Most consumers today research a business’ online reputation prior to deciding whether to partake of that business’ products or services. A portion of this research may be based around what the business has to say about itself and its products or services, but often the majority of this research is based around what other consumers have to say about the business and its products or services. It can happen that a business that has very little or no customer reviews is completely overlooked, simply because they don’t have a verifiable reputation.

Even a business that has obtained some customer reviews would do well to obtain many more. Not only can a large amount of good reviews help to outweigh any unflattering reviews they have, but a large amount of reviews can help push the business up in search engine rankings, increasing SEO and making the business more visible.

 Getting Customers to Write Reviews

When a customer has a fantastic experience with your business’ products or services, it’s easy to assume that they would gladly share this information with others. In fact, you may even ask them to post a review, to which they respond, “Of course!” and yet you never actually hear from them. You may think they’ve actually forgotten or are so busy they simply don’t have time. Actually, most customers love to write reviews–they just need to be approached correctly. Consider these tips:

• Have an easily-clickable link for customers to write reviews on your products or services.
• Remind your customers to leave reviews as often and as much as possible–you can even send an email confirming their purchase and asking for them to respond with a review of the product or service.
• Make it easy for customers to write and submit reviews; don’t make them go searching for the way to do so.
• Ask for reviews on Mondays, and between 1:00 and 3:00 p.m.
• Offer rewards for customers who write and share reviews–like a coupon for discounted products or services.