A comprehensive manual on collecting and utilizing customer reviews and testimonials.

Discover the significance of customer feedback and endorsements, and gain insights on ways to create additional favorable reviews that demonstrate the worth of your business to potential customers.

When considering buying a new item, which source would you find more reliable: a sales presentation or a customer testimonial? I would personally choose the latter - and I'm not the only one. It's a fact that 81% of consumers rely on reviews from Google to assess local firms.

Can you define a customer review?

An intriguing phenomenon of modern-day consumption lies in the customer review. This alluring insight into a consumer's experience with the products or services offered by your company can be readily accessed on a multitude of platforms, including but not limited to, Google Reviews, Amazon, Revain, Yelp, and Facebook.

Curious potential customers tend to place great emphasis on these invaluable testimonials when making purchase decisions, seeking to discover the true efficacy and value of your products.

However, it is crucial to bear in mind that anyone can partake in the spreading of these reviews, leading to the possibility of false assertions about your business being disseminated, alongside the potential for both positive and negative feedback.

Yet, as these reviews arise from bona fide users of your offerings and are disseminated through third-party platforms, customers consider them to be a reliable source of information. Indeed, a startling 49% of customers hold online reviews in as high esteem as personal recommendations, highlighting the significant influence they hold in the realm of modern-day commerce.

Review platforms

With the advent of the internet, customers now have an array of options to provide their reviews about businesses. There is no shortage of customer review sites to choose from, including all-encompassing platforms like Google Reviews, Facebook, Revain and Yelp, as well as industry-specific ones like TripAdvisor, Zomato, and G2 Crowd.

Google Reviews, which integrates seamlessly with Google My Business, has emerged as a popular choice for patrons to leave their feedback about businesses. Yelp, on the other hand, has been around for over 15 years and offers a more comprehensive platform for users to write reviews, rate businesses, and even connect with other users.

Regardless of the platform, businesses must take customer feedback seriously and understand the impact their reviews have on their reputation. By responding to negative feedback and leveraging positive reviews, businesses can build their brand reputation and foster customer loyalty.

Google My Business 

What are the steps to create a Google My Business Profile?

As we know, in order to receive Google reviews, businesses must complete a Google My Business profile. This process is not only simple, but also highly effective in facilitating customer feedback.

Once a business profile has been established, the next crucial step is the creation of a review link. This link allows customers to easily rate a business on a five-star scale and provide valuable insight into their experiences.

To optimize the review process, it is important to provide customers with multiple avenues for accessing the review link. These include a direct link that can be found through a Google search, as well as a link via the Place ID Lookup tool. With these options, customers can seamlessly write reviews by locating the business on Google Maps or searching for the business's location directly.

In conclusion, by establishing a Google My Business profile and providing customers with accessible and user-friendly review links, businesses can cultivate a positive online reputation and increase customer engagement. Thank you for your attention.

How to Write a Review?

Providing feedback and sharing your experience is an important aspect of our digital world. And when it comes to writing reviews on Google, it's not only easy, but it's also anonymous-free. Follow these simple steps to leave your thoughts:

Begin by opening up the Google search engine and typing in the name of the business you want to review.

Next, click on the shiny "Write a review" button that pops up.

It's important to mention that Google requires your first and last name to be included in the review. No anonymous reviews here!

If you already have a Google account, your review will be linked to your "About Me" page.

Compose your review and rating, then hit the submit button.

One thing to keep in mind is that your name will be visible to anyone who reads your review, as well as any other reviews or photos you've added to Google Maps.

But why does Google require your name, you may ask?

Providing your personal information adds credibility and legitimacy to your review.

It prevents phony statements and fake feedback from being posted.

By attaching your name to the review, it gives you more credibility and adds to its authenticity.

Lastly, by seeing your name, the business owner may choose to follow up with you about your review.

So next time you leave a review on Google, make sure to include your name to ensure your feedback is taken seriously.

How to Answer in Google Reviews

Do you find yourself grappling with concerns about the authenticity of reviews attributed to your business online? Alternatively, do you wish to learn more about the most effective strategies for managing feedback from your customers, whether it be constructive or critical?

Fret not, for Google provides useful resources to aid your business in overcoming these obstacles. The process of responding to customer reviews is relatively straightforward. Firstly, access your business account and identify the corresponding review you intend to address, then select the reply option to proceed.

It is important to acknowledge that negative reviews cannot be entirely eradicated, due to Google's User Contributed Content policy, which remains in effect. However, if a review contravenes any provisions listed, including occurrences of hateful speech, fake comments, spamming, illegal material, or instances of conflicts of interests, among other issues, Google has the prerogative to remove such content when flagged and reviewed accordingly.

In summary, cultivating a conducive environment for your business ultimately hinges on being proactive and responsive to all forms of customer feedback, whilst also taking advantage of modern solutions available to you.

Yelp Reviews

Another widely used consumer review platform is Yelp, which enables the evaluation of diverse businesses and services. Utilizing a 5-star rating system, consumers can furnish their reviews reflecting their experiences akin to those on Google My Business Reviews.

An exclusive attribute of Yelp Reviews is the provision of guidance to companies on optimizing and reacting to favorable or unfavorable reviews. The reaction strategy to reviews and ratings, as it has a potential to impact significantly on business fortunes, is thus a critical consideration. In this regard, the training provided by Yelp serves as a valuable add-on.

To become a Yelp reviewer, it is necessary to create a complimentary account. After the account is created, simply type in the name of the business being reviewed in the search bar and proceed with writing the review. It is important to note that anonymous reviews are not permitted on this platform.

In the event that a negative experience with a business or product is resolved with top-notch customer service, Yelp allows for reviewers to update their original review and inform the community of how the issue was addressed. Simply locate the prior review and select the "Update" option.

Responding to Yelp reviews is a straightforward process and can be done by selecting the "Write Response" option on the original comment. It is important to keep in mind that not all reviews will be positive. How a business responds to criticism conveys their values and character. It is crucial to remain positive towards all reviewers, even if frustrated, and consider asking for more detailed feedback if desired.

As with all review sites, Yelp is susceptible to fake reviews. However, Yelp employs an automated review filter integrated into their Recommendation Software to combat this issue. Additionally, Yelp conducts thorough investigations into all tips and reports submitted by other reviewers and visitors to the site to maintain a platform with only legitimate information.

A Compendium of Strategies for Securing Customer Reviews

The establishment of a positive reputation for any business is indispensable for augmenting the credibility of the enterprise and invigorating new customer acquisition. Therein lies the significance of procuring feedback from existing patrons regarding their experience with the outfit. However, convincing customers to pen a testimonial can prove to be a daunting task. In this article, we shall proffer some impartial and refined techniques for inducing customers to provide reviews:

1. Naturally Introduce the Topic
2. Seamlessly incorporate the topic of reviews into conversations with customers. Emphasize how crucial reviews are to your business and inquire if they would be prepared to share their opinions regarding your service.
3. Encourage Authenticity
4. Avoid cajoling friends or family to furnish a review for your business as the action denotes a conflict of interest. Rather, procure testimonials from reputable sources. Urge your customers to present candid feedback.
5. Solicit Reviews After Positive Feedback
6. When a customer confers positive feedback, request that they share their thoughts in a review. This could be done in-person, by phone, or via email. To streamline the process, furnish a link to your business review page.
7. Dispatch an Email
8. In cases where your business has an email registry of customers, send an email requesting honest feedback. Outline precise and clear guidelines for the completion of reviews. Optionally, consider incentivizing reviewers with a modest offering or a discount as a token of appreciation.
9. Request Reviews After a Sale
10. Feedback can be solicited after a customer has made a purchase. E-commerce sites can include a prompt at the receipt's bottom, while physical stores can request a review after the sale. Putting these straightforward methods into practice affords the opportunity to urge customers to script reviews and cultivate a robust online reputation for your business.

Revain

1. Authors on Revain 

Everyday Revain discovers talents! How does this happen?

A large number of new users register on the platform on a daily basis! They gain mastery with each new review, and eventually we begin to regard each of their reviews as a real work of authorship. So how do you become an author on Revain? Let's turn to the platform guide and find out all the details.

Become a part of the community!

To do this, register and get access to the author's personal account, where you can fill in your profile with information, as well as pass verification for subsequent receipt of rewards for various actions on the Revain platform. There are several options for awarding authors with REV tokens, however, in any of them, the review must meet certain conditions. You can get acquainted with details on the platform's website: https://revain.org/faq. You can also get rewards from companies or for participating in contests.

How do you understand that you are a popular author

and many people read your reviews?
Each author has his own card - thatʼs a “Profile”. The author's name is indicated in the profile, there is his photo, as well as information about the number of reviews and his karma. Karma is the net sum of likes and dislikes that authors receive.
The more reviews you have and the higher your karma, the faster you will move to a new level, which means you will get more benefits and rewards.

That's it! Now you can share your opinion about products and companies, give and receive likes, read other reviews and write comments, as well as receive real rewards for your reviews! Develop your talent together with Revain and earn extra money on it ;) 

2. Author registration on Revain.org 

If you carefully study Revain, you'll find the registration process on the platform is very simple and takes only a few minutes!

Let's start from the beginning to understand everything in detail. First of all, it is worth noting that both the author and the company can register, so be careful when choosing the type of account. If you have a profile on Facebook, Google or LinkedIn, then you can use them to register on Revain, just click on the corresponding buttons below.

If you want to register using an e-mail, then be extremely careful when entering it. All official Revain messages will be sent to this address. It is also used as an author's username.

After that, come up with a strong password and read carefully the platform's review policy. It remains only to enter reCAPTCHA and verify your email address.

Great job, now you have access to the author's personal account! Write reviews, rate opinions, find new products and companies! 

3. How to Post a Review 

Are reviews on Revain not like everywhere else?

Authors can start writing reviews immediately after registration. To do this, you need to find the product or company you are interested in (you can do this by rating, name or other criteria), go to its page and click the “Write a review” button. In the form that opens, you will find all the necessary fields and tips for filling them out. However, let us facilitate this process and tell you about the main points.

The first fields worth paying attention to are Title and Review.
Red asterisks show us that these fields are mandatory, and it will not be possible to avoid filling them in! Come up with a name from 10 to 300 characters long that will reflect the main idea of your review.

Then give the company or product a rating. The number of stars you choose will turn from gray to purple. Don't worry, you can change the rating at any time before sending a review. Write the text of the review, based on your personal experience of using this product or company, This part should be as detailed as possible! Although there is no upper limit for the number of words, the length of the review must be at least 100 characters. However, do not rush to write a short review! After all, the better and more useful the review you have written, the more experience you will get for publishing it, and it will attract more readers there in the future.

How to get an additional experience?

Pay attention to the information to the right of the “Review” field - as soon as your review crosses the threshold of 500 characters, the experience gained for its publication will increase by 3XP! 2000 characters - 6XP. And if you add 3 more images, you will be able to receive REV for viewing it by other authors and readers of the platform. Cool, isn't it?
The number of characters in the review can be controlled using the counter under the “Review” field or follow the scale on the right. As soon as you see a green check mark next to one of the items, it means it is completed, and you can count on receiving a bonus.

Using the tools at the bottom of the “Review” field, you can arrange text, add links, videos or photos. To do this, click on the corresponding icon.

Let's click on the camera icon and add a photo to our review! Please note that the photo must correspond to the object of the review and be at least 590x590px.

Write the title and click “Save and continue". The added photo can be moved through the text, to do this, hold the image with the left mouse button and drag it to the desired location.
As soon as the review text is completed and all the photos are uploaded, it's time to highlight the pros and cons of the review object. You can enter all the positive and negative things you feel and have experienced about the company. Each pro must be listed separately, the same rule applies for cons.Click “OK” to open a new line to add a positive or negative experience.

Choose the review cover. This picture will represent your review on the Main Page and is supposed to explain your points and attract the attention of the readers. So make sure it is relevant and looks good! You can add up to 20 images to your review. Each image has to be under 2.0Mb. Use images which are from 590 pixels height and width.
If there is only one photo in the review, it will be selected for the cover automatically.

Almost done! Don't forget to check the box and confirm that the review is based on your personal experience, and then confidently click on the “Check my review" button.

If the review passes all the stages of moderation, it will be recorded in the blockchain and published on the Revain website, as well as displayed in the author's profile.

Congratulations! Your first review is published!