According to the article “Online Marketing Predictions for Small Business in 2014” on RoundPeg.biz, “For the last few years we have been telling small business owners that their word of mouth business has to move online. Shares on social networks are just the tip of the iceberg. Today, review sites like Yelp and TripAdvisor and consumer services reviews like Angie’s List and GooglePlus are becoming the first stop in most purchase decisions.”
So it seems that online reputation for small businesses will become more prevalent than ever in the coming year. This means more traffic to your site, and hopefully, more money in your pocket.
So what can you do to prepare?
You can definitely start out by beefing up your customer service team. Now, this doesn’t necessarily mean adding more manpower; it could simply mean training your current customer service team how to respond to negative reviews online.
You can also start researching which review sites your business is currently listed on, and making sure that you create listings for your business where you’re not already listed, provided that review site applies to you. (E.g. Creating a business listing on HomeAdvisor if you’re a contractor.)
The more review sites you’re listed on, the better. It gives your client base a better spread of review sites to leave their glowing reviews of you on, and it also can help with your SEO.
We wish you the best of luck with your business and online reputation in 2014!
