Reputation
The Differences Between The Top Review Sites
Customers have countless options for products or services, and it’s the job of The Reputation Management Company to ensure businesses can stand out from the crowd. One crucial way one option may appeal more to customers is with top reviews.
These reviews, commonly in the form of a five-star rating system accompanied by additional commentary, are instrumental in giving businesses feedback on their products and assisting consumers in their decision making. And when a company has unfair, dishonest posts about their services, removal may be necessary.
Learn more about the various review sites and how The Reputation Management Company can ensure you make a good impression on any of them.
Importance of Customer Reviews
Positive and negative reviews are extremely valuable, as businesses can see which products would have far greater advertising potential through testimonials and five-star rating figures. They also see which offerings need some in-house work. Criticism can also be followed up and turned into a satisfactory customer experience through personalized responses and attentive problem-solving.
For reviews that seem uncharacteristically poor, companies can choose to count on the services of brand reputation management businesses like The Reputation Management Company. The team can take care of the removal of such unconstructive feedback and look after what people say about your business. But the removal process for various sites differs, which is why it helps to have a professional.
There are hundreds of different review sites your business could choose to track under close scrutiny. While you don’t want to limit yourself to one or two sites, peruse this list and determine which ones align with your company’s services and target audience.
Review Sites for Business to Business (B2B) Companies
B2B companies are in the work of assisting other established businesses in their sales, creating unique products, software, or services for their disposal. Since this inherently involves a different target audience in comparison to B2C companies, these review sites tend to be a little more under the radar but are highly reputable and credible sources in the industry.
1. FinancesOnline
Visited by almost three million visitors per month and the home of over ten-thousand detailed company reviews, FinancesOnline is one of the fastest-growing B2B review platforms.
Gathering thousands of user reviews on a monthly basis, these are composed of individuals sharing their experiences with the service via detailed surveys, along with a detailed analysis known as SmartScore, crafted by B2B software experts, which examines its functionality integrations, customizations, among other features.
FinancesOnline also employs a customer satisfaction algorithm that aggregates feedback, comments, and reviews on popular social media algorithms and quantifies a score on these parameters.
Nonetheless, your business showing up on the website isn’t a sure thing; in such cases, you’ll need to apply for a listing and wait to hear back from their team of specialists.
2. G2Crowd
Suppose your company is selling software to other companies. In that case, G2 Crowd should be at the top of your priorities when maintaining your brand’s reputation and keeping track of customer satisfaction regarding your products.
With more than 5 million monthly users, there are over 1 million reviews ready to be read by eager customers who seek a game-changing piece of software that could potentially transform their businesses’ day-to-day operations.
Think of G2 Crowd as a Reddit forum for rating software, where users can leave five-star scaled reviews, upvote or downvote feedback from other customers, and look at the profiles of these reviewers to see their activity on the platform. They even offer to leave recorded reviews for those who may find it easier to explain the product’s pros and cons through spoken feedback.
Unlike FinancesOnline, the platform lets you claim and add your products fairly easily at the push of a couple of buttons.
3. TrustRadius
In the same vein, TrustRadius is also a hub for software-selling businesses and offers various similar features in comparison to its – albeit larger – G2 Crowd counterpart.
Traversed by over 300,000 monthly users, similarly to many other websites on this list, the platform’s users are authenticated via LinkedIn, ensuring that only qualified industry experts review products. Their reviews are also checked and revised by TrustRadius’ research team to be evaluated for detail, quality, and depth, with their reviews commonly passing the 400-word threshold.
Unlike others on this list, the platform does not sell ad placements. This means that companies can’t show up on the top end of search results and keeps reviews fully impartial. If unfair posts keep your business low, you may be due for removal services. They’ve also put together a strong host of buyer’s guides crafted by TrustRadius staff for all categories and industries to ensure buyers find the software that best fits their business’ needs.
Review Sites for Business to Customer (B2C) Companies
B2C companies, the most popular and widely recognized sales model, sell their products and goods directly to consumers who pose as the end-users of these products.
Compared to B2B companies, these review platforms receive high amounts of internet traffic and serve as your best bets for brand recognition and the maximization of customer feedback. You’d see these in storefronts showing off award wins handed out from these same review sites. It’s also where removal services may be most needed.
1. Amazon Customer Reviews
This is arguably the most trustworthy source for consumers purchasing from online commerce businesses. Since its inception in 1994, Amazon was one of the first platforms to allow customers to post reviews of products. As consumers, it’s feasible to say that they have trained us to incorporate leaving product reviews into our online consumer etiquette.
Even if we opt to buy products somewhere else, our most likely first point of reference will probably be Amazon. Nonetheless, it’s such an attractive option for businesses because of their gold-standard retention rate – something further exacerbated thanks to the pandemic-riddled last two years. Nonetheless, with over 300 million active users perusing their catalogs daily, it’s no secret that having your products for sale on Amazon can be a lucrative venture.
2. Yelp
Another one of the most popular online review sites, Yelp users can review their favorite businesses on a five-star scale, boasting over 180 million active users worldwide.
Whether you’re a business or consumer, anyone can set up their profile free of charge, and its tight-knit community of reviewers means you’re bound to get honest reviews from consistent users.
Despite this, it’s worth mentioning that the company has been embroiled in controversy in the past after it was discovered that Yelp would bully business owners into paying for advertising spaces by burying positive reviews of their business if they weren’t willing to pay up.
The platform also allows for businesses to include information concerning their location and store hours. Thus the Yelp profile is likely to appear at the top of search results.
3. TripAdvisor
Those who are in the hotel, restaurant, and entertainment industries would be remiss not to set up a business profile on Trip Advisor, especially if you’re located in an area that often receives tourist traffic.
This is the world’s largest travel website and has over 225 million reviews. It’s probably the first place travelers peruse before booking trips and deciding which spots they want to hit during their stay.
Per the platform, the success of a business profile hinges on its ability to encourage guests to write quality reviews consistently and to engage with those who didn’t have the best of experiences with the service’s or product’s maintenance and subsequent improvement.
TripAdvisor also offers different membership plans. The Business Advantage plan allows businesses to showcase their best reviews and have them be the first thing customers see when accessing their profiles.
Review Sites for B2B & B2C Companies
While there doesn’t exist too much overlap between review sites that are optimal for both B2B and B2C businesses (or any form of hybrid business), there is one government-sponsored website, in particular, that might be worth paying attention to.
Better Business Bureau
Having over 5 million companies listed on its platform, the Better Business Bureau is a government-sponsored organization that evaluates businesses based on a predetermined set of best practices on how businesses should treat their consumers. The platform doesn’t provide readers with positive or negative reviews; it just provides an overview of general information concerning the company and displays whether it’s a BBB accredited business — an accreditation that can do wonders for your enterprise’s credibility.
Your average profile on BBB will also display ratings from A+ to F based on the business’ size, as well as reviews from customers and information on whether complaints were resolved or not.
Prioritizing Customer Review Websites
There’s no right or wrong answer for picking the right review website for your company; what matters most is that you keep track of those that most align with your target audience under close scrutiny. If you see dishonest posts, it’s time to contact The Reputation Management Company. The team can handle all your review removal needs.
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