User Review Websites allow for your customers and clients to review your products & services online. This can be very good for your online reputation if you are doing a good job and taking care of your customers. There are many benefits to using these types of websites including benefits to SEO, Public Relations, and overall business. A large percentage of customers do research online before purchasing. One of the places that they do research is on user review websites like the ones listed below. If you have a positive reputation with good reviews on websites like these, it can have a noticeable impact on sales. Getting your customers to go online and review your business after a positive experience can sometimes be difficult. We have developed proven methods for getting more reviews from customers on these types of websites and are available to provide those services to you.
- Yelp: This site is number one on our list for a number of reasons. Users enjoy using the website because it tracks your reviews, like Craigslist it is divided by cities, it allows for reviews and ratings, and it is widely used by many others so there is a large social network aspect to it. Yelp allows businesses to upload images, post links to their website, and upload information about their companies such as phone number, business address, and industry.
- Google Plus: Formerly “Google Places”, Google Plus is now the business review section of Google. It allows for businesses to interact with customers on a social level, as well as allowing for user reviews of the business. Many of these results show up in search engine results pages when relevant products or services are searched in Google.
- City Search: Much like Yelp, this site allows for users to select businesses located in various cities and write reviews about them. Although it is very difficult to please everyone, when a majority of user reviews are positive, people often overlook that one negative review that just seems out of place.
- Merchant Circle: This user review website is unique in the sense that it actually gives you quite a large amount of space to write about your business. With a lengthy about section you can describe your business at length, offering detailed information about your products and services.
- Angies List: Unlike many of the other user review websites on this list, Angies List is a subscription website. In order to gain access to the reviews on businesses you have to sign up. This causes a lot of people to shy away from this site. It is, However, free for businesses to be listed on Angies List so it’s definitely a good call to list yourself here. With their huge marketing budget and television commercials, more and more people are signing up for Angies List for the good quality, reliable reviews. Because it is subscription based, you have to pay for each account. This makes it more difficult to post fraudulent reviews, which is good for the user and the business owner.
- BBB: The Better Business Bureau has been around longer than many of these other sites. If you do get listed on the Better Business Bureau it is very important that you keep a good rapport with your clientele. Their website ranks very well on search engines, and having a negative reputation on BBB can often cost you business.
- TripAdvisor: This user review site is specific to a certain industry. Businesses that deal in Transportation, Fine Dining, Vacation Rentals, Excursions, Attractions, Activities, Outdoor Adventures, Charters, Fishing Guides, etc. can benefit from being included in TripAdvisor.
- Local.com: Another neighborhood/city based user review website. This one has a strong emphasis on small businesses and specialty shops. Local.com also provides articles on information about businesses, daily deals coupons and much more. This is a great site for bakeries, restaurants, home services such as plumbing, activities, pet services, and businesses with a health & wellness focus.
- Yahoo Local: Easily one of the best business directories and user review websites to be featured in when it comes to SEO, this user review website is actually not as highly used as some of the others. It is very popular among Yahoo users, however because it is not widely used by others around the web, it is listed 9th on our list. That is not to say that it’s not important. In fact, all of the user review websites listed here are very important to include in your online marketing campaigns.
- JudysBook: This user review website is the new kid on the block. It has been continually growing in popularity and with a focus on social interactions, JudysBook is an excellent resource for getting user reviews and building a positive reputation online.
As a Portland Advertising Agency, Total Market Exposure has helped many Portland, Oregon area companies improve their online presence via the use of user review websites, SEO and positive reputation management. These user review websites provide a place for people to read & write reviews on local businesses. This can have a great positive impact on any local advertising campaigns that you might be involved in. Participation on these kinds of websites can help improve SEO, as well increasing your social presence and even improving PPC campaigns.
Tags: Business Review Websites, marketing, Top 10, User Review Websites