Six Ways To Monitor Online Reviews Effectively

Online reviews have become increasingly prominent within the world of business. They dictate whether new customers will give you a try, if past customers are willing to stay with you and everything in between. 80% of consumers say they absolutely trust a businesses with a 4 star rating or higher and would give them their business.

Reviews even account for 15% of why you rank the way you do within search results. Navigating through online reviews, platforms, and dashboards can be tricky. We’ve compiled six great tips on how to monitor online reviewseffectively.

First and foremost, get alerts. The best way to stay on top of your online reputation is a notification system on your phone, computer, or both. Email and text message is a great way to keep informed when positive and negative reviews are posted and allow you to respond in real-time showing that you are a present and proactive figure within your business. 

If you don’t have a reputation manager, you will not be able to keep up with your online presence. Having an analytics dashboard, where all information is kept in one place, is key to success. This information includes reviews written on various platforms, who wrote the review, overall star rating, where you stand against competitors, outreach activity, sentiment analysis and word clouds. A whole lot! Imagine if you didn’t have this automated reporting. You would miss out on crucial information about your business and service. Now you can stay in touch with what is going on and continuously grow your brand.

Google, Facebook, Yelp. These are the platforms that have dramatically risen over the past decade and where nearly every consumer looks for reviews. Google and Facebook rank No. 1 and No. 2 respectively as the top review engines and continue to increase in popularity. Don’t waste time on platforms that are outdated and irrelevant.

Negative reviews are inevitable but the best way to monitor your online reviews is to have a bad feedback manager in place. Customers who leave undesirable comments, simply want to be heard. With a feedback manager in place, clients can communicate problems to you directly rather than publicizing it online. This way, you can resolve the issue and amend the situation while also maintaining a positive online presence.

The best way to monitor online reviews? Be a part of the conversation. Show clients that you care what they say and care about your service/product. People are talking about YOU, make sure that YOU are not left out. Get involved and respond to all reviews, especially those that are current. Nearly half of consumers say that a review must be written within one month to be considered relevant. Keep the conversation lively, and updated.

You need reviews to monitor and the best way to achieve these reviews is by asking. Your customers want to leave positive feedback, but it can be difficult to remember so send an email or text message inviting them to share their experience! It is easy and leaves a lasting impact on past and future clients.

These six tools will provide you the comfort and ease to effectively monitor online reviews and vastly expand your online presence. Not only will you be a part of the conversation, you can control, monitor, and receive reports on the conversation. Do not get left behind in the world of reviews, your business deserves the best!