8 Retail Review Sites You Can’t Afford To Ignore

This article first appeared in SMB Retail Technology News:

According to Marketing Land, a full 90 percent of customers say their buying decisions are influenced by online reviews. Online reviews have major implications on retailer rankings in local search engines, which search results actually get clicked on and how consumers make purchasing decisions, cited a 2016 blogpost by Shopify.

Your online reputation matters. According to BrightLocal, 88 percent of consumers trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations. Honest, authentic and objective reviews online not only help consumers make informed decisions, they can also help boost retailer search rankings.

Do you know what people are saying about your business online? If you don’t, it’s time to get busy. There are over 400 online review sites where customers can post feedback about your business, but it’s virtually impossible to manage them all. So which sites should you focus on to boost visibility and search rankings?

We’ve culled down our top picks just for you: here are the top 8 review sites where local retailers should strongly consider a presence:

1) Yelp

Love it or hate it, you need to be proactive on Yelp. Customers rate businesses on a five-star scale. This is a site you should check regularly so you can respond to reviewers. Thank those who leave you rave reviews. Respond politely and proactively to those who don’t. When possible, try to address negative feedback outside of Yelp.

Do you have to “pay to play” on Yelp? Officially no, but Yelp has come under fire with respect to “pushing bad reviews down” for businesses that advertise. Don’t be strong-armed into advertising. Instead, proactively work on getting positive reviews posted on the site. Make sure your Yelp profile shows correct information like store hours and location. Consumers using Yelp know to look at the “big picture” – one or two bad reviews will not usually turn someone away.

Yelp reviews often show on the top of the Google search results, as seen here for Maui Wowi DC, my coffee and smoothie business:

2) Google My Business

Have you done a search for something online and on the right you see lots of information about the business, such as pictures, a map as well as reviews? Here’s a Google My Business page for my coffee and smoothie business:

Google loves Google so that’s why you want to make sure you’re registered with Google My Business. As you can see from the image above, it’s easy to write a review and add a photo. Note that only verified local Google+ pages can respond to reviews. Keeping this information current can give you a boost in search rankings and it makes your business look much more professional and reputable. Encourage customers to leave reviews here. You’ll start seeing results quickly.

3) Better Business Bureau

The Better Business Bureau (BBB) is a nonprofit organization that evaluates all types of businesses against a set of best practices for how businesses should treat the public. They don’t directly recommend or endorse any businesses, products or services; they simply provide the public with information about businesses and whether they have met the BBB’s accreditation standards. They do show information for both accredited and non-accredited businesses.

A business’ profile listing on the BBB contains general overview information like a short company bio and the company’s accreditation status, a history of any complaints made about the business and whether they were resolved, customer reviews and the BBB’s A – F rating of the business.

Having positive reviews on this site lends a lot of weight to people’s decision making process. And as an added bonus, it helps build your citations.

4) Facebook Ratings & Reviews

When someone wants a recommendation for a business or they’re looking for a specific product/service/solution, who they gonna ask? Their friends on Facebook. And where will that person look if you’re recommended? The Facebook Ratings & Reviews section of your business page. It’s on the left side:

It’s super easy to have customers leave reviews on Facebook so definitely add this to your reputation management strategy. Anyone logged in can post a rating or review of a business. All they have to do is go to the Reviews section of your Page, click the grey stars to choose a rating and then write an optional review. They can then make that review public, visible to friends or visible only to them.

5) Twitter

I know what you’re thinking. Why would someone post a review on Twitter? It’s too fast-paced. People may not go directly to Twitter to search for reviews on your business (unless you’ve got a specific hashtag for that), but did you know that tweets are indexed in search results? That means that every time someone tweets about your business, whether it’s great or horrible, you could pop up in the search results.

As part of your social media strategy, you should have someone actively monitoring your name for mentions, likes and reviews. Nothing will make you feel better than seeing something positive someone posted for which you can thank them publicly and re-tweet for the world to see.

6) Foursquare/Swarm

Foursquare (and Swarm) is bes
t known for its “check in” feature, allowing people to share their locations via social media. Make sure to claim your listing so customers have the ability to not only check in, but also leave ratings and “tips” (reviews) for other customers when they visit. Signing up for Foursquare for Business lets you access user analytics data, add your own tips and offer customer rewards.

7) Alignable

Getting a review doesn’t always have to be from a customer. Most local businesses agree that referrals are their number one source of traffic. To maximize those relationships, Alignable helps small and local businesses connect – because small businesses are stronger when they work together. Not only can businesses connect on the platform, but they can recommend each otherand provide updates that get shared with others.

By sharing upcoming events, new products or services, or a promotion you’re offering, your fellow small business owners can support you and help attract new customers.

8) Your Website

The review sites I’ve mentioned so far don’t give you a lot of control over what the world sees. One place where you do have total control is your website. Take advantage of it! Post reviews you receive, and perhaps embed some of those tweets you saw. You could carve out a section of your website dedicated to showcase reviews and testimonials like this:

Not everyone has accounts or wants to post a review on a public site like Yelp or Google, yet they would be happy to give you a positive review. Consider adding functionality to your website that allows users to easily post a review.

When it comes to reputation management, we think these review sites give you the most bang for your buck—and you can monitor and maintain your presence without consuming a huge amount of resources. After all, reputation is everything. Knowing what your customers are saying about you, and cultivating your reputation online is central to delivering the all-important customer experience.

About Stacey Riska

Stacey Riska, aka “Small Business Stacey” is a serial entrepreneur who is passionate about saving small business and rebuilding Main Street. She helps small and local business owners become a #SmallBizMarketingWiz by teaching them marketing strategies that get MORE: MORE leads, MORE customers/clients, MORE sales, and MORE money. Stacey is the founder of Small Biz Marketing Specialist, THE go-to place for marketing tips, techniques and strategies that get results. Stacey is also the creator of the Daily Deals for Massive Profits Training Program, an online video training program that teaches small and local business owners how to use daily deal sites like Groupon to skyrocket their business growth and get massive profits. In this program she teaches from experience, as it was the key strategy that transformed her coffee and smoothie business from being $500K in debt to a 7-figure profitable business. When not saving the small business world, she enjoys sipping red wine, eating chocolate (who doesn’t!) and spending time with her amazing husband.