Reputation matters! Period. And I don’t need to really tell you how much, right? I mean it’s been over a decade since I started my digital marketing agency and have been ever since speaking with the B2B and B2C online marketers about the important of having a strong reputation on the web. Having an online presence is one thing, but having a solid and instantly memorable online reputation for your business is another, and of utmost importance rather. So, I won’t spend time here talking to you about why online reputation management is imperative for the success of your business. No, I won’t! I would just assume that you’re already sold on the advantages of having a good bunch of loyal customers talking about how wonderful it is doing business with you.

One thing, however, I would like to clarify is that managing your online reputation isn’t just about keeping a tab on the negative reviews about you online. More importantly, it’s about asking your loyal customers to put in a good word of mouth for you on the review websites so that your business’ credibility is strengthened online. So, where do you send them to put a good review about you? Honestly speaking, there is a huge list of review websites. But, in this post, I am only going to give you the one’s that your customers really bother reading.

Disclaimer – The order of the sites doesn’t signify their comparative importance over one another. It’s just a sequential order so that it’s convenient for you to read. Also, I assume that everyone is aware of Yelp and Google My Business, so let’s just skip them to include other valuable review websites:

This, simply, is the Mecca of the online reviews for all you B2C folks out there. If you have products to sell online, you just cannot ignore Amazon. And if you’re a seller on the site, it’s given that you must use their option that allows your customers to post reviews about your store and services. It would be safe to assume that about 9 in 10 of your retail online customers come to you or find you through Amazon and hence it’s imperative that you help them make informed decisions by having reviews about your business thereon. There are hundreds of thousands of stores on Amazon just like yours. So, if you really want to distinguish yourself, do make sure you ask your customers to give you those shiny stars and humble words of feedback.

This Yahoo’s equivalent version of Google My Business! As you know the online search space if largely divided between Google and its archrival Yahoo! So, if they are not looking you up on the Big G, then most likely they are coming to your website through Yahoo! So, make sure your customers are giving you start ratings on Yahoo! as well. And I don’t really need to remind you that having positive reviews on Yahoo! can help you boost your SEO attempts on the search platform, right?

A “MUST-HAVE” review platform for the hospitality and travel websites. No matter where you are located, you’ll want to have good reviews on TripAdvisor. Just offering them cheaper rates or other complimentary services won’t cut it anymore. They make sure to check your reviews before making a reservation with you. The more positive and well-managed reviews you have on the site, the higher is your relative popularity index. TripAdvisor will look at your website favorably while ranking it and search for three things: number of reviews, quality of reviews and frequency of reviews. Encourage your guests to leave a good line of positive words about your business based on their experience with you. And if there are negative reviews, then make sure that you get back to those guests and try and offer a resolution to their complaints or conflicts.

Alright, so this one’s a high-end review website. Why? Because it’s a paid membership platform! This means that you get more than a normal online review website. The ratings are given in the scale of A to F. The reviews cannot be anonymous, so it increases the trustworthiness of your reviews. Once you have your membership setup, you can invite your customers to post a review about you thereon.

It is a not-for-profit organization. If you want to have unbiased test done on your product to generate strong reviews, then you’re at the right place. They are an independent product testing institution known for their ethical and genuine practices. So, only if you have reputable range of products, you get a good test score on ConsumerReports’ website. It’s as legit as it can get. The overall website architecture is quite comprehensive and elaborative.

If your business has a presence on Facebook, then it’s but obvious that you should have customer reviews there too. Named Facebook Ratings & Reviews, this option is placed on the left hand side of your business page. This option is fixed unlike the other options available under the page’s administration. So, if your customers are on Facebook, they can post a review about your business. Once they post the review and make it public, their friends and families can see it too. So, there you go… some free word-of-mouth for your business on the world’s biggest social media platform! Can’t get any better than that…

Just like Facebook, the largest microblogging website also allows your customers to post review about your business. However, like its counterpart, Twitter doesn’t have a specific option for placing the review. But, you do know that the tweets get indexed by Google to show in their search results, right? So, if they tweet a positive review about you with your business’ handle, it will pop up to those who are looking up your business on the world’s number one search engine. And the higher the placement of your website on Google, the higher the CTA! You can even favorite the review tweets and re-tweet them to increase their popularity.

Better Business Bureau is a not-for-profit website that conducts honest evaluations for all types of businesses. They follow a set of measurement practices for reviewing the businesses that serve the public at large. No, they won’t endorse your website. That’s a bit too much to expect. What they do is that they provide full and authentic information about your business with a BBB accreditation. It also shows the past issues faced and reported by your consumers along with how and when they were resolved and this giving a full and clear picture about your business to the customers.

Choice is an Australia-based independent product testing website. It’s member-funded organization. So, if you ask them to conduct a review of what you have to offer, they will show it to their extensive member base. In addition to that, the website also offers product comparisons and buying guidelines. Member ratings are also possible. So, if you’re in Australia or planning on marketing your products down under, just say “g’day!” to Choice.

The website is similar to Angie’s List, but the main difference is that it’s those who work at Which? that write reviews about your business and not your customers. For being able to have your products reviewed by them, you need to email them at brcpress@which.co.uk. You don’t have a say in whether your products will be included on the site or not. But, once your website has been listed for on Which?, it’s a definite and a strong online reputation asset for your business. Along with the results of the test of your product, they also post methodologies. This gives the review more transparency and authenticity. You can also become a part of their “Best Buys” list with a membership fee of £10.75.

So, this one’s for the online software vendors! The reviews can be only posted by the LinkedIn members to ensure authenticity. So, if they post a positive review about you, their LinkedIn connects can see it too. Side-by-side comparisons are also available for the companies, along with star ratings. They also include product screenshots in the reviews. The website also offers buyer guides in addition to the reviews. How cool is that!

If your website caters to the Danish customers, then this community-driven portal is the place to be for you. But, that doesn’t mean they are only in Denmark. They are pretty much present across Europe, the US and also in other 65 countries across the globe. It allows you to proactively collect consumer reviews online. The website reviews are third-party verified as only the customers can post reviews about your products and business. If you are a paid member, then you can also create and send out customized and personalized review invitations to your customers as well as share existing ratings and reviews on your social media properties.

Again, this one’s for the software vendors online. You must-must ensure that you have a presence established on G2 Crowd. Your customers are actively looking up the reviews on this website which greatly affects their buying intentions. It’s a Yelp-like portal, but specific to the software niche. Your customers can give you five-star ratings and also tell others about “What do they like the best” or “What do they dislike” about you. It also offers the option to upvote or downvote the others’ votes.

I guess the name says it all, right? An independent review website company, based in Sweden, allows posting business related reviews. They also feature an extensive Q&A section, which provides ample opportunity to your potential customers to learn as much as they can about what others are saying about you online.

A lot of businesses have their apps listed on Salesforce AppExchange. It’s more genuine than iTunes or PlayStore app reviews. Your users can give you star ratings. The website lists the most positive and the most negative reviews first and then all the other reviews about your business or app. The review system is absolutely transparent and very comprehensive allowing them a ceaseless access to thousands of reviews available on the portal in just a matter of clicks.

Don’t forget that your employees are your internal customers. So, what they say about you can really shape your business’ reputation online. Glassdoor allows employees to post reviews about your site. The results are published in a quantifiable manner through a valuation model. Your prospective customers can get an inside view of your business and see if you keep your people happy or not. This also helps establish your business’ credibility as a popular employer. To set up an employer account, you pay ZILCH. And you can even set up alerts every time you get a new review on the site.

Don’t ignore your own website. Remember that your customers look up all these places mentioned above to filter through the noisy completion right to your website. But, once they are on your site, they need a reassurance that they are at the right place. And that’s why, it’s important to feature your happy customers on your website under specialized sections such as Testimonials or even Portfolio. Be sure not to come across as a site that moderates the user reviews. The key is in being as transparent and honest as you can.

Well, of course, this is not an exhaustive list. I just shared some droplets from the entire ocean available out there for you on the World Wide Web. Got any favorites? Do share with us in the comments section below.

Until next time…