Google chimes in Google sees the impact of online reviews as so pervasive, the search titan recently announced it would begin featuring product and service ratings in its natural search returns—a major nod to the impact of word-of-mouth endorsements. Plus, Google also plans to beef up its offering of full text reviews in Google Product Search. “To kick off this program, we’ll be
working with Bazaarvoice, a leader in the user reviews space,” says Kinnari Jhaveri, a Google spokesman for their Strategic Part- nerships division. “If you’re not a Bazaar- voice client, hold tight. We hope to add additional partners, as well as a self-submis- sion model, soon.” Meanwhile, new software tools are
emerging that will enable campuses to use student reviews in even more sophisticated ways. At least one turnkey review package enables students to simultaneously multi- post their reviews of colleges and univer- sities to Facebook, Twitter and most blogs. Other tools allow campuses to embed stu- dent reviews in marketing emails. And still others give students an easy way to post reviews in video format. Bottom line: it’s no longer advisable to
allow your institution to be reviewed solely by third-party web sites, while you hope for the best that such reviews will depict a true image of your college or university. Nor is it enough to post a spate of reviews on your own website and call it a day. Institutions will see the best returns when their tech- niques and technology for online reviews becomes sophisticated, and they feature reviews in as many web places as possible.
Here’s a gameplan Incorporate student reviews in Google Search, ASAP: Very soon Google plans to expand the num- ber of review service providers like Bazaar- voice that are feeding reviews to its search engine. Even if you’re using a home-grown or relatively unknown review tool on your website, Google plans to accommodate your college or university with a self-submission model.
Include negative reviews to foster authenticity:While many institutions shudder at the thought of including negative reviews on their websites, many web marketers insist including negative reviews in the mix is essential. New research indicates they may be right. The 2010 Social
32 Today’sCampus
Shop the Latest Turnkey Review Packages
PowerReviews (
www.powerreviews.com),
starting at $29, and Bazaar- voice (
www.Bazaarvoice.com) (call for price) represent the high-
end of review solutions. You’ll want to evaluate these offerings first to get a general
idea of what’s state-of-the-art. After, you’ll be well- served to check out other packages like: Review- script (
www.review-script.com) which starts at $125; Ratingsystem (
www.ratingsystem.com) free to $100/month; and, KudosWorks (
www.kudosworks.com) starts at $60/year. KudosWorks, for example—a positive- only testimonials service—may appeal more to institutions still uneasy about running negative reviews on their web sites.
Shopping Survey, for example, found that 38 percent of online shoppers distrust retail review domains that feature only positive reviews.
Use creative tactics to solicit online reviews: Generally, a university adding a reviews domain to its site needs to spike interest in reviewing before the practice takes on a life of its own. One way is to sponsor a contest giveaway. Offering the chance to win $100-$500 just for submitting a review usually does the trick. Reaching out with an e-mail blast requesting reviews from current and/or former students also seems to work. Another proven tactic involves sending a follow-up email requesting a review shortly after an online interaction with a student.
Enable reviewers to effortlessly multipost to Facebook, Twitter and most blogs: PowerReviews (
www.powerreviews.com), one of the more popular review packages available, offers a tool that enables students to simultaneously post a review of your college to the campus web site, as well as to Facebook, Twitter and blogs using the Wordpress, Blogger, Live Jour- nal or Windows Live Spaces format.
Encourage video reviews: While text reviews are still king, video reviews are gaining in popularity (think youTube). In fact, 24 percent of online shoppers surveyed said a video review had influenced a purchase decision, according to The 2010 Social Shopping Survey. A caveat: offering hundreds of video reviews on your website may prove too costly in terms of increased bandwidth demands. An alternative is to link to reviews of your institution that
you find on youTube (www.youtube. com), and encourage students to post more there. Meanwhile, campus stores may also want
to encourage students to post video product reviews to sites like ExpoTV (www.expotv. com), which specializes in online video prod- uct reviews.
Be sure your reviews are mobile-ready:Sophisticated users of mobile phones these days think noth- ing of sourcing reviews for goods and serv- ices, even while perusing that merchandise in a retail store. Check with your web designer or IT department to be sure your web site’s online reviews are easily accessible by mobile phones. Again, campus stores may also want to
check out a tool from Bazaarvoice called MobileVoice, which allows students to down- load product reviews on their phones simply by keying a word or product SKU.
Use reviews for higher search engine rankings: One of the welcome side-benefits of a reviews domain on your site is higher rankings in search engine returns. Essentially, search engines reward websites with higher randings if they continually provide fresh, useful con- tent to the web. Consequently, it’s a good idea to look for review packages that optimize for that reward. PowerReviews, for example, offers a tool called In-Line SEO that optimizes review content for the search engines.
TC
Joe Dysart is an internet speaker and business consultant based in Manhattan. Reach him at
joe@joedysart.com.
subscribe at no charge at
www.todayscampus.com
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