Getting positive reviews for your business is very important these days. When I personally, am doing a search online, I make a point of reading business reviews (if reviews are available). Seeing numerous positive reviews makes it easier for me to contact that company with confidence.
Statistics show that most people will trust an online review as much as a personal recommendation, and that most people will read up to 10 reviews.
The trick is to be proactive about getting reviews. You should be asking your customers on a regular basis to post a review. Depending your type of business, there are different review sites that make more sense then others. Overall, I suggest that one of the most common general review sites is Google Places for Business (google.ca/business/placesforbusiness). If you haven't already taken ownership of your Google Places (Google Plus) page, it's very easy. On the bottom left hand corner of the page you will see a section that says the following:
When you click on "Manage this page", you will be asked to prove that you are the owner by providering you a PIN number over the phone or sending it to you in the mail. Once you receive that PIN number, you can sign back in to Google Places (Google Plus) and enter it. You will then have the ability to update and complete the profile. It is best to try to submit as much information as possible so Google can mark the profile 100% complete.
Once you are are set up, start sending your customers the link to that page and asking for them to provide a review for you. If you do a good job, people will say nice things.
Try making it part of your routine. In my calendar, on the first day of each month, I have reminded myself to ask two customers that we have recently worked with, to post a review of REM Web Solutions. That way, over the period of 1 year, we will have a least 24 reviews. This is a simple method to help keep fresh reviews of your business showing up every month.
