Online reviews can either make or break a business. If used the right way employing review management software, it can prove to be an effective tool. However, if ignored, it can cause significant damage to your business as well. Therefore, you must know how to control your online reviews so that your business grows as a result.

Track Reviews

When it comes to controlling online reviews, the first thing you need to do is track online reviews. Luckily, there are a lot of free and paid services that will do it for you. Tracking reviews means monitoring and determining when and where the reviews appear. These services send you a notification each time you are reviewed. This helps you respond to the online reviews within seconds. Otherwise, it is not possible to determine exactly where the reviews are taking place because it simply takes too much time and effort.

Create Or Claim Your Business Page

There are many sites out there that utilize publicly available data to generate a business page. Some sites only do this when you are reviewed, while others automatically create such pages to provide complete search listings.

Once the page has been created, you get to control whatever it contains. If you already do not have a page, you can create one for yourself. If you wish to claim a page, you need to visit the concerned website and look for a link or tab that says “Unlock your page” or “For Business”.

Decide Who Handles Reviews

Next, you need to decide who handles the reviews. This is an important factor that is directly related to the quality of the response. Most sites usually provide only one management response per review. With that being said, corporate companies often hire individuals who just handle online reviews. This means that you need to have professionals at your disposal and not juniors.

The reason is that professionals know how to write in a friendly manner with a strong customer service attitude. They will go out of their way to solve the problems without having to frustrate or argue with the customer.

Respond To Positive Reviews

Most companies and marketers tend to ignore positive reviews. This means that they voluntarily choose not to respond to such comments since the company is already being appreciated. If that is the case, you should drop the practice immediately. You need to respond to positive comments so that the customers know their feedback is being appreciated.

Some companies often send private messages acknowledging the time and effort put in by the reviewer to review their services and products. Plus, you should also decide whether every positive feedback needs a response. In addition to that, most experts say that the companies or marketers should not offer tangible rewards, which may be considered bribes, for future positive comments. Simply introduce yourself and say thank you.

Finally, if you believe that you are offering additional products or services that might help the customer, you can introduce them. However, in this case, as well, you should decide on a case-by-case basis. Not every customer would like to hear about other offerings by your company.

Follow The Rules

Every reviewing site plays by a set of rules. This means that if you are responding to negative comments, you should not resort to personal attacks or use any words restricted by the site. There is no point in blasting out in the comments section simply because your response will be removed. Therefore, if you are responding on a particular reviewing site, you should become aware of the rules first.

Furthermore, never post fake reviews. It is quite easy to determine fake reviews in the reviewing section. Not only is it unethical but also a breach of rules. In some countries, posting fake reviews might also be illegal. Sooner or later, potential customers will be able to identify fake reviews that can ruin your business’s reputation.

Final Word

Tracking and monitoring online reviews is fairly easy and simple. You need to conform to the rules and hand over the responsibility to someone who knows his/her way around negative comments and personal attacks etc. Once you learn the art of managing online reviews and use review management tools, your business is destined to be a success.

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