Title Details

Online marketing consultants Gradiva Couzin and Jennifer Grappone have improved the online presence of a wide variety of companies in entertainment, software, local services, non-profit, and retail for over a decade. They develop and implement thoughtful, results-oriented strategies for SEO, social media, and paid search by combining good writing, compelling content, search-friendly site design, and usability.

Chapter 1 You Are Here: Understanding Your Opportunity 1

Online Reviews: An Important Marketing Channel 2

Know Where You Fit In and How to Focus  5

Brick and Mortar 5

E-commerce Retailers 8

Manufacturers, Brands, Software 9

Destinations and Activities 12

Service Providers 14

Charities, Nonprofits, Civic and Community Organizations 18

Chapter 2 The Online Reviews Landscape 21

Types of Online Reviews 22

Types of Review Sites, Platforms, and Services 27

Review Sites 28

Social Commerce/Product Review Platforms 33

E-Commerce Merchant Review Collection Services 36

Shopping Comparison Sites and Online Travel Agents 40

Reputation Management Services 45

Local Search 51

Fake Reviews 54

The Scale of Fake Reviews 54

Love for Sale 55

The Fight against Fake Reviews 57

Chapter 3 Understanding Reviewers and Reviews 61

Who Are the Reviewers? 62

Reviewer Demographics 62

Power Reviewers 63

Paid or Fake Reviewers 65

What Triggers a Review? 68

Being Asked 68

Social and Emotional Motivations 68

Customer Experiences That Trigger Reviews 70

Influencing Factors in Reviews  71

Variety and Volume 72

Reviewer Identity 73

Freshness 78

Chapter 4 Monitoring and Learning from Your Reviews 81

Why Monitor Reviews? 82

Review Monitoring for Best Results  83

Review Monitoring Tools  84

Learn from Your Reviews 99

An Honest Assessment 100

Taking Action 101

Chapter 5 How to Get More Reviews 105

Tools and Techniques for Getting New Reviews 106

Cultivating a Word-of-Mouth Mentality 121

Authenticity and Ethics 132

Staying Outside the Spam Filter 133

Staying on the Right Side of the Law 137

Complying with Terms of Service 139

Chapter 6 Review Venues: Need-to-Know Tips for Your Action Plan 145

Yelp 146

Claiming Your Listing 146

Filtering and Reviewer Verification 151

Troubleshooting and Support 153

Communicating with Reviewers 155

Promotion and Advertising Opportunities 156

Showing Off Your Reviews 165

Monitor and Measure 166

Google+ Local 168

Sorting Out Google’s Services 170

Who Sees Google+ Local Listings? 171

Claiming Your Listing 173

Filtering and Reviewer Verification 176

Communicating with Reviewers 178

Troubleshooting and Support 179

Increasing Your Visibility 182

Closing the Loop 184

TripAdvisor 185

Claiming Your Listing 186

Filtering and Reviewer Verification 187

Communicating with Reviewers 187

Increasing Your Visibility 189

Support 193

Angie’s List  193

Claiming Your Listing 194

Filtering and Reviewer Verification 196

Communicating with Reviewers 196

Increasing Your Visibility 197

Troubleshooting and Support 199

ResellerRatings . 200

Claiming Your Listing 202

Gathering Reviews 203

Managing Your Reviews 204

Bazaarvoice 205

Collecting and Displaying Customer Feedback 206

SEO Factors 208

Moderating and Responding 208

Alerts and Intelligence 210

Chapter 7 Navigating Negative Reviews 213

Discouraging Negative Reviews  214

Check In With Customers 215

Provide Nonreview Paths for Common Complaints 216

Set Realistic Expectations 217

Broadcast Your Willingness to Listen and to Correct Issues 219

Create a Process for Learning from Negative Feedback 220

Responding to Negative Reviews  221

Before You Respond 222

Public and Private Responses 224

Building Your Response 225

Responding in Social Media 233

Redress and Removal  237

Why It’s Not Easy to Sue Review Sites 237

When Can a Review Be Removed? 238

Chapter 8 Showing Off and Being Found 243

Show Off Your Reviews  244

Badges and Widgets 244

Review Excerpts 246

Visibility on E-commerce Sites 249

Amplification in Social Media 250

Testimonials and Case Studies 252

Marketing Communications 253

At Your Physical Location 254

Improve Your Search Results  257

Branded Search Results 257

Rich Snippets 261

AdWords Seller Rating Stars 263

Product Reviews and SEO 266

Chapter 9 Maintaining Your Momentum 269

Developing Your Plan  270

Local Businesses: Find and Update Your Presence on Review Venues 270

E-commerce Sites and Brands: Make the Most of Product Reviews 272

All Businesses: Monitor Your Reviews 273

All Businesses: Use Feedback to Improve 274

All Businesses: Respond to Reviews 275

All Businesses: Encourage New Reviews and Leverage the Ones You Have 275

Power Moves for a Time-Strapped Small Business 276

Reaching for the Stars 280

Index 283