As you probably know, online reviews have become more and more important these days, both to get a site to rank AND because people just like to READ them.
But most clients, even if they’re happy with you, won’t get around to giving you that review without a little nudge – so you have to ask, and you have to make it easy for them.
I just got hired to redo a site for a chiropractor in Austin, TX and get it to rank, and loved this strategy he told me about.
What Dr.Swanson did is add a reviews page to his website:
He then created a business card with that URL on it.
He and his staff hand that business card out to HAPPY CUSTOMERS – and ask them if they’d be so kind as to help them out by leaving them a nice testimonial. (This way he can control reviews somewhat – they only hand the card to people who are likely to say something nice.)
As you can see, when the customer arrives at that web page, all they have to do is click on a link – they’re taken directly to the exact page on which to leave the positive review.
I think this is a WONDERFUL idea!
If you want to use business cards, you don’t have to pay a lot – try FindBusinessCards.com, you can get them as cheap as $2.99 for a small order and they’re nice cards (no ads on the back!) Or you can request reviews via email and skip the business cards altogether.
The SECOND idea I have, to encourage reviews, is basically to offer an incentive. Just tell customers that if they put a review on Google or wherever, print out of a copy of their review and bring it in, you’ll give them a discount or a free meal or a free drink. This idea is especially suited for repeat-based businesses like restaurants.
Of course you can combine these ideas – the point is to:
- Set up a system for asking your best clients for a review;
- Offer them a reason for doing so;
- Make it easy for them.
Just wanted to pass on these two ideas, hope you find them helpful. There are companies who charge hundreds of dollars a month to help businesses generate and manage online reviews – but as you can see, it doesn’t have to cost much at all. (Yes, you or your web designer need to create that page on your site, and create accounts at whatever review sites you want – but that’s a one-time, relatively small expenditure.)
I need to put up a page like this on my own website – but in the meantime, if you feel so inclined as to leave ME a positive review (hint, hint), here a few places to do so: