If you are a business, your business name is likely somewhere out there on the internet. This is a good thing, since most people turn to the internet to do their research before buying a product or service. You may not be aware that there are places on the internet that encourage people to review your business and its products and/or services. Here are some of the places you may want to check out to be sure your business information is listed correctly, and also to see what people are saying about you!
Google Reviews:
Your business is probably listed with Google, even though you didn’t put it there yourself. The majority of businesses are there! You can go in and claim your listing within “Google Places”. It’s free to claim your listing, and you can add your hours of operation, company images, and even coupons, all at no charge to you. A very compelling reason for you to go in and claim and enhance your listing is that is the information people will see when your Google Places account shows up in the search results. One other thing you will see on your Google Places account are the reviews and star ratings that people have left for your business. While you cannot control which reviews are shown, you can go to your Google Places account and respond to the reviews as the owner, or you can flag a review as inappropriate if necessary. Feel free to visit Red Wing Software’s Google Places page and leave your own review by clicking here.
Yelp.com:
Yelp is a Web site dedicated to providing real customer reviews for virtually any business. Customers can go in and leave a star rating as well as feedback for you and your products or services. Again, you have no control over what is being shown, but you can go in and leave a reply as the business owner. Yelp also offers FREE tools for business owners to promote their business: the ability to set up special deals for users and also the ability to join the conversation on their site.
Don’t be afraid of customer reviews! Embrace the technology that is available, since people will be leaving reviews for your business either way. Enhance your customers’ experience and join the conversation, and your reputation and service will be all the better for it.