Building Positive Buzz for your Business With Online Ratings and Reviews

Most business owners know that the best marketing tool is good buzz or word-of-mouth, and that bad word-of-mouth can negatively affect a business. In the internet age, word-of-mouth can now mean discussions in chat rooms, postings on internet forums and reviews posted on ratings websites. Studies show that the internet is now the number one source of consumer information – ahead of newspapers, TV and even friends. In other words, when people think about using a service or buying a product, they first do a web search to see what they can find out.

You may already be using the internet to promote your business via your website, online directories and e-mail lists. While you can control and target your website and promotions, you can't control what is said about you on other sites.

So how can you be sure you're getting good buzz on the internet, and prevent bad buzz?

First, remember that managing customer impressions starts at your business. Make sure your staff is trained to quickly and effectively handle problems and complaints. We all know that an issue which is resolved graciously and quickly can produce satisfied and loyal customers. A problem that festers will produce an angry critic.

Next, be aware of what is being said about your business on the internet. Regularly search for your business by name. You'll probably be surprised at how many places your business is mentioned: MySpace pages, forums, blogs and more.

Also search for applicable rating and review sites (for example, if you are a realtor, search for realtor ratings and realtor reviews). Bookmark the review sites in your browser so you can check them regularly. While there are several national ratings and review sites, there may also be local sites in your area. To find the local sites, simply include the name of your city in the search; for example: realtor ratings San Francisco or realtor reviews Philadelphia.

Once you've found and bookmarked the review sites, check each to see if your business is listed, and that the basic information is accurate. If the business is not listed, you should see if there is a way to add it yourself to be sure the listing is accurate. If there are errors in the information, look for a way to contact the site operator with corrections.

Finally, check the review sites, and the other sites you've found in your searches, to see what is being said about your business. Think of this as an opportunity to find out what your customers really think and say to one another… good and bad. In the past, this was information that was only shared between people – however these sites now allow you to be privy to these comments.

At some point you will likely find negative reviews -- perhaps even lies and defamatory comments. If a review is severely damaging, you may contact the site operator to see if it can be removed. Very likely the answer will be "no." Review sites don't remove reviews -- good or bad -- unless they violate the site's rules. Otherwise, there would be no negative reviews -- and the sites would be worthless to consumers.

At this point, some owners begin making threats of legal action. This is almost always a waste of time. Rating and review sites operate as public forums on which people can post their opinions. The sites are protected by law, and operators are not liable for the opinions posted there. The rating and review sites are often represented by the Electronic Frontier Foundation or the ACLU, so any legal battle will be costly and almost certainly fruitless.

So let's talk about what you can do instead of making threats:

Fortunately, most review sites have a process for you to respond to reviews, and this is worthwhile. The tone of your response should be reasonable and positive. It's good to acknowledge the complaint (even if you believe it's false or exaggerated), and respond to it directly (especially if it's a valid complaint.)

For example:

"As the reviewer says, we've had some problems with bunk plumbing; which we've revamped over the winter."

Or,

"Thanks you for your comment. We were unaware of the busing problem and it has been corrected"

In other words, try hard to put the complaint to rest and sound like the "good guy"-- making the person who wrote the bad review seem less credible.

How about a negative review that says something you can't really respond to, like, "This place sucks and the staff is rude and unhelpful! All they care about is making money."

In that case, simply acknowledge the complaint and talk up your positives: "I'm sorry the reviewer felt our staff was not able to help. We work hard to insure our customers are satisfied, and as a result our business has grown each year since 1998. Please note that we have a perfect record with the Better Business Bureau."

Hopefully you won't need to deal with many negative reviews. Instead, focus your energy on getting positive reviews. Your best assets are you current customers.

Your regular customers are likely to say good things about your business, so encourage them to write online reviews.

First, visit the major rating sites, and find the URL (web address) of the page where your business is mentioned. Then:

* Include the URL on your business flyers and advertising, and a link on your website ("Rate us at… ").

* If you have an e-mail list, you can use it to ask your customers to submit ratings and reviews.

When submitting reviews, ask your customers to talk specifically about the best features of the business, or good experiences they've had. Reviews that simply say "awesome!" don't carry much weight with readers, but specific reviews that describe positive experiences are great ads for your company.

Once you get some positive reviews and ratings on the web, publicize the fact! Include your ratings, and excerpts from reviews, in your ads, flyers and on your website.

Remember that people will talk about your business on the web; so make sure you know what is being said!