Simple Tips to Get Reviews for Your Business

By Joshua Wilson

Whether you’re a local business trying to break into the industry or a national corporation with decades of success, business and SEO experts agree that customer reviews matter.

Not only do customer reviews affect SEO rankings, but they also create an impact on prospective customers. An active, healthy review profile can demonstrate your willingness to engage with your customers and positively impact your reputation. They can also help you calibrate and refine your services to satisfy customers better.

Here are some simple tips from LinkNow to help you get reviews for your local business!

Why Reviews Matter

Before we jump into our helpful tips for growing your business’s reviews, we should clarify why exactly customer reviews matter.

While it’s undeniable that good recommendations can positively impact undecided customers, negative feedback and constructive criticism can be valuable as well. In fact, having positive and negative reviews can be equally helpful in demonstrating your company’s ability to manage conflict and address gaps in your service.

With this in mind, taking steps to secure customer reviews can have a far-reaching impact on your business and reputation. Here are some reasons why reviews matter:

Establish Social Proof

Social proof is a psychological concept that refers to the human tendency to copy the behavior of others in certain situations. When customers see that someone else is satisfied with a service, they’re more likely to choose the same service. Reviews can function as social proof and give credibility to your company over a competitor.

Increase Business Visibility and SEO Ranking

Having a good number of reviews on Google and other websites can make your business easier to find and increase your rank on Google Search. The more reviews you have, the more likely you’ll show up when someone is looking for your service.

While this is only one piece of the larger SEO puzzle, it never hurts to have more reviews. If you are looking for an easy way to boost your ranking, consider asking more clients to leave an online testimonial.

Reviews Generate New Leads

Perhaps it goes without saying, but good reviews are a powerful tool for converting potential customers to work with you over your competitors.

Consider your own process for finding a service provider: are you more likely to work with a company with 100 five-star reviews or a business with zero reviews and no online presence?

Increase Customer Loyalty

Reviews can be an excellent resource for engaging with your customers and listening to their concerns. Whether the review is negative or positive, responding to customer feedback can make them feel valued and personalize your brand.

The more satisfied your customers are, the more likely they’ll return to you the next time they need your service/product.

How to Get Reviews for a Local Business

So, we now know that reviews are important, but how do you go about getting them?

The answer is simple: ask and encourage your customers.

Unless you happen upon a very active Yelp or Google Business user, chances are your customers may not even consider leaving a review. Making an effort to build up your reviews may seem awkward, or you may worry about annoying your customers, but if you don’t ask, chances are you won’t receive them.

However, we’re not suggesting you should stop every customer on the way out the door and beg for a positive review. We encourage discretion and have a few tips for getting reviews without bugging your clients.

Don’t Be Afraid to Ask

As we said, if you don’t ask, you won’t receive. No matter how exceptional your service is, many customers won’t offer to leave a review unprompted. There’s nothing wrong with asking for customer reviews—just make sure you’re polite and asking the right clients.

Send Digital Follow-Ups

This is a great strategy for targeting a wider range of customers and prevents you from putting customers on the spot. Scheduling follow-up emails, texts, or posting on your socials can gently remind your customers that you appreciate and value their feedback.

Plus, this is a great way to receive reviews from customers who are happy with your service but may not think to leave a review on their own.

Attach the Request to Your Email Signature / Printed Materials

Adding a link for reviews to your email signature and a QR code to official company materials can prompt your customers to leave a review while minimizing the amount of work required by them.

Build Relationships with Your Clients

While this may seem like a no-brainer for savvy business owners, building relationships with your customers increases their loyalty and makes them more likely to recommend your service to their peers.

It’s also much easier to ask a client to leave a review when you have a relationship with them. The volume of your reviews matters, but so does their quality. Personalized reviews can go a long way in building up your social proof and generating new leads.

Make Sure You Respond to all Reviews – Even Negative Ones

This last point is crucial: make sure you respond to all reviews!

Even if it’s just a quick thank you, responding to your customers can demonstrate your willingness to listen to your customers and express how much you appreciate them.

The same applies to negative reviews. You can use a less favorable review to show your ability to change or highlight your accountability and honesty.

What NOT to do

Before ending, here are a few basic rules we encourage all our customers to abide by:

Don’t pay for reviews
Don’t leave fake reviews (for yourself or your competitors)
Don’t delete negative reviews
Don’t ignore your reviewers

Need Help Getting Reviews? LinkNow Media Can Help!

If you’re having difficulty getting customers to leave reviews, the team at LinkNow can help. Not only do we boast a positive online reputation, but we also have a review generation tool to help your business thrive online.

Our tool is simple to use, and our team will happily walk you through it.

Did you find this post helpful? Let us know in the comments below!

Reputation Recovery: How to Fix a Bad Online Reputation

By Tyson Breen

On December 14, 2022

In the age of the internet, your online reputation is more important than ever. One bad review can tank your business. So what do you do if you find yourself in the unfortunate position of having a bad online reputation?

Here are a few tips to get your business back on track:

1. Google Your Business

Whether you like it or not, your online presence is a big part of your overall reputation. If you want to maintain a positive image and make sure people see you in the best light possible, you must take the time to Google your business from time to time.

This will allow you to see exactly what others say about your product/service online – both good and bad.

If your online presence doesn’t look as good as you had hoped, don’t panic! You can still take steps to get your reputation back on track and ensure a brighter future for yourself online.

2. Create Positive Content

Once you know what people are saying about you, you can start working on creating positive content to counteract the negative.

This can be in the form of blog posts, articles, press releases, or even social media posts. Anything that paints you in a positive light will help to improve your online reputation.

These can help shift the narrative from negative to positive. With time and effort, you can use these kinds of content to shape your online reputation into something that truly reflects the best qualities of your business.

3. Reach Out to Your Critics

Getting criticism is never easy, but it’s important to listen to what your critics say, even if you disagree with their opinions.

By taking the time to understand their perspective and the reasons behind their critiques, you can gain valuable insights that will help you refine your approach moving forward.

And once you’ve addressed any issues raised by your critics, you can focus on winning them over by demonstrating that you’ve taken their concerns seriously.

Ultimately, reaching out to your critics will help build your reputation for openness and honesty and bolster your influence and impact in the long run.

So don’t be afraid to take that first step – critical feedback can help propel you to success!

4. Seek Professional Help if Necessary

If your online reputation is in shambles, you may be at a loss as to how to repair it. After all, building a positive online presence takes time and energy, and recovering from a few missteps can seem like an impossible task.

But rest assured that there is hope – no matter how badly things seem to be going for you online, you can always turn things around if you put in the effort.

One surefire way to give your reputation the boost it needs is to seek professional help. There are companies that specialize in managing online reputations, and their expertise and experience can make all the difference when it comes to repairing damaged standing.

In many cases, they will start by checking your posts and websites to determine exactly where things need to change. Then they will create a customized plan for getting your name back into good standing with your audience through targeted content creation or outreach efforts.

Final Thoughts

Bad things happen to good people—and businesses. If you find yourself in the unfortunate position of having a bad online reputation, don’t despair! You can turn things around with a little hard work and creative thinking and start rebuilding your good name.

Want more tips on how to improve your online reputation? Check out our other blogs for more helpful advice!

Keywords Help SEO, But What Keywords Should Be in Customer Reviews?

By Tyson Breen

On November 19, 2022

When customers leave reviews that include the keywords you need to rank for on your Google My Business listing, it’s more likely that you’ll rank higher for those keywords.

Let us clarify that for you – getting customer reviews on Google that include your keyword phrase will actually help you rank better when people search for that phrase.

Unfortunately, you can’t require customers to provide particular feedback in their reviews.

It’s not allowed by most sites, and it could also break the law too.

With that in mind, a review needs to be an honest account of what happened from the customer’s perspective. However, that doesn’t mean we can’t use a little psychology to encourage them in the right direction.

Make it Easy for Your Clients to Leave a Detailed Review

There is a simple process for soliciting reviews from happy and satisfied customers.

We recommend sending them to the review page on your site, which should link out to your various review profiles.

There should be a message on that page saying, “Thanks for doing business with us! We appreciate it if you would leave your review of our company now.”

Next, there should be a list of links to your reviews.

Now, you can prompt your clients to leave their thoughts and suggestions for future clients.

Wondering how to get your clients to write a helpful review that will boost your page range in SERPs?

Ask them to answer these questions:

Did you purchase a new or pre-owned product?
Where are you located, and did you opt to choose our services over other shops that might have been closer?
Who helped you make your selections today, and did they meet your expectations for the level of service you deserve?
How did your experience with us compare to your experiences with our competitors?
Do you have any words of advice for future clients?

Be sure to let your reviewer know that it’s ok if they are pressed for time and would rather leave a brief review. We figured, why not make it easy for your customers to give you high ratings? That way, they can still contribute if they’re in a rush and don’t have time to leave an in-depth review. Most customers will take the time to write long reviews with detailed answers to your questions.

When you lead a reviewer with detailed questions, they’re much more likely to volunteer answers than if you leave a blank space they have to fill out.

Here’s a good example: Say you’re a car dealership.

If the client leaving you a review mentions their car is used, that word will now be in their review. If they mention where they came from or which location they chose to visit, you’ll get better visibility in that town. If they mention what work was done, it’ll boost the visibility of that service.

Using this system, you can encourage your clients to leave reviews that outline the keywords that help you stay on top of Google’s search results.

It’s that easy.

Conclusion

Reviews are a great tool because they give potential customers a better idea of who you are and what you have to offer.

In addition, creating more detailed reviews (by asking clients specific questions) helps your business stand out from the competition when people search for businesses like yours on search engines like Google.

The bottom line is that getting your clients to use keywords in reviews can be the leg up your business needs to dominate the top search results. Are you ready to invite your clients to leave higher-quality reviews? A few simple tweaks to how you invite them to do so are all it takes.

Top Reasons You Need Reviews on Your Website [Updated for 2022]

By Tyson Breen

On October 19, 2022

In the age of digital marketing and Search Engine Optimization, there’s no shortage of ways for small businesses to attract customers. You can create an easy-to-navigate website, submit it to search engines, implement Google Analytics, and create a slew of social network business profiles.

But at the end of the day, the most significant determinant for whether a client will waltz into your store or walk on by isn’t something a savvy marketing agency can buy. It’s the customer review.

Here at LinkNow, we’re firm believers that every business owner should embrace the power of the customer review and its persuasive powers.

Consumers Trust Other Consumers

Studies show that 84% of consumers trust a company’s online reviews as much as a recommendation from their own friends.

This might surprise you but trust us when we say it’s true. And it makes sense. When a customer posts a review online, they don’t have any agenda other than to share their own experience. Clients trust this, and it shows.

Show, Don’t Tell: A Customer Review Shows Other Consumers How Great You Are

Any company in the world can say they’re the best at what they do. In fact, every single company says that, don’t they? When you look at these over-the-top claims from the vantage point of a consumer, they seem a little generic and fluffy, don’t they?

Consumers are smart, and they know that it is in your best interest to say you’re the best plumber in the area. What they want is proof that this is true. And what’s better proof than a 5-Star review from a satisfied customer?

When You Embrace Customer Reviews, You Are Embracing Honesty and Transparency

74% of consumers polled in a 2016 study show that positive reviews make a business seem more trustworthy. Transparency is incredibly important to customers these days. And when you ask clients to leave reviews for your business and share reviews on your website, you’re embracing transparency to the fullest. You’re letting those who have first-hand experience with your company do all the talking (and advertising!) for you.

Online Reviews Have a Positive Impact on Your Revenue!

A 2016 Harvard Business School study reveals that as your Yelp rating rises, your revenue follows suit.

To not promote your Yelp and Facebook page—and those many glowing reviews—through your website would be a major oversight.

Good Reviews Inspire Good Reviews

Lastly, we tell all our clients that there is no shame in politely asking a customer to share their experience on Yelp or Facebook. Everyone does it and most customers are happy to oblige.

However, if clients happen to come across your business profile online, they might feel inclined to leave a review on their own volition—especially if everyone else already seems to be doing it.

Why Reviews Are So Important From The Customer’s Perspective

Customers are looking for more information and guidance when they’re making a purchase decision. They want to know what other customers think about the product and whether their needs will be met. Online reviews provide this guidance. When customers read online reviews, they are looking for insights into a company or product that they may be considering. Reviewers write them to share their honest opinion about their experiences – good or bad.

Know What Customers Think

Just think about it. Why wouldn’t you want reviews? Over the years, we’ve heard clients tell us they’re worried about clients writing bad reviews. Well, if you’re providing good services, you have nothing to worry about.

Reviews give you an inside look at what your customers think about your services. What could be better than that? It’s a free way to learn first-hand the pain points your customers are having with your business or the things you are doing well on the other side of the coin.

While you’re at it, you can use this opportunity to look at your competitors’ reviews. See what their clients are saying about their businesses. Learn what they’re doing well and what they’re doing poorly.

Shape Your Goods and Services Around Reviews

This is the logical conclusion of using reviews to your advantage. Take all the information you’ve learned from what clients are saying about your and your competition’s businesses in reviews and shape your services.

You should always be adjusting your services in a positive direction. Improvement is key to sustainable growth, and there is always room for improvement.

Your clients’ reviews will be a storehouse of ideas you can use to improve your business. This a precious resource that should not be wasted and should be greatly encouraged.

Reviews are Low Effort for Business Owners

Perhaps the best part about reviews and getting them is that it is as close to effortless as can be for the business owner.

To start getting reviews, you must find a way to ask your clients to give you them. This could be as simple as sending an email or asking every client to leave you a positive review if they enjoyed your service. If you continue encouraging clients to review you or make it easy on them by sending a link to your reviews in emails (another good strategy), you will succeed in getting reviews.

Your Potential Clients All Consult Reviews First

Another important thing to keep in the back of your head while considering reviews is that nearly all of your clients consult reviews. A prominent marketing poll once stated that around 95% of potential customers generally consult reviews. And 72% percent of potential customers will not take any action until they’ve consulted reviews.

This means that reviews are one of the most prominent marketing tools. Period. And surprisingly, they are free to use.

If you have an online presence, you should start telling your clients to leave you positive reviews. The more positive reviews the better.

Want Reviews on Your Website—LinkNow Media Can Help!

The customer review is the greatest asset in the world of marketing. If you’re sitting on pages of positive reviews you’d be foolish not to place them front and center for the world to see!

Already have a LinkNow website? Why not ask your web designer to add some reviews to it? Don’t have a LinkNow website yet? Why not speak to an SEO specialist and get the leads you need to succeed!

Give us a call at 1-888-667-7186 or send an email to website@linknowmedia.com. And if you have a comment or question, leave a reply below!

3 Reasons You Still Need Online Reviews in 2022

On August 9, 2022

If you have any experience with digital marketing in the last decade, there’s a good chance you know about the importance of online reviews.

With the web becoming increasingly sophisticated and more people turning to online search engines for the information they need, reviews continue to provide consumers with reliable testimonials and a personal touch to their online queries.

In 2022, online reviews remain one of the most important factors for businesses looking to expand their reach and build credibility for their brand. If this sounds like what you are trying to achieve, continue reading to learn more about why you should care about reviews.

Here are 3 big reasons you need to get online reviews in 2022:

1. Online Reviews Directly Affect SEO

Search engine optimization (SEO) is the name of the game when it comes to online marketing. It’s no secret that the overwhelming majority of internet users turn to search engines to find what they need online.

Google and other search engines are constantly tweaking their ranking factors, but reviews are almost near the top in terms of importance. Location-based searches are trending upwards, and more people are turning to places like Google to find local products and services. This means that Google is attempting to cater to its userbase by highlighting reviews and promoting top-rated businesses.

Quality and quantity are both important when it comes to boosting your SEO through reviews, so it makes sense to have a review generation strategy if you want to rank highly in your area.

2. Your Audience is Looking for Reviews

According to recent studies, about 93% of consumers claim that online testimonials influence their purchasing decisions—the majority of which also say that they trust reviews just as much as personal recommendations.

This means that your online reviews can have a tremendous effect—both positive and negative—on your audience. Managing your online reputation is a great way to improve your lead generation and conversion rate, especially if users see authentic reviews praising your business.

3. Online Reviews Help You Build Brand Equity

Although it’s easy to focus on the numbers and your place in the search rankings, online reviews also provide you with less tangible but just as important benefits.

Feedback from real customers allows you to build credibility with your audience. Nothing helps you earn trust quite like testimonials to the quality of your services or products. Plus, by taking your reviews to heart, you may find helpful suggestions about how you can improve your business. Reviews can be a treasure trove of insights into your customer base: what they want out of a business like yours. What they expect from a business like yours. What they appreciate about a business like yours. Even negative can offer an opportunity to learn from your mistakes, and responding to them demonstrates that you truly care about your business.

Bottom line? Reviews are a crucial component to any business’s reputation, and getting good ones is a monumental first step to building a stellar web presence. Before you do anything else to market your services or grow your customer base, you should ask yourself: Am I doing enough to get online reviews?

Need to Level-Up Your Online-Review Strategy?

LinkNow’s Here to Help

Whether you need help getting more reviews or managing your online reputation, the team at LinkNow is here to help. Our innovative digital solutions make getting reviews from customers as easy as clicking a button. Save time, money, and effort—and see your business soar like never before.

Call us at 1.888.667.7186 or email website@linknowmedia.com for a free consultation.

Top 5 Sites to Get Reviews and Grow Your Business

On January 24, 2022

It’s no secret: Getting reviews is super important to growing your business. And online is the best place to make happen.

But with so many different websites and apps around to get reviews, it’s not always easy to determine where you should be directing your clients to leave testimonials. What platforms should you focus on? How can you maximize the impact your reviews make?

In this post, we’ll look at the 5 best websites to get reviews. If you want to grow your business, these are the 5 review platforms you have to target.

1. Google My Business

If you had to focus on only one review platform, Google would be it. The undisputed champion of search engines, Google reviews can have a significant effect on the credibility of your business and how high you rank in local search results.

Many consumers put a lot of trust in Google reviews, which appear on many of the company’s apps, such as Search and Maps. This means that you get a lot of potential value from collecting reviews on Google and should typically be putting the biggest emphasis on this platform when asking for testimonials.

2. Facebook

Another reliable website for spreading word of mouth about your business is Facebook. This social networking giant has well over a billion users, making it a powerful resource for small business owners.

Facebook provides you with a great opportunity to connect with your client base and your community. Reviews on this platform can help you gain the trust of your target audience and improve the organic reach of your business.

3. Better Business Bureau

The BBB is a non-profit organization with the mission of helping consumers find businesses and charities that they can trust. For over 100 years, people have put their faith in this organization for honest and accurate information.

A high rating on this platform implies that you are a reputable business that can be trusted for top-notch service, so reviews here will do wonders for your credibility. An A+ rating on the BBB is a common selling point for many companies, and sharing testimonials from this platform can help earn the trust of your audience.

4. Yellow Pages

Years ago, when you wanted to find local businesses, you would just open the Yellow Pages. Although the print version has been scrapped in favor of online listings, the Yellow Pages is still a great place to promote your business.

It is a good idea to claim a free business listing on this website to manage the reviews you receive.

5. Yelp

Yelp is a name that people commonly associate with business reviews. Users can leave ratings and testimonials about local businesses in their area, with an emphasis on providing accurate information about their experience.

Yelp is also known for providing information that helps teach small business owners how to appropriately respond to reviews, which will serve you well across the other review platforms.

Looking to Grow Your Business with Online Reviews?

LinkNow Has You Covered!

If you could use some extra help with managing your online reviews and other aspects of digital marketing, LinkNow Media has you covered.

We invite you to contact us at 1.888.667.7186 or website@linknowmedia.com for more details.

Do Online Reviews Matter in 2021?

On September 24, 2021

Countless online marketing studies indicate that most consumers will read reviews before hiring a service, visiting a restaurant, or shopping online. Consumers read reviews because they want to know what they’re getting and recognize that there are many businesses to choose from—and they see the value of their dollar.

But if you provide quality services and have developed an excellent reputation by word of mouth, are online reviews really important?

Short Answer: YES!

In short, if consumers are reading reviews online, you should be encouraging your clients to write them. You should also be interacting with these reviews directly, be it on your Google my Business Page, Yahoo Reviews, or Facebook – why you may ask? Let’s take a look.

Reviews Boost SEO

For starters, online reviews can really help online traffic and SEO – and isn’t that what we’re all here for?

Google, the Internet’s most prominent and essential review platform, prioritizes customer experience. Because so many people read reviews, especially when searching their local area, Google has included these reviews as a local search ranking signal.

The bottom line is the more reviews you have, the better your search results will be.

Reviews Are Key to Customer Service

Though it may seem awkward to ask your clients to leave you an online review, most will be happy to do so as long as you let them know how. Expressing interest in feedback also bodes well for your business, as it exemplifies your commitment to the customer experience and its betterment overall.

Responding to reviews is also important as it allows the client to feel heard and understood by the company, making it more likely they’ll return for more business in the future.

Reviews Help You Improve Client Experiences

Reading reviews and receiving feedback is also perhaps the most valuable way to learn how to improve your business moving forward.

If you are getting the same kind of complaints over and over, you’ll know you’re doing something wrong. Customers who are invested in your business may also have great suggestions for changes you can make to modernize the operation or make it more accessible to different demographics – just to name a few examples.

Reviews Help Build Community

Building a community is a huge part of building a business. Having customers comment not only on your products and services but also on your approach to client care, the atmosphere of your commercial space, and how they feel will give people a richer understanding of the culture of your business.

Question and answer interactions can also play a significant role in developing community ties. Responding to negative reviews can give potential customers an idea of how you deal with conflict resolution.

Overall, online reviews play a significant role in your business, and they shouldn’t be overlooked. So start reading, replying, and asking your customers to write their own, especially when they have a great experience.

Convinced of the power of reviews? Got any review-generation tips yourself? Share your thoughts by leaving a comment below! And if you need help managing your online reputation, contact LinkNow at 888-667-7186 or website@linknowmedia.com.

Should You Ask Clients to Review You on Google? [2021]

On September 7, 2021

In Blog, LinkNow Media

By now, everyone knows how important it is to get their customers to leave positive, positive, thoughtful, and detailed reviews on Google.

But the rules for soliciting reviews remain foggy. At best.

Part of the problem is that different review sites have different rules, and many people conflate them accidentally.

Today we’re going to clear the air. We’re going to explain, as precisely as possible, Google’s rules around asking for reviews.

So, let’s be clear. Should you ask your customers for Google reviews?

Yes, You Should Ask Your Customers to Leave Google Reviews

In fact, if you look up Google’s own policy on soliciting reviews, you’ll find this:

“Remind your customers to leave reviews. Let them know that it’s quick and easy to leave business reviews on mobile devices or desktop computers.”

—Google My Business Help

Pretty clear, I’d say! Google uses reviews to find out whether businesses are trustworthy or not. It uses that information to rank businesses on Google Maps searches and to rank webpages on their regular organic search. That’s also why they value reviews that are detailed, include keywords, and identify excellent services in direct and concrete ways. It all shows that you are running a business that they can be comfortable pushing on their platform.

Google Reviews Can Attract Clicks from New Customers

Positive reviews are important for gaining more traffic.

It’s not just about search algorithms, either. There’s a very human component too. Consumers almost always read reviews before trying any new service or product. They depend on those reviews to help them make an informed decision, and the content in those reviews is often the deciding factor.

In general, consumers want to see reviews with:

High ratings
Positive words in review text
Many positive, detailed reviews

People are naturally drawn to businesses with those 3 factors going for them.

Search for businesses in your industry and see which Google My Business (GMB) profiles you are most attracted to, and which ones you think you would call. You’ll notice that profiles with more reviews and a higher rating are much more appealing than those without.

How to Ask Clients for Google Reviews

Now that you know how important it is to ask clients to review you, let’s look at how you should ask them.

Ask Every Customer for a Review

It’s important to ask every customer for a review. Behind Google My Business profiles, reviews are the 2^nd most important ranking factor Google looks at for their local finder results. This means that the amount and quality of reviews you receive has a significant impact on the ranking of your business on Google.

If you are just getting started on asking customers for reviews, it can take some time before it has any impact on your ranking.

Our advice?

Be persistent and you’ll start reaping the rewards of your hard work before you know it.

4 Proven Techniques for Asking for Google Reviews

It’s time to start drafting and asking clients to leave you a review! Here are 4 of our top practices to keep in mind.

1. Ask for Google Reviews by Email

The easiest way to get reviews is to ask for reviews by email. Whenever you do work for somebody, send them an email thanking them for choosing your company. This shows your clients that you care about their experiences. And just when they feel appreciated, gently ask them to leave their feedback on your Google My Business page.

Say something like:

“If you enjoyed working with us, please take a moment to leave us your thoughts on Google. 60 seconds of your time will help us continue delivering top-quality service to others just like you! Follow this link to our Google page.”

If they’ve had a great experience with you and feel appreciated, they’ll be happy to leave a review that will help you out.

2. Ask for Google Reviews in Person

Although it can feel a little bit weird to ask for a review in person, it’s the surest way to get those reviews on your GMB listing. Don’t think of it like you’re bothering them or being sleazy. We live in a time when reviews can make or break a business. If you don’t ask for reviews from clients that know you and respect your work, you’re not taking the necessary precautions to protect and manage your online reputation.

Don’t be shy! It’s just business in 2021.

3. Ask for Google Reviews on Your Website

This one takes a little bit of tact. You don’t want to make it appear like you’re offering an incentive for people to leave reviews. You want to remind people that leaving a review will help you continue to provide top-quality service and improve your business.

One way that works well is to include testimonials from Google on your website. This will remind and encourage your clients to leave their own review. A simple phrase like “Liked our service? Let us know on Google!” is all you need to increase the number of daily, weekly, and monthly reviews.

4. Do Not Incentivize Reviews

Offering high-quality service should be incentive enough! But offering compensation for reviews will get you into a lot of trouble with Google.

A Louisville, Kentucky law firm offered their clients a chance to win a contest for a review. When they got caught, Google removed 100 online reviews. No mercy!

As we repeat over and over, Google’s whole business model depends on being a trustworthy source of information. Artificial or fake reviews damage Google’s reputation. That hurts their bottom line. And they don’t like that too much.

Google Review “Snippets”

Snippets are a feature Google has implemented to make searching easier for the user.

Review snippets appear on a business’s Google My Business page, just below their contact details. These snippets provide a snapshot of one customer review highlighting a keyword in the user’s search query:

Your clients leave important keywords while reviewing your business. So, the more reviews you have under your belt, the more opportunity Google has to select from your reviews to match people’s searches. This will inevitably draw people to your business because it will make you stand out from the competition—yet another excellent reason to ask every customer for a review on your Google My Business profile.

Google Reviews are an Easy Way to Grow Your Business Online!

Consistently asking your clients to review your services will help your business grow. As Google emphasizes its reviews feature in different ways, business owners like yourself should take advantage of it.

Using these simple methods will improve your reputation and grow your business. Let us know how they help in the comments below!

Understanding the Yelp Review Filter

On August 24, 2021

In our last post, we looked at everything you need to know about Yelp Reviews. This week, we’ll look in more depth at Yelp’s review filter and how it works.

Yelp is one of the most popular online review platforms, with almost 100 million unique visitors last year.

It’s also one of the most notorious.

Why?

Yelp uses a proprietary algorithm to identify, filter, and remove fake reviews. The Yelp review filter removes scores of reviews every day. In theory, it sounds admirable that they go to such lengths to combat fake reviews. But in practice, it proves complicated.

Let’s look at how the Yelp review filter works, why some love it, and why others detest it.

First: The Power of Reviews

First things first: Why are fake reviews such a problem to begin with?

The reason’s simple: Reviews are a powerful tool.

87% of consumers read online reviews before making a purchase.

The influence reviews have is enormous. They can compel shoppers to try a new brand, buy a new product, or look the other way. They inform customer decisions on a vast, global scale, leading some brands to soar and others to crash.

That power means review platforms like Yelp have some responsibility. It means they need to monitor their reviews and ensure they’re truthful and authentic, not fake. Otherwise, a slew of fake reviews could hurt the user experience—especially if those users get conned by a false word or two.

Fake reviews can put a brand like Yelp’s reputation at risk. But Yelp has a strategy to stop them.

The Yelp Review Filter

To filter out fake reviews, Yelp uses a proprietary algorithm it calls its “recommendation software.”

Yelp’s recommendation software filters reviews based on several factors, including:

The reviewer’s user profile
How active the reviewer is on Yelp
The content in the review

After reviewing that information, Yelp will make a decision either to recommend the review or not recommend it.

Recommended reviews automatically appear on a business’s Yelp page. They also count toward the business’s rating on Yelp.

Unrecommended reviews are not immediately visible. They’re hidden from most users’ sight, and they do not factor into the business’s Yelp score.

Yelp hides unrecommended reviews, but they never delete reviews. Instead, they hide those they deem unworthy. You can read unrecommended reviews by following the link at the bottom of a business’s Yelp page:

How Does the Yelp Review Filter Work?

Yelp’s review filter considers several factors to identify and hide potentially fake reviews. It’s overzealous by design, removing anything with even a hint of phoniness.

Yelp doesn’t release many details about its recommendation software because they don’t want people trying to cheat it. Still, we know the software considers several factors when evaluating reviews. Three of the most important are:

The Reviewer’s User History. One way that Yelp filters reviews is by identifying established users – users that review often. The software works to syndicate established users’ reviews onto business pages for the world to see. While reviews of less active users are never deleted, they may seem more suspicious to the algorithm and not pop up on the business’ site.

The Content of the Review. Yelp’s recommendation software examines reviews’ content, including their length and style Reviews that are shorter, overly glowing, or less detailed are often flagged as fraudulent and tend to be removed. Likewise, reviews that are overly combative, hinting at a conflict of interest, may also be removed.
Solicitation. Unlike Google, Yelp strictly forbids any sort of review solicitation. If they suspect a business asked a customer to review them on Yelp, they will hide that review. Yelp wants its review system to replicate “word of mouth” as much as possible, and according to them, solicited reviews diminishes that word-of-mouth experience.

The Yelp review filter is constantly evolving. The reviews it recommends (and doesn’t recommend) may change from day to day because it’s always evaluating new signals. As such, you may notice reviews “disappear” then “reappear” from time to time. According to Yelp, it’s not a flaw. It’s a feature.

Why Does Yelp Filter Reviews?

Yelp filters reviews to combat malicious reviewing and give the consumer a more genuine understanding of a business’s reputation.

Yelp and its competitors know how critical authentic reviews are to the overall reliability of their site, and it’s in their best interest to ensure they’re as genuine as possible.

What’s the Problem with Yelp’s Review Filter?

If you’ve read up to here, you might have already noticed some problems with Yelp’s review filter:

It hides real reviews as well as fake reviews
Removing genuine reviews can hurt a business’s reputation
The number of hidden reviews is constantly changing (and feels arbitrary)

Yelp says its review filter is supposed to capture the word-of-mouth reputation of a business. But there’s a problem with this:

Some industries feel the Yelp review filter’s effects far more than others.

Meanwhile, others are not nearly as affected.

Take the service industry, for example. Restaurants are one of the most regularly reviewed businesses on Yelp. They tend to acquire many reviews from dedicated Yelp users.

Those Yelp users might visit dozens of restaurants, leaving a detailed review for each of them. And because the Yelp review filter prioritizes reviews from regular Yelp users, those reviews will all look authentic and stay unfiltered.

But other industries can’t count on their customers to be regular Yelp users.

Consider the general contractor. A contractor might take on 1-2 jobs a month. Already, they’re at a disadvantage because they have far fewer customers.

Worse yet, the contractor’s clients are far less likely to be regular Yelp users. They might only write a review on Yelp as an afterthought. They might even have to create a Yelp account because they’ve never used the platform before. And because those reviews are coming from new accounts, they’re far more likely to be filtered out.

Plus, that contractor can’t ask clients to write a review: That’d be against Yelp’s policy. So, if you’re a service provider that targets a certain demographic—such as the older, not-so-tech-savvy crowd—you’re left in a bit of a catch-22: Your clients might not think to leave you a Yelp review, yet you can’t remind them, either. And even if the occasional one remembers to write a review, it’s at a much greater risk of being removed anyway.

We Still Have Much to Learn

Deterring fraudsters and making review pages more reliable is a worthy pursuit in the internet age. While we still have a lot to learn about navigating downfalls and ironing out discrepancies, using algorithms and communication analytics to monitor reviews is a step in the right direction.

Have you had a run-in with the Yelp review filter? Got a tip for how to overcome it? Leave a comment below! And if you need help managing your business’s online reputation, don’t hesitate to reach out to LinkNow at 888-667-71864 or by emailing website@linknowmedia.com.

Yelp Reviews: The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

On August 16, 2021