Whether you are in healthcare, engineering, science, or energy, there are top review sites to be on. So before we go dive deep into that, customer reviews are a way to get feedback. It is based on a customer's experience with the organization. Now these reviews could be public or private and they can be collected by the company or posted on third party review sites.
By obtaining and analyzing these reviews, you can measure your customer or your employee satisfaction and figure out ways to course correct, or if things are going well, congratulate yourself. I also want to add that customer reviews are part of what I call the shadow funnel, where consumers and other businesses do research about your company before deciding to buy. So remember there's the awareness, consideration and decision funnel. Today, that funnel online looks like first prospective clients would go to online reviews, then they would go to your company blog. Then, if they're that interested in your company, then they'll start looking at your services and your “Contact Us Now” page or your chat feature.
1. Google My Business
When someone's Googling your business for your products and services, it's likely that a Google My Business page will show up. And so you want to have Google My Business page, not a knowledge panel like a lot of companies have today. So the Google My Business page has reviews, links to your social media handles, photos and posts. There’s a lot of different features included in Google by business.
Sometimes we've seen that with our clients, you actually get more hits to your Google My Business page than your actual website. So it's really useful to have a Google My Business page. Then they can see whether they want to go to your website for more info.
2. Facebook Ratings and Reviews
In June 2019, there's 1.59 billion daily active users on Facebook. It's recommended that you have reviews on Facebook too because your users and customers are likely on Facebook.
The review pane appears on the left hand size of your Facebook business page and you can't hide it or remove it like other parts of your page. Now with the your Facebook business page, you can leave reviews and have them be public or just private to you, so it is a way to leave reviews for businesses.
3. LinkedIn Recommendations
The third way is LinkedIn recommendations. A recommendation is a statement written by a LinkedIn member to recommend, recognize or commend a connection. People who view your profile will often read your recommendations as well about your work.
You can actually write the great recommendation for a colleague pretty fast. You can start with an outstanding line on what they're doing. Then describe your relationship with who you're recommending and how long you've known them. Then share a great trait on what he or she does better than anyone else. Then, end with a solid one sentence recommendation.
4. G2 Crowd
The fourth, a great review site is G2 Crowd. Now if you're in software or services, G2 Crowd is a great place to be. They have over a million visitors just to their blog. Also, G2 Crowd has close to a million reviews that are validated and verified with either a Google, LinkedIn or Facebook profile. So these reviews are coming from real people. G2 Crowd operates by niche, so companies are reviewed on a five star scale from setup to ease of use to security and support. Now people who leave reviews would answer questions such as, “What business problems are you solving with the product?” or
“What is best about the product?”
5. Clutch.co
With Clutch.co you put in your service lines for your business. Then they go through an in-depth interview with your reviewer, meaning the either call it your interview or they fill out a pretty extensive online form. They usually do a phone interview with your reviewer that lasts 10 to 15 minutes about your company and the services you've delivered.
They also have a leader's matrix where they show market leaders, proven leaders, niche leaders, and emerging leaders on a four quadrant scale. Are you a niche leader? Are you a market leader for that service line? I've talked to software services companies and they've gotten gotten clients from Clutch before.
6. Glassdoor
Glassdoor helps anyone from prospective employers to clients to investors get an insider perspective. It is primarily an employee review site, but also posts jobs as well. Employees share what it's like to interview and work at their companies. The site shows which companies are rated highest by their employers. You can build your brand by getting feedback from employees and then share those insights to your internal management team and see what they need to improve.
7. Better Business Bureau
Better Business Bureau evaluates all sorts of businesses against a set of best practices on how businesses should treat the public. You can file a complaint or leave a review for companies on the Better Business Bureau. They don't endorse specific brands or products and services. They just make sure that the public is being treated properly by businesses.
Companies have a business profile which contains a Better Business BureauA-F rating of the business, a history of complaints and accreditation status. It also contains a short company bio. They have accredited and non-accredited businesses.
8. Alignable
Alignable is a great small business social network. You can also get reviews and recommendations on Alignable as well. This is a great network if you're targeting small businesses in your sales and it's a great place to get started.
You can write recommendations for businesses but its real strength is its network, events, and connections. There are over 4 million businesses on Alignable, so start networking and getting recommendations for your business from your fellow business owners.
9. Indeed.com
Indeed.com has included company reviews in their product line. Previously they were a job board, but like Glassdoor, they have top rated workplaces. They require a resume to post your review to make sure that the review is legitimate. Also, your job title and location are included on the review.
They have a variety of best listed by year and country. This can include the best compensation and benefits, the best work life balance, and the top 50 companies.
10. Your Website
This is the one place where you have total control of your reviews is on your website. You can post your reviews and publicize reviews there. We also recommend that you put your testimonials on landing pages to your website and any service pages that you have so that people can start seeing the value of your brand and your business right away.
