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Customers today trust the review of people who have already bought and used it. And when it is a mix of both positive and negative reviews, it depicts authenticity. If you’re selling products or services online, social proof is incredibly important. Your rating and reviews can influence people immensely and sway them over to your side if they’re not sure whether they want to do business with you or not.
90% of consumers are looking into product reviews before even visiting a business. Moreover, 68% of B2B buyers prefer doing product research on their own instead of contacting the sales rep. Product reviews also prove a great resource for online marketers in search of the best tools. Whether you are looking to automate marketing, streamline content strategy, generate leads or improve social media presence, review websites go a long way towards helping choose the best tools for your needs.
Table of Contents
1. Google
Average monthly US traffic (Alexa): 158.03 million
US ranking (Alexa): 1
Business reviews for: any business
Google My Business is a free tool for businesses to manage their online presence across Google, including Search and Maps. Google is the go-to search engine of choice: as more and more consumers conduct multiple searches on it every day, more businesses are vying for top SERP results.
Very important: Businesses must verify their information to complete their Google My Business registration.
Google My Business puts business data on Search, Maps. Because of this, customers can easily find a location from desktop, mobile or anything in between. Google customer reviews show up in search and are known to bolster SEO, so they are essential to the credibility of all businesses.
Google is the king of web traffic
Did you know that Google’s search engine performs over 3.5 billion searches per day (internetlivestats.com)? Businesses should aim to be on Google’s snack pack in order to be readily found when consumers perform a local search.
Users can leave reviews for a business easily and simply. The less friction involved in the business review process, the easier it is to get more reviews. Getting reviews through a business’s Google My Business account is a great place to start.
2. Amazon
Average monthly US traffic (Alexa): 85.44 million
US ranking (Alexa): 3
Business reviews for: e-commerce related transactions
Amazon is a powerhouse. Therefore, it is no surprise that it is a popular go-to business review site for e-commerce products. If you don’t use Amazon, you probably know someone that has used Amazon (or uses Amazon faithfully).
In fact, Amazon has been training consumers to use their review system for a long time now. Therefore, we should probably thank them for helping train a mass of consumers to start leaving them and making it as part of an online consumer etiquette, if you will.
Amazon is much more than book reviews
We may think of Amazon as a virtual library, but Amazon is for much more than book reviews. For companies who do any amount of e-commerce, Amazon is a key source of information. While Amazon as a business review website is more targeted and fitting for Amazon marketplace partners, it is a worthy site to note, especially for retailers about what customers like about certain products and how the service aspect of transactions were handled.
Did you know that business reviews have been a part of Amazon’s websites for over 20 years?
Another fun fact: Amazon’s business review system was improved in 2015 to start weighing reviews so they are more up-to-date and helpful (cnet).
3. Facebook
Average monthly US traffic (Alexa): 85.57 million
US ranking (Alexa): 3
Business reviews for: any business
Facebook is a social networking platform where users can create profiles, upload photos and videos, send messages and keep in touch with friends, family and follow their favorite businesses and brands. Companies can create business profiles that users can follow and also leave business reviews based on their experience with the company.
Customers now commonly leave reviews on social media
Consumers increasingly interact with brands through social channels, and there is no social platform more prevalent than Facebook. It follows, then, that the business reviews on Facebook are seen and shared by many potential customers. Businesses should take note of the big wins and big mistakes that a business can experience when opening themselves up to social media.
But again, please note that consumers are talking about a business whether that business is aware of it or not (and whether businesses have claimed their business profile or not). With that being said, it is pertinent that businesses are actively monitoring their social media mentions at all times.
Facebook is becoming a popular review resource
Due to the sheer size of the user base of Facebook, it is gaining momentum towards being one of the most popular business review sites. Since most users on the site already have a Facebook account, the process to leave a business review is relatively friction-less.
Consequently, this reduction in friction gives Facebook an advantage over other business review websites where users must create unique logins or log in to the site each time (compared to those consumers that are already living and breathing in Facebook).
4. Yelp
Average monthly US traffic (Alexa): 40.47 million
US ranking (Alexa): 64
Business reviews for: any business
Yelp is a platform (review website and app) where users can publish reviews about local businesses. Also, Yelp trains small businesses how to respond to business reviews, host social events for Yelpers (a.k.a. Yelp reviewers) and provides data about businesses including health inspection scores (Yelp.com).
Reputation management is essential on review sites
Yelp has become a name synonymous with business reviews, as the site has over 102 million reviews and counting. As the world’s largest outlet for online customer reviews grows, it might be time for all small businesses to start caring about what consumers are saying online; and more specifically, about their Yelp reviews.
Consumers aren’t going to give a small business any attention if all they see is negativity surrounding their Yelp customer review page.
Yelp has a distinct reviewer culture of “yelpers”
Consumers who review businesses and leave business reviews on Yelp have become known widely as “yelpers.” Yelpers leave business reviews to help others in the community make purchasing decisions and it’s important for your local business clients to keep an eye on them.
Business review sites such as Yelp, point to the growing importance of review monitoring to manage a business’s online reputation. In summation, if we haven’t won you over on Yelp yet, maybe these hilarious Yelp reviews will.
5. TripAdvisor
Average monthly US traffic (Alexa): 28.27 million
US ranking (Alexa): 118
Business reviews for: any business
TripAdvisor is an travel website company where users can leave business reviews of places they’ve visited. Users can also book rooms, find flights, discover to do and reserve tables at participating restaurants. TripAdvisor operates websites internationally in over 25 countries.
King of the niche: travel directories and travel related reviews
Another fun fact: business review volume occurs the highest in the travel vertical.
Apparently vacation stories must also travel the gap between online and in person. Well, if a person really wants, at least they can avoid the vacation slide shows online. 😉
6. Better Business Bureau
Average monthly US traffic (Alexa): 6.15 million
US ranking (Alexa): 647
Business reviews for: any business
The Better Business Bureau aims to help people find and recommend businesses, brands and charities they can trust (bbb.org).
The BBB is built on trust
Based on a business rating review system, BBB educates consumers and assists people in finding trusted businesses. The Better Business Bureau tries to protect consumers from fraudulent business or scammers.
Company profiles on BBB contain a short company bio and a history of complaints made about the business, as well as an A – F rating.
7. Yellowpages
Average monthly US traffic (Alexa): 10.5 million
US ranking (Alexa): 694
Business reviews for: any business
YellowPages is an online internet yellow pages directory owned by YP. YP is a local marketing solutions provider that focuses on helping local businesses (and the communities within) grow.
YP: a IYP directory with large traffic volume and review capabilities
Yellowpages has business review capabilities. Companies can manage their reviews on the review site after claiming a free business listing on their page.
8. 5StarWebReviews
Average monthly US traffic (Alexa): 6.48 million
US ranking (Alexa): 957
Business reviews for: any business
5StarWebReviews is an online small business service directory, search engine and review site that provides small businesses with the information to network.
5StarWebReviews: a directory with solid traffic volume and review capabilities
The site helps small businesses connect and grow through their community where users can buy from, partner with and connect to companies.
9. Angie’s List
Average monthly US traffic (Alexa): 5.44 million
US ranking (Alexa): 1,755
Business reviews for: service related businesses
Angie’s List is a service listing and review website that offers user-based rankings and reviews of service professionals in local areas.
Angie’s list reviews are from members
Because Angie’s List is a paid review site, it is known to be less filled with rambling reviews from customers and spam. Members grade companies using a report card scale from A-F on price, quality, responsiveness, punctuality and professionalism.
Angie’s List is divided by categories such as house, auto, health, pets and services.
10. Foursquare
Average monthly US traffic (Alexa): 3.67 million
US ranking (Alexa): 2,418
Business reviews for: any business, mostly restaurants
Foursquare is a local search and discovery service mobile app. The app helps users discover new places/businesses through other Foursquare business reviews.
Foursquare is a powerful social media review tool
Users can let friends know where they are and find out where their friends are. Users can also collect points, prize badges, and coupons for checking in at places. In any case, with 55 million monthly active users, Foursquare is a powerful force to monitor customer loyalty and feedback.
11. Choice
Have customers in Australia? Choice is a member-funded review website based in Australia. Choice independently tests products and services and provides performance reviews to their members. The bulk of their work involves testing products and services themselves, creating product comparisons, and writing buying guides. In addition, though, they do allow members to rate and discuss specific product brands and models with other Choice members. If you have customers in Australia, we recommend encouraging those who are on CHOICE to leave reviews there.
12. Trustpilot
Trustpilot is a fast-growing, community-driven consumer review platform based in Denmark, although they’ve expanded out of Europe into 65 countries, including the U.S. The platform for businesses helps companies from all over the world proactively collect customer reviews. It’s the customers who write both product and seller reviews, keeping it third-party verified.
While they have a basic version for free (this lets you create a profile page and collect customer reviews), their paid versions let you create customizable review invitations, share ratings and reviews on social media, and link review data to your internal business systems.
13. TestFreaks
Similar to TrustPilot, the Swedish-based TestFreaks helps companies proactively collect customer reviews and write seller reviews to complement them.
Another cool addition? Their question and answer feature, which lets prospective customers post questions and receive answers directly from your customer service team.
14. Which?
Which? is an independent consumer review organization that tests and reviews products and then writes about them. Unlike Angie’s List, it’s the folks at Which? who write the reviews — not the customers. They don’t accept submissions for product testing or survey inclusion, but they do encourage people to let them know about their products and services by emailing brcpress@which.co.uk.
While this leaves less room for you to influence whether your products end up on their site, it’s still worth knowing about and checking in on this popular site, especially if you have customers in the U.K. The website has product reviews for everything from dishwashers and tablets to cars and credit cards. They test and review all these products themselves, and then write about both their methodologies and results. They also take customer surveys of things like the best and worst firms for customer service.
A lot of their content is free, but customers can become members for £10.75 per month to get access to a “Best Buys” and “Don’t Buy” list, the latest reviews of products from their test labs, and access to their consumer legal advice service.
15. ConsumerReports
A nonprofit organization, ConsumerReports is an independent product testing organization that runs unbiased tests to rate and recommend products. They’ve reviewed over 7.7 million products, accept no advertising, and pay for all products that they test. (Fun fact: They buy and test 80 cars per year!) This is about as legitimate as it gets. As such, there’s not much you can do here “except” if you sell a product, make sure it’s really, really good.
If nothing else, you could take this website as a lesson in excellent content creation. For each product they review, they provide the review criteria, product overviews, a buying guide, and social sharing buttons. It’s all quite comprehensive and, well, helpful.
16. Consumer Affairs
Consumer Affairs is a for-profit organization that reviews companies using an “overall satisfaction rating.” This average is scored on a one to five-star scale that’s updated every time a new review is submitted. Each company’s page provides a list of all its reviews, which includes the consumer’s star rating as well as a short explanation for their score.
Consumer Affairs also allows users to submit review recordings, which are two-minute videos where people talk about their experience with a brand. This makes the review much more compelling because you can actually see the person talk and express their genuine feelings about the company.
17. Pissed Consumer
PissedConsumer includes a database of business reviews and complaints on a wide variety of topics, companies, products, and services. The Latest Reviews page consists of clear titles and summaries of consumer complaints, as well as positive feedback.
In addition to having written reviews, the complaint website houses plenty of reviews with videos. Clicking on one of its videos will lead you to the Pissed Consumer’s YouTube Channel. You can find reviews accompanied by pictures as well. That said, the site definitely gives you a chance to thoroughly express your opinion about a service or product.
As you search through different reviews, you’ll notice that you can give the review a “thumbs-up” or “thumbs-down,” and even leave some comments. If you’re looking for reviews on a specific company, perform a simple search—Pissed Consumer will display the company’s latest complaints along with contact information.
18. Complaints Board
As soon as you open Complaints Board, you’ll see a running list of the most recent reviews on the home page. The site covers complaints about all types of businesses and services. Some categories include medical negligence, auto shops, utility services, online stores, restaurants, and much more. In other words, if you have a complaint, this consumer complaints website most likely has a place for it.
On the bottom right side of the page, you can view a list of poorly-rated businesses titled “Stay Away,” along with another list of businesses underneath the “Subjects of Wide Speculation” heading. These lists give you a quick rundown of the businesses with the most negative feedback at the moment.
19. Website Traffic Review –
WebsiteTrafficReview is your one stop shop for all your website traffic needs.
There are various types of visitor traffic including one time visits and daily or regular drop-ins. You have a lot to gain if you attract many regular visitors to your site. For example, you can be able to increase sales, promote higher paying advertisements or get recognized internationally for your intellectual and artistic creations.
One of the things that you can do to get more traffic to your site is to buy internet traffic from reputable companies that sell web traffic.
20. WebTraffic Reviews –
Web Traffic reviews helps you to select the best services providers offering Website Traffic Services at affordable prices.
Before you buy traffic to your site, it’s always a good idea to check what others who have already done the same thing think about the seller. It’s also important to not pay too much attention on things like star ratings. Instead, really look at the praises and complaints, and try to see if they have any merit.
Reviews on Social Media Sites
In addition to Google+ Local, LinkedIn and Facebook both offer review and endorsement opportunities.
Next Step: Create a Review Strategy for Your Company
Once you have identified the review sites that are important for your business, create an account on these sites and complete your business profile.
Make it as easy as possible for your satisfied customers to post to these sites. For example, provide customers with links and step-by-step instructions on how to post reviews. Send review requests on a regular basis and incorporate it into your company’s procedures and methodology.
Building up your online reputation and generating positive reviews on a consistent basis can have an explosive impact on the success of your marketing strategy and bottom line.
Conclusion
Review websites help a great deal when it comes to helping marketers identify the right marketing tools. The above platforms, while focused on different types of marketers, have proven invaluable. They offer plenty of actionable information on features, benefits and downsides of tools as well as vendor details. Some of them even allow for side by side tool comparison.
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