6 ways to encourage your customers to leave reviews

You certainly know by now that most of your customers won’t leave a review unless you ask them too.  The other half won’t know how to leave a review unless you provide an explanation on how to leave a review. Make sure your review button and links are always visible to your customer and easy to find.

First let us start with what makes a good review

A good review will:

• Support or backup the claims you have made in your marketing
• Come from a genuine customer who your target market can identify with
• Come across as genuine and not overly gushy or forced
• Acknowledge how your product or service beats the competition
• Never make spurious or inaccurate claims about your product or service
• Be written or spoken clearly and coherently
• Avoid going into too much technical detail
• Focus on the benefits to the user or customer

Here are 6 ways to encourage your customers to leave reviews

1. Claim you search engine listing and local directories
2. Add links to testimonials and review in the footer of your companies emails
3. Add a clear call to action on the testimonials page on your website
4. Follow up with your client
5. Encourage customer to leave a review on your social media pages by rewarding them
6. Meet your customers where they are
   Bonus: Additional places to be noticed

1.Claim you search engine listing and local directories

Search Engine listing

Utilize search engines such as google Bing and Yahoo to your favor. Register your business across search engines and generate a direct link to encourage customers to review your business on Google , Bing, and Yahoo.

Get your free listing on Google , Bing and Yahoo, then create a link for customers to write a review.

Create a direct reviews links on Google

To create a link, you’ll need to get the Place ID for your business. To get your Place ID:

Go to the Google Places API.

Enter your business information in the “Enter a location” field at the top of the map.

Click your business name in the list that appears.

Your Place ID will appear on the map, beneath your business name.

Add your Place ID to the following URL to create your link:

https://search.google.com/local/writereview?placeid=

Using the example above, the URL with the Place ID added would be:

https://search.google.com/local/writereview?placeid=ChIJIRHVy1hFwokRP-4_TtNDVnA

When customers click your link, a window will open in their browser. They’ll be able to rate your business and leave a review. Learn how to read and reply to customer reviews

Keep in mind that it’s against the Google My Business review policy to solicit reviews from customers by offering incentives or setting up review stations at your place of business. Reviews that violate the policy may be removed.

Local directories

Online local directories, maps and apps are additional places where your clients can leave reviews about your business and services.
Update all of your online business information to be consistent, ensuring that customers can always easily find you online, below is a list of top 31 local listing which you should consider.

Make it easy to be found on Local Directory listings

• eLocal
• YaSabe
• GoLocal247
• YellowPagesGoesGreen
• Pointcom
• ABLocal
• Opendi
• 2findlocal
• My Local Services
• iGlobal
• Soleo
• Aroundme
• hotfrog

2.Add links to testimonials and reviews in the footer of your companies emails

Adding an email signature to every footer of your emails you send is an opportunity to promote your business, and your review links. Email signatures also provide customers with contact information should they wish to contact you via mail, visit your business, contact you via telephone or send a fax. To create a free email signature check free email signature creator .

To learn more on how a free email signature can help you spread the word out. Click here.

3.Add a clear call to action on the testimonials page on your website

Your website is the perfect place to highlight the testimonials that others have shared about your business. When a testimonial is used correctly you will witness an increase in conversion rates and the perceived value of your products or services

4.Follow up with your client

Following up with clients who didn’t have the time to leave a review is one of the important steps that you should consider adding to your strategy. Design a follow up email to send to your clients with a clear call to action and directions on how to leave you a review, make sure to add hyperlinks to make it easier for your clients to get redirected.

Adding an offer in your follow up email will entice your clients to take the extra step and leave you a review. Try adding a coupon code, or a free video where you explain more on the Niche you are in. The secret formula here is to give value for your clients.

5.Encourage customer to leave a review on your social media pages by rewarding them

Social media commentary can be very influential and is often among the easiest type of testimonial to come by. The trick to engaging with this type of review is to be gracious and thank your customers for their words. As always, take care not to come off as self-promotional. The more authentic you come across on social media, the more likely you are to encourage genuine responses to your products and services.

Note: Rewarding customers is not the same as buying reviews, which is unethical and can backfire (if consumers are presented with a steady stream of glowing, five-star reviews, they tend to get suspicious).

6.Meet customers where they are

The easier you make it for customers to leave reviews, the more likely they will do so. That means taking the time to understand your audience so you can provide them with opportunities to review your products on the platforms they most prefer to use. For example:

• If you regularly interact with customers in person, ask them for testimonials face to face.
• If your customers are expecting an email confirmation for their purchase, use that opportunity to solicit a review within the email.
• If your customers spend a lot of time on Facebook, make the Reviews tab visible and ask for reviews via posts and comments.
• If your customers love using Yelp – Angie’s List or another online review site, encourage them to leave reviews there (more on this point below)

Additional places to be noticed

1. Yelp
2. Facebook
3. Angie’s List
4. TripAdvisor. …
5. Yellowpages. …
6. Better Business Bureau