This somewhat ties directly into your Local Directory Listings, which are also known as “Review Sites” because consumers can leave reviews for businesses on them.
Customer reviews are perfect for driving traffic to your website, particularly if you have garnered a number of positive reviews. It’s no secret that more and more people are now heading to review websites such as Yelp and Google+ Local to find out what others have to say about businesses in their area.
If the general consensus is that the company gets a “thumbs up,” people will usually click on through to their website to gather more information about them.
So the more positive reviews you have online, the more people you will have interested in your business. Although many businesses tend to lack in this area, it is crucial that you are actively encouraging positive reviews from your satisfied customers.
Of course, you should not try to “force” or “bribe” anyone to give you reviews, but there are simple ways to build positive feedback. This includes simply asking them to leave you a review at checkout, sending a follow-up email asking them to review you, or placing a call-to-action on your website asking them to leave you a review.
But don’t just stop at customer reviews – be sure to actively build your company’s overall online reputation as well. Online reputation involves many different techniques; such as, publishing great content, monitoring and responding to mentions about your business, cleaning up negative/false information, branding initiatives, and more.
Effectively managing your reputation will work to your advantage because if your overall image is “positive,” more people will visit your website to learn more about you. However, if your overall image is “negative,” most people will skip visiting your website all together.