It’s a fact that people are more likely to trust a review and recommendation from a friend than from a robot. We are human and the days are long gone where we could only optimize our websites for Google and enjoy a steady stream of visitors. The online world has evolved and becomes more natural with the birth of social media and more people getting connecting everyday.
Because of this it is important to encourage your clients to regularly add reviews and testimonials on your website regarding your services and products. The willingness to post testimonials and reviews on your services and products is a direct signal for interested buyers that your company is focused on your customers. This sounds good, but many small business simply doesn’t have the time, resources, and systems in place to regularly accomodate these reviews on their website and online profile, but in fact, it’s not so difficult to get the ball rolling on this.
Here’s a couple of tips to help you get started with reviews and testimonials on your website for internet marketing purposes.
Customer testimonials and reviews
Ask for reviews: Ask your website visitors to leave testimonials on your website. If you have a brick and mortar business, follow up with an email or telephone call. Follow up shouldn’t be weeks after they have done business with you. Keep it timely.
Make the process easy: Make it as simple as possible to leave a review for you. If you are going to bombard your visitors with questions, they will most likely leave. Use a simple star rating system with the option to leave comments if they want to.
Don’t fake it: If you fake your reviews it might work for a while, but not in the long run. Your best customers will most likely do it for free if you provided them with good service.
Other review channels: There are many review channels that you can use to generate reviews. Google places is one and most of the popular checkin services such as Facebook and Foursquare. Utilize these channels.