It almost goes without saying in the digital age: before you buy a product, try a service or go out to a restaurant, you’re likely to read the reviews first.
But, as a business owner with so many available review sites to choose from, how do you pick which sites you should have a business page on? Reviews can make or break a business and you want to be sure that not only can you be found for positive reviews, but that you’re also part of the conversation for any damage control.
Customers tend to gravitate towards different review sites for different industries. To make sure your efforts are focused towards the appropriate sites, here is a quick run down of the best review websites for restaurants, products and services:
Best Review Site for Restaurants: Yelp
With over 83 million reviews in total, 135 million visitors a month and availability on nearly any platform, Yelp is one of the most relevant review sites available. Yelp has reviews for anything ranging from mechanics to hairstylists, but the area they tend to dominate is restaurant reviews. (The only category that outdoes restaurant reviews on Yelp is shopping; however, Yelp continues to maintain its perception as a restaurant review site). Restaurant owners can sign up for a free account that allows them to post photos of their business and message customers – a smart way to attract people to your restaurant –and even has a “Best Of” category, which allows site users to quickly determine which restaurants are worth visiting.
Conclusion: A tremendous amount of Internet traffic, as well as Yelp’s continued public perception as primarily a restaurant review site, gives Yelp the advantage when it comes to focusing on restaurant reviews.
Best Review Site for Products: Amazon.com
With over a million reviews to date, Amazon.com reviewers have evaluated everything from moisturizer to video games. Amazon has a Top Customer Reviews list that highlights the best and most helpful reviews on the site to date. Amazon’s five-star rating system allows customers to distinguish quickly and clearly between a product that is rated two stars and one that is rated 4.5 stars. They can also see how many individuals have given reviews, and at what rating, which assists them in making better, more informed decisions about the products they want to buy.
Conclusion: An easy-to-use rating system, alongside a review count and historical information about the best reviews, allows Amazon’s users to make better choices about products they identify as superior or inferior.
Best Review Site for Services: Angie’s List
Unlike Yelp, a membership to Angie’s List will cost you. However, if you’re a business owner, you can sign up for a free account to be reviewed on the site. Angie’s List boasts an impressive 3 million plus users, making it one of the best review sites for services. Angie’s List aims to evaluate services based on five different criteria: service cost, quality of service, responsiveness, punctuality and how professional the service is. These are reviewed in a grading system of A through F. Angie’s List has been in business for more than ten years, making this site an easy and popular way to find standout services in your area.
Conclusion: Angie’s List isn’t free like some of its competitors, but still has a significant number of members – in the millions range – that make up its clientele. Angie’s List also has a well-rounded evaluation system for reviewed services.
To learn more about the best review sites and how to make sure your business is featured on the right ones, contact Millennium at 877-873-7445 for a free consultation. You can also connect with me on Twitter and LinkedIn or feel free to send me an email at jchabot@mill-im.com.
