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How To Handle Negative Reviews Of Your Business*

From Lynnea Bylund | ADMAX Local Search
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*Sources: SearchEngineLand & SEO BOY
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[ Editor's Note: Unlike several notable review sites, Yelp, Angies List, and CitySearch come to mind, MerchantCircle allows business owner members to DELETE bad reviews on sight, though that may not always be the best remedy.  There is much to be learned about managing bad reviews in this blog. ]
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The power of the Internet with local search can bring more leads to your business and increase your branding. The cost-per-lead can be dramatically cheaper than traditional media. There is, however, a different part to this animal that one needs to take very seriously and that is online reviews.

The Power of Online Reviews

The Internet is a powerful force that is built on anonymity and opinions expressed in online reviews hold tremendous sway to a searching public.  Anytime you find a review about something you are interested, you give it immediate credibility without questioning the source.  If a certain negative review seems out of place, you may think that was a rare situation, but the fact remains that someone said something bad about your company or product.

When a Review is Negative

Getting reviews accounts for a lot in ranking in Local SEO.  The results whether the review is negative or positive seems not to be as important as having any reviews at all.  That's right, bad publicity is better than no publicity in terms of the algorithm, but all that bad publicity needs to be dealt with before steering people to another choice in the Locals list.  First, let's clear out two items I get asked most about:

1. You can't remove the negative review
2. You can't find out who the review is from, even if it is a competitor


The rise of websites that empower consumers to write reviews of our businesses is causing many business owners anxiety, or even outright rage. 

Of course we love it when people say great things about our business, but what about when they say bad things? 

Do we really have a reason to fear? How significant are bad reviews for the future of our businesses? Can we insure against them? How can we control what's said? Here are some practical views on some of the myths and realities of the feared bad review, and some tips on dealing with them.

According to Internet entrepreneaur and local Directory 'Brownbook.net' founder David Ingram, there are 7 top tips for doing just that:

• Use Google alerts to listen for mentions of your company or products, good or bad. You can join the conversation to magnify the good and address the bad.

• Where you find negativity, first establish a neutral frame of mind, and don't immediately bite. You can't deal with the problem in knee-jerk mode.
• If you can identify the customer, see if you can resolve the issue offline, then ask them to update their review. You'll find when you satisfy a previously unhappy customer you'll be creating one of your strongest advocates.
• If the review is truly unjustified, you may wish to respond publicly to the review to provide some balance to the discussion – but use this tactic with care as it can soon turn into a fight, and nothing is less appealing than two people airing their differences in public. If you do this, I recommend starting with a phrase like "dear x, thanks for your feedback and I am sorry to hear you're unhappy, let me see if I can help…" and then go on to unemotionally address the issue, but don't just disagree with their view. Here's an example of a business using this exact tactic to handle one bad review in their otherwise excellent reviews. It leads me to trust the supplier more when communication is as open as this: Aerial Tec.
• If the review is nasty, downright personal, or in some way illegal then you might need to take action. Check the policies of the website where the review appears to find out how best to contact and notify them. Don't just fire off an email—there may be information they need to identify the review in question and their policy will let you know the best (and quickest) way to get any issue resolved.
• Do nothing. That's right, you may decide to do nothing—most of us know we don't get it right all of the time. This can be hard to do, because we feel our pride is hurt and we want to defend it, but sometimes attempts to fight back simply fuel the fire and can turn a small blip into a big problem.
• Get some good reviews. In my opinion this is the best way to balance the picture and swing it in your favor. Ask your good customers to give you great reviews. A word of warning if you're thinking of faking it by writing your own—don't. Such tactics are often obvious or at least are quickly discovered.

Read David Ingram's entire blog on the subject of managing bad reviews here - 
How To Handle Negative Reviews Of Your Business

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