How Many Review Sites Are You Monitoring?
Online reviews have become key to the success of any business. Review sites have essentially put the power into the hands of the consumer, giving a voice to both the people that love your products and services, as well as those who don’t. The impact of this trend over the past few years has been stunning. Many businesses have used the power of reviews to thrive and gain more customers, while others have been pushed to close their doors. Moreover, it’s now become just one more thing that small business owners need to be checking up on and managing on pretty much a daily basis to ensure your company’s reputation is seen in a positive light.
With that being said, it’s important to note how many review sites you or your management team is actually checking on a daily basis. It’s essential to be actively engaging with those that are rating your business, both good and bad. Learn review response best practices from these posts:
Most businesses that we speak to try to be as active and engaged as possible, checking the big review sites at least a couple times a week and responding to them when they notice something new. But as the internet grows, and more review sites continue to pop up and gain traction, reviews can become overwhelming and almost impossible to keep up. Right now, for a small business owner, there are over 20 different review sites that are popular enough that you really should be checking in and seeing what people are saying. But that would literally take up hours of your day—time that small business owners simply do not have.
This is where technology can help. Review monitoring services like that available on the Qebot platform can make this chore a whole lot easier. By aggregating all of your reviews across these channels, you can set up notifications to tell you when you have a new review to respond to, see all of your reviews in line in a single dashboard, and respond right through the interface. For around $20 per month, a tool like this saves you hours every week in checking all of these reviews and ensures that you are seeing and engaging with every review that comes in. Think about the damage that can be done if you are simply unaware of a negative review, but your potential customers are seeing it and being turned off to your business. On the other hand, say you have a positive review that you could engage with, alerting that person to a new product or service you have. If they loved it the first time, you can suggest they try another product or service you offer. It’s a great platform for driving repeat business!
Reviews and review sites can make or break small businesses. The best way to manage your business is to understand what’s being said and take appropriate action to help engage promoters or counteract detractors. But if you aren’t even aware that these resources are there, it could do you a lot of harm. Email us at success@qebot.com to learn more about the Qebot Platform and Marketplace, and the tools available like the Reputation Management application.
Want to learn more about how Qebot can help you grow you business? Check us out at qebot.com.
Author: Matthew White, CEO of Qebot