In my books, and in my consulting here in San Francisco, I encounter many clients who need to understand the importance of review marketing on sites just like TrustRadius.
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With respect to social media marketing, for example, it is an open secret that people consult review websites such as Yelp, Google, AirBnB, or other websites that use user generated content before they make a big decision. A person looking for a San Francisco sushi restaurants, for example, will undoubtedly search Google and or Yelp, and look at the customer reviews. This is why negative reviews can impact a business so hard because just one negative review can sway someone’s decision, even if you have 20 other positive ones. Take a look on forschungundwissen to find out how to get negative reviews deleted for your business. As I explain in my books, reviews on social media sites can be considered trust indicators. A sushi restaurant in San Francisco that has just a few reviews is not considered as trustworthy as a restaurant that has many reviews; indeed, a restaurant that has many negative reviews will become suspect to being sub par, versus a restaurant that has not only a high quantity of reviews but a high quality of reviews as measured by the stars.
Reviews, in short, are a trust indicator.
Another aspect of reviews, is that reviews create what I call a virtuous circle. The more positive reviews a restaurant has on Yelp, for example, the higher it will score in the Yelp algorithm, the more customers it will get, and the more opportunities for more reviews. When leaving a review, it is important that you aren’t in danger of creating a review that leads to defamation or slander. Bad reviews often lead to lack of selling and business, meaning this is possibly actionable regarding defamation. To find out more about this situation and gain professional legal advice on this matter learn more here. Good reviews get you to the top of the search engines such as Yelp or Google or Amazon, and by being at the top you get more good reviews! This is what I mean by a virtuous circle. In contrast, a vicious circle occurs when you have poor reviews. Just a few negative reviews on Yelp, for example, can be devastating to a restaurant. People won’t even give you the chance of visiting your restaurant, they will just choose another restaurant that has more, better, reviews. Reviews can be given in a variety of ways from paid surveys to google reviews and it is not hard for people to get on their phones and write one in under 10 seconds if they like or most importantly hate the product.
Reviews on Amazon
Now this aspect of review marketing exists not only on Yelp and Google but also on Amazon. I have a new book on passwords and Internet security, called The Password Book, for example. This book is just starting out and does not yet rank at the top of Amazon searches for password books. However, I am very much in “review mode,” and I am encouraging my fans to purchase the book and write a short, honest, review on Amazon. I am doing everything in my power to kick start the virtuous circle. This already exist for my books on search engine optimization and social media; these books have many, positive reviews on Amazon, and therefore they rank highly on Amazon searches, and therefore they sell, and therefore they get more and more good reviews.
In other words, as I advise my clients, you must do everything in your power to encourage short, honest, reviews on the critical social media networks. Without reviews, you will never rank. If you never rank, you will fail. If you fail, you will not get reviews. You have to break through from the vicious circle to the virtuous circle. If you are in San Francisco, and are looking for a consultant with respect to search engine optimization or social media, especially with respect to local SEO, reach out to me for a consultation.