Small businesses can’t afford to ignore online review sites. CitySearch, Yelp, InsiderPages, and basic reviews consumers make on Google and Yahoo business pages – they are incredibly important to your online reputation.
IMPORTANT: new customers are reviewing these reviews to make their decision on whether to do business with you or not. Even if they are staring at your mailer that came in their mailbox, or seeing your fancy custom Facebook Page, they are still going to do their investigative research. Most of us take the time to do this on books we’re going to by, movies we’re about to shell our $12 for, gadgets we’re eager to consume or hotels we’re looking forward to enjoy. We are sophisticated consumers who know we have the power of the internet at our fingertips!
If you are a business and you have a negative review, the only way to overcome it is to overpower that one negative review with a dozen GREAT reviews! Eventually not only will that bad review fall off the front page, but you’ll also see your 1-star rating move up to 4 or 5 stars!
To assist you,
- Randy Vaughn writes, “Managing Your Online Reputation“
- John Jantsch writes, “5 Ways to Get Rockin’ Reviews“