Reap the Review Benefits: The Advantages of Online Review Sites

Posted by Deepak on

Online review sites such as Urbanspoon, Yelp and TripAdvisor have been popping up all over the Internet. These websites are a way for consumers to share their experiences with businesses, products and services with other consumers to help them make the best purchasing decision.

Many online review sites have received some negative press. Some people don’t trust that the reviews are honest, and some feel that the rankings do not reflect the actual reviews. But online review sites actually do have plenty of benefits for your business.

They’re free advertising.
First, most online review sites allow the customer to write about your business whether or not you’ve claimed your business on these sites. This means that content is being shared about your business without you needing to do anything. (But, to be safe, you should try and claim your business on all of the popular review sites. This way, the information regarding your business will be accurate.)

Online reviews allow your business and your products/services to land in front of a large audience who are using these sites. People will now be aware of what you have to offer, and you didn’t have to spend one penny.

They offer peer recommendations.
It’s a fact that people are more willing to trust the recommendations from people they know instead of listening to strangers. 

Google+ Local will show users the recommendations that their connections left on certain businesses, allowing them to receive the opinions of people they know. If your business receives a great review, and the friends of that reviewer see it, they’ll be more likely to visit your business.

They help you improve your business.
It’s very likely that you will receive a negative review at one time or another. Rather than board up all your doors and windows in fear that everyone will stop using your business, use the negative review to make improvements. If you notice that a few people complain about being unhappy with one of your products, use this information to test the product and see if there is truly a malfunction or if you can improve it in some way. If you notice that patrons are complaining about poor customer service, take this information to make internal improvements. Negative reviews can help make your business stronger.

They allow you to build relationships.
As the business, most review sites will allow you to comment back on the reviews that are posted. If you notice a great review, take the time to thank the customer who took the time to write it. They will be impressed that you noticed AND took the time to thank them, which will help increase their brand loyalty to your business.

On the other hand, if you notice negative comments, respond to those too by apologizing to the customer for their unsatisfactory experience with your business and offer to make it right. Some customers turn to online review sites as a way to vent, but once you make contact and offer to fix it, their complaints are suddenly not as awful as they initially made it seem. You may be able to alleviate their issue and get them to revisit your business.

They can help your online presence.
Reviews about your business can help improve your search engine results. Search engines use spiders to crawl websites and look for keywords, and your business name is a keyword. If your business name is mentioned multiple times on these sites, it can help improve your overall ranking.

Don’t let the possibility of a negative review scare your business from reaping the benefits of online review sites. Remember that customers can leave reviews about your business whether or not you sign yourself up, so it’s better to use them to your advantage than to have them working for you without your knowledge.


Lauren Williams writes articles for review trackers.  She often writes about the benefits of online reviews and review sites.