Most businesses would be mad not to be listed on the right review sites. Consumers refer to them so much now that if you aren't there you'll lose credibility, and that means lost sales.

Let's face it, would you stay at a hotel that wasn't on TripAdvisor? Or use a builder who didn't show up on MyBuilder, CheckaTrade or RatedPeople?

Getting your own testimonials

But there's a slightly different breed of review sites that gives you a bit more control. Companies like Trustpilot and Feefo send questionnaires directly to your customers just after you've sold them a product or a service, usually by email.

These companies ask your customers or clients for a review on your behalf and then pass the information back to you. If the review is good then it's published but most of these sites will highlight negative reviews to you so that you can do something about them if you wish.

Help with Google rankings

You can also install special code on your website that pulls the reviews from Trustpilot or Feefo and posts them there.

This means people browsing your website will see fresh, glowing testimonials. It also shows Google that your site is being constantly updated which leads Google to rate your site higher than before.

What about bad reviews?

You might be worried about bad reviews and every business is going to get them every now and then. What makes the difference is how you respond to them but a professional review site will have lots of help and guidance on how to respond without things escalating.

One hotelier contacts people who leave bad reviews and invites them back to discuss their problems over a free meal. If they genuinely feel that the problems have been put right then they leave a 5-star review and become big fans of the hotel.

Disgruntled customers who you can get back on your side are often better ambassadors for your brand than customers who don't have any issues. And genuine bad reviews might highlight problems that you didn't know you had. Fix them and you'll prosper.

Try it out

Professional review websites cost on a monthly subscription basis but most have a trial version you can play with before committing.

Take a look to see which sites are in use by your competitors and other businesses in the same sector, then give them a go.

Related articles

Monthly Newsletter

Not signed up to our monthly newsletters and would like to keep up to date with a variety of products? Select from below which products you would like to receive.

Caravan Boat Property Personal Business

Please enter a valid email address

Subscribe