals can make your blog more attractive by breaking up chunks of text and provide visitors with a great experience.

Build Links!

Negative reviews hurt any way you slice it. Unlike review sites, where it’s in your best interest to respond, you’ll need to use a different tactic when it comes to websites and blog posts that are devoted entirely to hurting your business’s reputation. Building links to positive reviews is an effective way to move down an outlandish claim, while at the time shedding light on the good stuff. The last thing you want to do is make any references to the site or blog that contains the negative review, so avoid pointing any links in their direction.

Clean Up Citations!

Citations are mentions of your business’s name, address, and phone number (NAP) on the internet. It is important that this information is accurate and consistent across the board. Any discrepancy, such as your address appearing differently on Yelp than on Facebook, will cause Google to doubt the validity of your business, thus hurting your ranking. Cleaning up your citations is the process of making sure your NAP is the same across the board. This can be a tedious job, especially if your business is on the older side. If you don’t have time to hunt down this information, team up with a digital marketing company that offers citation management services.

Use Social Media!

Pushing a negative mention from the first page of Google to the second page isn’t going to happen overnight. Outperforming a scathing review takes time and effort. Creating a new social media account can help – but that’s only half of it – you’ll need to post regularly. If you don’t have time to manage your social media pages, you should consider enlisting the help of a social media specialist.

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Harsh criticism is never fun, especially when the attacks are unwarranted. We recommend doing some serious ORM if you want to save face. The longer you wait, the more difficult it will be.

Why Use Customer Reviews in Your Email Campaign?

MailboxesWhen your business first started out, you may have urged happy customers to spread the word about your good service – but that has all changed. A lot. With social media, smartphones, and online customer review sites, there is no need to encourage. Customers have very few barriers in the way of sharing what they think about your business, for better or worse. If you’ve made it easy for your customers to leave reviews, getting them is a cinch – but that doesn’t mean you can go on autopilot once you do. There are many ways to enhance your online performance with positive reviews. One such way is with email campaigns.

Make the Most Out of Online Reviews

We’ve written in the past about the benefits of sharing positive reviews on your social media pages, and this week we’re looking at the benefits of using positive reviews in your email campaigns.

Many companies shy away from using email campaigns because, well, let’s face it – emails can be annoying. If you’re like most people, you get dozens of emails a day. Do you really have time to read through all of them?

It can be difficult to see the benefits of email campaigns because of the association with spam, but there are ways of reaching your customers without flooding their inbox. If you are interested in learning ways to do this, part 6 of The Ultimate Guide to Online Marketing for Small Businesses is devoted entirely to email campaign best practice. This was written by Lauchlin, one of the digital marketing specialists here. Whether your emails are sent with the purpose of sharing information or offering discounts, you’re sure to find great tips there. If you like what you see, you can buy the full version here.

Reviews Can Help You Connect with Your Audience

With information bombarding us everywhere we turn, we don’t have time to sift through text that isn’t speaking to us. If you are going to use email campaigns as part of your online marketing efforts, you need to connect with your audience, and you need to connect with them fast. A fantastic way to do that is by including a review from a satisfied customer. Featuring a review gets the message across about your service or product in a highly economical manner.

Not only does a real review from an actual customer establish a relationship with a prospective customer, it helps keep the email concise and to the point. If you have their permission, include their photo and name for a personal touch.

Closing

There’s no shortage of people sharing advice on what to do about negative online reviews, but advice on positive reviews is few and far between. These are just a few tips on what you can do to make the most out of your positive online reviews. We’re sure to share more advice on ways to make the most out of positive reviews. Stay tuned!

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