Often overlooked
You know, the vast majority of people are going to find your business through Google. Seems simple, no?
Well, did you know that Google has a review function? So often, this feature gets missed in favour of flashy solutions, but it really is worth keeping around. These show up straight after a search and are often the first indicidation to a prospective customer that you're someone to do business with.
Unfortunately, they're often overlooked.
The trick is make leaving a Google review as simple as possible. You want to make it easy? Just link straight to the page! All you need to do is to leave a review yourself and copy the URL - then use that address as your link.
Click below to see how easy it is and while you're there, why not leave us a review!
The best thing about these is that as they start to accumulate, you actually get a nice little SEO bump, so it's well worth chasing these down.
It's actually a really good idea to put these links into the thankyou emails that you send out to your customers, or even to work them into your email signatures. Remember, every interaction that you have with a customer is an opportunity!
Try automation
A lot of websites can send automated emails; ours certainly do!
If you're sensible, rather than sending out a manual email every time, you can get some automatic processes in place. Zone1 sends one out a few weeks after a purchase has been completed, inviting the customer to leave a review on the product page; we even provide them with a direct link to encourage them.
Of course, there are ways to improve the automatic processes as well!
You could use them to offer incentives for reviewers. Would you like 10% off your next order if you left a review on your favourite website?
If it gets them to give you some feedback, it'd be worth doing.
Form a partnership
Finally, it might be worth looking an alternative another solution. There are loads of independent review sources out there; we already work with a few:
These third party review systems are becoming a common sight accross the web and for good reason. They can make a real difference to you and and your business, offering dedicated support for customer reviews that can often be integrated directly with your website. With Zone1, these completely replace the native review system, and customers are automatically sent invites to leave feedback at these sites.
Major benefits can include:
- purpose built analytics for customer reviews, allowing you to look for trends within regions, age groups and more
- removal of spam and unwanted reviews
- automatic monitoring and sharing of fraudulent behaviour
- SEO boost linked to content creation
- increased customer trust
Ultimately, 9 out of 10 customers prefer to look at the reviews before making a purchase; you just need to make sure you've got some to show them!