Sometimes business owners worry that people can post reviews online and whether it will lead to bad reviews, maybe from competitors or unreasonable customers.
I wouldn’t waste time worrying about that. Put your focus on providing great service and great content. That will stand out no matter what some say. And still, monitoring for online reviews is a good idea. And doable.
I’ll explain here why I say this and what to do.
Monitoring and Responding to Online Reviews
It is worth doing a few things to monitor and respond to online reviews, positive or negative.
- Monitor the places where people post reviews about you, which is anywhere you might be listed that accepts reviews, such as Google Business, a Facebook page, LinkedIn, or a Yelp listing. (Good places to list your business online.)
- Make sure any online listings you have are set to notify you with new reviews. While it’s likely the default setting, make sure your email and notifications are good to go.
- You can use Google Alerts to be alerted when your business name is mentioned anywhere online.
- If a bad review shows up that isn’t fair, you can protest it with the website owner or the social media service. There are systems in place to prevent spam and fraud, but it usually involves you catching it and reporting it.
- I recommend responding to all your online reviews, good or bad, to show that you’re listening. Usually there’s a way for the owner to reply. If it’s a bad review, respond with how you’re handling that concern.
Embracing Consumer Power
Social media has put the consumers in charge and it’s our job as business owners to provide good service and be responsive. That’s a great thing in many ways.
Potentially, people will spread your message for you, wider than you could ever imagine, if you’re allowing and encouraging online comments about your services.
Your role is to initiate with great content: blog, video, social media comments, graphs, webinars, etc. If you truly get to know your audience, and listen to what they like by watching what they respond to, you can create something share-worthy.
When you strike a chord with them, watch the magic happen as people spread the word about you beyond what you thought possible.
I have some popular blog posts that have been shared far and wide and they continue to bring a lot of visitors to my website every month. Thanks to consumer power.
