Trustpilot - what a waste of effort

Today we received a sales email from the UK Energy Bureau.  Their signature block included this...

Which is derived from this...

Over three hundred glowing reviews from customers. But wait! What would you see if you were to search for this business online? This...

What a shame. When so many of those customers - all of them, in fact - could have been asked to post their reviews to Google.  

Just in case anyone thinks we're picking on Trustpilot, a day later this email arrived...

With the business showing marginally better on Google...

but looking just awful on Trustpilot...

None of which would be keeping anyone awake at night if the business hadn't had all of its efforts diverted to a review site that's nigh on invisible in search, but had, instead, devoted those efforts to getting reviews to Google

The basic rules of effective review management   

1. Own your own reviews - data is gold, and your customer opinions are platinum. Don't give them away to any other business
2. Have them moderated
3. Display those reviews on your own website
4. Get as many as possible across to Google

Look like this...

And this...

And, perhaps, most important of all - in local search - like this (those gold stars and the rating are from the business's own reviews, they're not Google's - although many consumers assume they are )...

Getting to look like this requires commitment and hard work. Make it count.

And just before you dive in and post a Google review widget on your website

Let us remind you of the benefits - some of them absolutely vital for high-value service businesses - of employing a moderator such as HelpHound...

1. We will correct faulty English (bad English devalues the power of even the most positive review in the mind of the reader)
2. We will ensure, as far as possible, that the review contains no errors of fact (if they do, we will intervene and initiate a dialogue between the reviewer and the business to resolve those errors)
3. We will weed out fake reviews*
4. We will not post 'accidental' reviews**
5. Moderation will give you the confidence to invite reviews through your website, especially misleading or inaccurate negatives that might otherwise be posted unchallenged to Google
6. We will provide your business with an extremely effective defence against what we call 'killer reviews'. These are negative reviews that are so powerful that they have the potential to stop the clicks and calls coming through to your business (one may suffice: if you doubt this, please read the terrifying case history under item 2 in this article)

The result of all of this - collectively known as moderation - is...

• Fewer inaccurate or misleading reviews (which ultimately means fewer unfair negative reviews, the 'killer' reviews especially)
• More credible reviews - to both your website and Google
• Full compliance with the CMA regulations

* Fake reviews: if w are in any doubt whatsoever as to the veracity of a review (or a reviewer) we will challenge the writer to substantiate their opinion. If they do not, the review will not stand.

**'Accidental' reviews: you might be surprised just how many happen over a given period. They might be unfinished reviews (where the reviewer has pressed submit before they've finished writing their review, or they might be reviews of the wrong business altogether (we reckon between one and two reviews in every hundred fall under this heading).