Online Review Sites

A customer is faced with the decision between two hotels for her dream vacation.  They are equal in price and since she’s never visited the location, she’s not sure which to choose.  After visiting a few online review sites, she learns Hotel A is known for comfy beds, excellent customer service and a knowledgeable concierge.  Hotel B is a little out of the way and there seems to be a trend of customer dissatisfaction with the staff.  Which hotel do you think she’ll choose?

Online review sites empower the customer to make informed decisions based on the real experiences of others – 97% who made a purchase based on an online review found the review to be accurate.  They also give customers a forum to share particularly good services, as well particularly bad ones – 46% feel they can be brutally honest on the Internet.  In a society where information is just a click away, a business listed on review sites is 20% more likely to receive business than one that’s not.  Reviews drive sales and positive ones can be almost as important as price when it comes to your business.  But don’t shy away from the negative.  Negative feedback gives business owners the opportunity to respond and make improvements, and customers who find some measure of negative feedback on a review site are more likely to take the feedback as “real” overall.

Yelp. Real People. Real Reviews.

Frequented customer feedback sites include Yelp, Citysearch, Trip Advisor, Yahoo! Local and Google Places.  Setting up your business on these sites, integrating reviews into your website, and making sure your customers are aware you are active on review sites is a great way to grow your business.  Mission Web Marketing can help you set up the right accounts for your company.  Contact us today!  www.missionwebmarketing.com

(Statistics courtesy of searchenginepeople.com and picture courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net)