This post was written by Jayne Kendall, Product Marketing Manager for www.ourhomeonline.wales – powered by Nominet who also run www.theukdomain.uk

Many customers now read online reviews of products and services before purchasing, so it stands to good reason that businesses with good reviews are more likely to stand out from the crowd. It is even thought that Google now uses online reviews to help determine how far up in search results websites should appear, so the benefits of having reviews for your business extend beyond the obvious. Here are some tips on how you can encourage customers to leave reviews.

Show you’re open for reviews

Online reviews of your business can be left both on your website, perhaps via a review tool such as Feefo, or on external sites such as TripAdvisor and Yelp. Either way, if your customers don’t know they can leave you a review, the chances are they might not think to do so. Start by including a reviews section on each of your product pages in a prominent position; not only will it inform potential customers what others think of your product, but it lets them know you’re open to receive a review should they purchase.

Make the most of your happy customers

Are you making the most of the great feedback your business is already receiving by email or phone? The next time you hear from a happy customer, thank them and at the same time ask them if they’d mind sharing their thoughts and experience via an online review. You can be confident that it’s going to be a good one, so it’s a no-brainer!

Ask your social following

As the saying goes, “if you don’t ask you don’t get” so if your business is active on social media then it’s a great place to nicely ask your customers for a review occasionally. You can also share the link to your webpage where they can write and share their review – otherwise they may just leave a Facebook comment or mention you in a tweet, which won’t help your website rankings.

Follow up with an email

Each time a customer orders from you online, you’ll have their email address, so why not make the most of it? You can send a friendly follow-up email two or three weeks after they’ve purchased from you, asking them if they’re enjoying your product and encouraging them to leave a review with their feedback.

Ask with every purchase

Even if your business doesn’t sell online you can still encourage your customers to leave you online reviews for their offline purchases. Why not hand your customers a card every time they shop with you or visit your restaurant, that asks them to leave their feedback? Make sure you include a brief explanation of how they can leave a review along with the website address.

Offer an incentive

If you’re not getting as many reviews as you’d like, you could try to offer customers an incentive to complete a review for your business, such as an online discount, competition entry or access to exclusive content. If you start to receive lots of reviews this might not be the most practical strategy, but it can certainly help get the ball rolling. Just be aware that there’s a fine line between encouraging a review and bribery, so try to avoid any suggestion that only positive reviews qualify for the incentive.

Make it easy

Try and keep the review process as simple as possible, if it is difficult and takes too much time, it’s possible only the unhappiest of customers will make the effort to leave their feedback. A good way is to keep the number of questions down and stick to the most important ones to avoid a complicated procedure. Some companies simply ask ‘yes and no’ questions so customers can leave a review in a series of clicks, for example a question like “Were you satisfied with this product?”. Often there is also an option for them to leave comments if they wish, usually through a comments box that opens just before they are about the submit the review.

Once you’ve started getting some reviews, you might find that they grow pretty organically as your customers see others leaving reviews and feel more inclined to offer their thoughts. And, if the thought of a bad review is putting you off, don’t worry! Customers won’t expect you to have 100% great reviews, after all some things are a matter of personal preference, and if you respond the right way you could even turn a negative review into a positive experience.