Succeed As Your Own Boss

ENDING SMALL BUSINESS FAILURE

  • Home
  • About
  • Book Melinda
  • Consulting
  • SBL Store
  • SmallBizLady University
  • Free Tools
  • Podcast
  • #Smallbizchat
    • Be a #SmallBizChat Guest
  • Blog
  • Contact
    • We’re Hiring!
You are here: Home / Customer Service / Ultimate Guide to Online Reviews for Your Small Business

Ultimate Guide to Online Reviews for Your Small Business

March 1, 2022 By Melinda Emerson Leave a Comment

Feel free to share...Share on facebook
Facebook
Share on twitter
Twitter
Share on google
Google
Share on linkedin
Linkedin
Share on pinterest
Pinterest
Share on reddit
Reddit
Share on email
Email
Share on print
Print

Ultimate Guide to Online Reviews for Your Small Business social imageOnline reviews help your business build trust and credibility, which are critical factors in the customer decision-making process. Online reviews also help drive traffic to your website or retail store, which is key for any successful business. What other people have to say about your business carries more weight than what you have to say about your business, even if they are complete strangers. Customer reviews can make or break a product, especially for small business brand or product that’s new on the market. A difference of one star—or even a half-star—can be all it takes for a shopper to look for another option. 

A happy customer can sell your product or service much better than you can. Reviews influence everything we buy. I always look for reviews when buying items online. With customer reviews being essential to business success these days, it’s important to put a process in place to request reviews after a sale automatically. Asking for reviews can feel awkward or self-serving but know that people love to share their opinions; they just don’t always know the best way to do that, which is why you need to tell them about how you’d like them to give you feedback. No matter how you generate sales, you need to engage customers directly and ask customers for reviews. 

How online reviews work

online reviews for your small business happy customer

Customers are given general guidelines for reviews and asked to allocate a star rating for the product or service reviewed. Review sites then use an algorithm to filter out any reviews that they suspect are false or automatically generated. The remaining reviews are then posted on a page.

When more than one review has been posted, the sites average the star ratings to give a business or product an overall rating. Reviews generally appear in date order but can be searched by star rating and are sometimes re-ordered at the discretion of the site. Reviewers who post a lot of reviews generally get a higher status, and their reviews are given more prominence.

There is legitimate fear that employees from rival firms will pose as legitimate customers and post negative reviews about a company’s products or services. Some review sites like Yelp and TripAdvisor, have had these kinds of allegations for years. You need to ask for reviews, but don’t promise an incentive in exchange for doing so. If your business is discovered using this kind of tactic you can get banned from a review site, or the marketplace or worse.

Advantages of getting customer reviews

Free advertising

Each review posted online is a customer testimonial which is a form of free advertising for your business. The more your name and product are exposed to readers online, the more your brand awareness increases. Online reviews can provide the kind of mass exposure that you might never be able to afford through traditional marketing channels.

Boost search engine results

Reviews can also drive internet search engine results. Search engines take into account how many times your business name is mentioned in reviews. So, it’s a numbers game. The more reviews the better. If you’re mentioned a lot of times, you’re likely to appear higher in the search results.

People trust peer recommendations

Ultimate Guide to Online Reviews for Your Small Business TRUST PEER RECOMMENDATIONS

Online shoppers trust peer recommendations more than they trust what you say about your product or service on your website. And consumers are most likely to trust recommendations from people they know, but online review sites are seen to be credible. Every online review that recommends your business is a powerful endorsement of your brand.

Honest feedback is a gift

Some online reviews that you perceive as negative could actually suggest improvements related to your business or staff. Use this feedback to improve your business operations. Perhaps your staff need some additional customer service training. A negative review can also be an opportunity to resolve a customer’s problem. You should always respond and if you’re able to resolve the issue, invite your customer to correct the record on the review site. Sometimes customers have good suggestions about better ways to do things.  Consider the honest feedback a gift.

Build a relationship with your customers

Interacting with online reviews gives you the chance to develop a relationship with your customers. You should always respond publicly to all of your reviews good or bad. You want to demonstrate that you’re interested in what your customers have to say. Many customers enjoy knowing the person behind the business is actually listening and may become more loyal advocate of your brand as a result of getting a personal response to a review.

Beware of firms who claim they can get you positive reviews

Online Reviews for Your Small Business fake reviews

If a company says they can generate 5-star reviews to boost your business, don’t be tempted to try this. There are no shortcuts in getting quality reviews. In 2020, Amazon stopped more than 200 million suspected fake reviews before they were ever seen by a customer. In addition to stopping these reviews, Amazon shut down review submissions from the accounts contributing to the fake reviews and the dishonest seller accounts trying to artificially benefit from this abuse.

And now, companies doing this work could be shut down for good. Last week, Amazon filed lawsuits against AppSally and Rebatest, two major fake reviews brokers who are behind misleading shoppers by incentivizing people to post fake reviews. According to published reports, they’ve also done this on eBay, Walmart, and Etsy. These brokers deceive shoppers and create unfair advantages that harm all businesses. These fake reviews brokers are large. They claim to have more than 900,000 members. Amazon has blocked all reviews that could be tied to these brokers.

Amazon is relentless in their pursuit to keep reviews authentic and honest. They devote significant resources to preventing fake or incentivized reviews from appearing in their store. They continually invest in sophisticated machine learning technology and has a team of expert investigators to proactively prevent fake reviews from ever being seen online. 

Bottomline, it’s just not worth it to try to game the system.

How to ask customers for reviews (the right way)

Ultimate Guide to Online Reviews for Your Small Business ways to asks for review

There are so many ways to ask customers for reviews and you should incorporate a few ways into your marketing and customer follow-up efforts.

These include:

  • In person—If you get the opportunity to engage personally with a customer always close your encounter by asking for a review and teach your staff to always ask for reviews.
  • Over the phone—If you get the opportunity to speak with a customer directly always ask for a review
  • SMS text—Send a quick text, first thanking them for their business, asking for a customer service survey or a link to leave a review
  • Use email—As a routine practice you should send a follow-up email within 48-hours to thank your customers for doing business with you and be sure to include a link and invite them to give you a review or email you directly with their feedback.
  • Use social media—Ask customers for reviews in your social media feeds, you can also do a DM campaign to specific customers to ask for a recommendation, if you have this kind of customer contact information.
  • On all receipts and invoices—Include a link or URL to provide a review on all receipts and invoices. You want to reinforce your ask and make it as easy as possible for a customer to give you a review.

When you get a great review, you need to share it. Feature reviews on your website, on landing pages or as a social media post. If you are lucky enough to get a video testimonial, with your customer’s permission, use it in a social media ad. One happy customer review can garner lots of new business. And don’t stick with just one method of asking customers for reviews. In fact, you should have a few strategies running at once to ensure a steady stream of feedback is coming in about your business. Use the suggestions to always work on improving your customer experience.

Feel free to share...Share on facebook
Facebook
Share on twitter
Twitter
Share on google
Google
Share on linkedin
Linkedin
Share on pinterest
Pinterest
Share on reddit
Reddit
Share on email
Email
Share on print
Print

Filed Under: Customer Service, Grow Your Business Tagged With: ask customers for reviews, customer reviews, getting customer reviews, happy customers, review sites

Fix Your Business Now!

Order SmallBizLady's new book Fix Your Business, 90-Day plan to Get Back Your Life and Reduce Chaos in Your Business. It includes the 12 Ps of Running a Successful Business and readers will finish the book with a new strategic plan to take their business to the next level.

About Melinda Emerson

Melinda F. Emerson, “SmallBizLady” is America’s #1 Small Business Expert. She is an internationally renowned keynote speaker on small business development, social selling, and online marketing strategy. As CEO of Quintessence Group, her Philadelphia-based marketing consulting firm serves Fortune 500 brands that target the small business market. Clients include Amazon, Adobe, Verizon, VISA, Google, FedEx, Chase, American Express, The Hartford, and Pitney Bowes. She also has an online school, www.smallbizladyuniversity.com, that teaches people online marketing and how to start and grow a successful small business and publishes a blog SucceedAsYourOwnBoss.com. Her advice is widely read, reaching more than 3 million entrepreneurs each week online. She hosts The Smallbizchat Podcast and is the bestselling author of Become Your Own Boss in 12 Months, Revised and Expanded, and Fix Your Business, a 90 Day Plan to Get Back Your Life and Reduce Chaos in Your Business.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Let’s Connect

  • facebook
  • instagram
  • tiktok
  • pinterest
  • linkedin
  • twitter
  • youtube
  • feedburner

Sign up for the SmallBizLady BUZZ Newsletter and be the first to receive updates and details about upcoming events:

We’re proud to be part of the Mediaplanet Empowering Small Business campaign! The COVID-19 pandemic brought hardship and ruin on the nation’s small businesses, but there’s now reason for hope. Learn about the resources, support, and tools available to help your small business bounce back and grow stronger than ever by picking up a copy of the campaign in USA Today and reading it online here.

Get a FREE Chapter of SmallBizLady’s Book,
"Become Your Own Boss in 12 Months, Revised and Expanded"!

Become Your Own Boss

Most Popular Posts

>Seven Ways to be More Profitable in Your Small Business
> 7 Ways to Attract Customers to Your Small Business
> 6 Tips for Managing Small Business Finances
> How to Run a Successful Multilevel Marketing Business
> 10 Ways to Grow Your Small Business With Instagram
> How to Sell on Facebook
> How to Get Over the Fear of Starting a New Business

Featured Videos

Bloomberg News Interview
How to Support Small Businesses During the Holidays

National Speakers Association
Winter Conference

Fox 29 Philadelphia
'Small Biz Lady' gives best advice for starting a new business in the New Year

Fox Business
Starting a Business

MSNBC
The importance of job mentoring for women

#SmallBizChat Live
National Small Business Week: Q&A

Good Day Philadelphia
Expert Shares Tips on How to Become Your Own Boss

Testimonials

Become Your Own Boss is a must read if you’re thinking of launching a business of your own.
Jean Chatzky, Bestselling Author of Money 911 and Financial Editor of NBC’s Today Show
Great step-by-step advice for anyone looking to start their own business.
Andrew C. Taylor, Chairman, Enterprise Rent-A-Car
Melinda Emerson has written a remarkable book. It is essential reading for anyone seeking to make the transition from working girl to successfully working it, as an entrepreneur.
Cynthia McClain-Hill, Past President, National Association of Women Business Owners
The perfect companion for those planning to go out on their own. Melinda delivers firsthand practical advice on how to be the successful entrepreneur. Read it if you want to get it right the first time.
Kenneth L. Shropshire, Professor at the Wharton School of Business, University of Pennsylvania
If you are looking for a versatile speaker who can talk about how to grow small businesses or get started with social media, look no further.
Heather Van Sickle Executive Director, National Association for Community College Entrepreneurship (NACCE)
Her wit and depth of subject knowledge were entertaining and empowering. Melinda is definitely on our short list of seasoned entrepreneurs and business leaders we look to invite back in the near future.
Tennille M. Robinson Senior content & Event producer for Inc. magazine
Melinda Emerson, “SmallBizLady,” is an engaging and witty speaker and a great addition to any conference. Her terrific presentation and compelling delivery give people the information they need and want to become their own bosses and grow success… Read more
Laurie Dalton White Conference Director, Pennsylvania Conference for Women
Melinda Emerson has been a fantastic small business and social media resource for the Pitney Bowes team. Not only is she personable and easy to work with, but she also has an innate understanding of the small business audience. My marketing programs … Read more
Justin Amendola, Former VP, Global SMB Digital Strategy, Pitney Bowes

Latest #SmallBizChat

The SmallBizChat Podcast: How to License and Sell Your Content with Mitch Axelrod

In this episode, Melinda Emerson welcomes Mitch Axelrod to discuss the intricacies of intellectual property (IP) licensing for small businesses. Mitch shares his personal journey in the licensing field, offering insights into identifying and protecting IP effectively. They explore common pitfalls in licensing negotiations and provide practical tips to navigate these challenges. Mitch Axelrod is […]

Fix Your Business Q&A Video

Recent Posts

  • The SmallBizChat Podcast: How to License and Sell Your Content with Mitch Axelrod
  • What KPIs Should You Track In Your Small Business?
  • The SmallBizChat Podcast: If I Had to Do It All Over Again with Melinda Emerson
  • How to Develop a Business Launch Timeline, Part II
  • The SmallBizChat Podcast: Hit It and Quit It with LaTanya White, Dov Gordon, and Anisha Robinson Keeys

#SmallBizChat

  • SmallBizChat Archive
  • @SmallBizLady

Business Advice

  • How to Start

SmallBizLady Store

Products

Free Chapter

Get In Touch

  • FAQ
  • Be a #SmallBizChat Guest
  • Contact Us
Copyright © 2025
Quintessence Entertainment, Inc
PO Box 280
Drexel Hill, PA 19026
(610) 352-0680
Privacy Policy · Refund Policy

Let’s Connect

  • facebook
  • instagram
  • tiktok
  • pinterest
  • linkedin
  • twitter
  • youtube
  • feedburner