In our previous online review blog post we discussed the importance of online reviews for your business. Today we are going to run through some of the most popular online review platforms that are used in Australia to give you a comprehensive guide on which services you need to keep an eye on to ensure your business is represented fairly online.

General review platforms

The following platforms are general review platforms and are applicable to any industry:

Yelp

Yelp is a free review site that lets customers rate local businesses on a five-star scale, setting up a business profile on Yelp is a free and easy way to monitor and respond to reviews. Customers can also make an account on Yelp for free which will allow them to rate any of the businesses listed on the site.

Yelp allows you to list your general business information such as: store hours, location and contact details so that potential customers can easily find you.

Website: www.yelp.com

Google Business Reviews

Think back to the last time you searched for a business name on Google, if they were set up correctly they would have had a business listing appear next to their search result. This business listing is a service provided by Google that allows you to register important information such as: trading hours, location, contact details, photos and services so that when someone searches for your business name they can easily find what they need.

In addition to the business information Google has also enabled review functionality, this means anyone with a Google account can rate your business out of 5 and leave a comment. If you have a verified Google+ Page and Business Listing you are able to reply to reviews and comments.

Website: www.google.com/business/

Facebook Reviews

If you run a local business (and have set up your Facebook page as a local business) your Facebook Business Page will automatically have a section for customers to leave reviews. A Facebook page is a fantastic way for you to interact with customers either by responding to reviews, wall posts, comments or messages that come through. It is always best to have a Facebook strategy so that your page does not look out of date (and potential customers may think you are closed), if you are unsure about what to do on Facebook get in touch with us today and we can run through a free planning session.

The order that reviews appear on your business page will depend on a number of factors (and will differ for each user) however it is generally a combination of the date that the review was published, the rating of the review and how much engagement the review received (likes & comments).

For more information on Facebook reviews click here

Hospitality industry platforms

Zomato (formally Urban Spoon)

Formally Urban Spoon, Zomato is an online review platform for restaurants, bars and other eateries. Zomato offers an in-depth review platform that users can easily search through. Zomato also allows users to search for restaurants in a nearby area and then allows them to be sorted by their popularity score.

A completely filled out Zomato profile is a MUST! make sure you add all relevant information including store hours, cuisine type, location, contact information, photos and menus. This will allow users to make use of the advanced search functionality and find your business using specific factors such as price, location, cuisine and rating.

Website: www.zomato.com

TripAdvisor

If you are in the travel, hotel, airline, entertainment or restaurant industry you will want to check out the largest travel site in the world, TripAdvisor. With over 225 million reviews, photos and comments taken by travellers, TripAdvisor is one of the first places many consumers will look when researching a business.

Reviews directly impact how high your listing will appear on the website, you must ensure that your business receives a constant stream of high quality reviews in order to crawl up the rankings. TripAdvisor describes the ranking process as being all about “quantity, quality and recency” over time your older reviews will have less of an impact on your rating, this is why you need to ensure you are pushing customers to leave reviews at every possible chance.

Website: www.tripadvisor.com

Medical industry platforms

RateMDs

RateMDs is an international review platform that includes over one million doctor and health practitioner profiles with over two million posted reviews. As a physician you are able to claim your profile by submitting your drivers license or a bill/statement, this is done to ensure that only verified physicians are able to manage and respond to reviews posted on their profile.

Physicians can be rated on their staff, punctuality, helpfulness and knowledge. There is also a section for personal comments about the patients experience and the ability to post the entire review anonymously. When a potential patient is searching for a physician by area they will be provided with a list of the top 200 physicians in that area, to move up this list you need to get more reviews with higher rankings.

Website: www.ratemds.com

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