What’s the simplest way to boost top-line growth in your business?
With customer reviews, of course! A study showed that brands with 82 total reviews (or more) earn 54 percent more in annual revenue than average. The unsurprising downside is — review sites aren’t created equal. You’ll need to invest your time with the right review platforms to achieve consistent growth in your business.
Which online review sites are most important for reputation management, driving visibility, and social proof?
We’re going to get an answer to that question today. I’ll provide you with a detailed look at a variety of review platforms, outlining what works and why.
Table of Contents
Get the Reputation You Deserve with Grade.us
Why your business needs the top review sites
Top review websites produce disproportionate returns for your business. Reviews have a significant impact on your brand, conversion rates, and revenue. It’s important then, to prioritize the review platforms that will produce the greatest results for your business.
With the right data, you can identify these platforms.
This isn’t just about accumulating a large number of reviews (though that’s still essential). It’s about all of the other benefits that come from a strong review portfolio. These are the incentives you want to optimize your efforts around.
- Strong rankings in organic and local search results
- A steady and reliable showing in Google's search features (e.g., the knowledge graph, local pack, featured and rich snippets, etc.)
- Excellent conversion rates with consistent revenue growth
- Decreased advertising costs
- Powerful branding and improved brand perception and recall
You’ll want to optimize your efforts around the primary, secondary, and tertiary review platforms that produce these benefits consistently. Today, we’re going to take a look at the top review platforms.
Let’s get started.
Top review website #1: Google Reviews
Customers can write reviews for businesses via Google Maps. According to Google, “more than a billion people using Google Maps every month and more than 5 million active apps and websites using Google Maps Platform core products every week.”
That’s 13 percent of the population on Earth.
Why Google reviews are important
Google accounts for 57.5 percent of all reviews worldwide, across all review platforms. If your customers are going to leave a review, there is a very good chance it’s going to be on Google. If you’re like me, you’re probably wondering how is that possible?
Google receives 92 percent of all search visits in the United States (as of 2020), and 96 percent of mobile organic visits. Google is the number one review platform, with 63.6 percent of consumers searching for reviews on Google first. Fifty-three percent of customers visit a business within 48 hours of performing a local search on Google. It sounds like they have a monopoly. 😏
Features: Google Reviews
- With your Google My Business (GMB) account you can track reviews, set alerts, respond to reviews and upload photos, videos, and posts to your profile.
- You’re encouraged to request reviews from customers directly via a short URL that’s specific to your business.
- Business reviews appear next to your listing in Maps and Search. and are displayed for organic and location-specific search queries.
- Google doesn’t provide an official widget or embed code you can use to share your reviews. They do provide that information via their API, and you can use plugins to add that functionality to your site.
Caveats and warnings for Google Reviews
- Review gating is prohibited on Google.
- Offering reviewers an incentive to share their feedback is strictly prohibited.
- Google penalizes fake reviews by decreasing rank or banning offenders.
- Short names and URLs must adhere to Google’s terms of service, additional terms, content policy, and policies for representing a business on Google.
Bonus: Check out our comprehensive guides on Google Reviews and optimizing your Google My Business account!
Top review website #2: Facebook Recommendations
Facebook is the most popular social network on the planet. Over time, Facebook has grown to provide users with a variety of essential services, including reviews, which they call recommendations. Users have grown accustomed to these new features over time, as Facebook has worked to act as a facilitator between users and brands.
Why Facebook Recommendations are important
Facebook states that one in three people (on Earth) use their platform to look for recommendations and reviews. According to Statista, Facebook has 2.41 billion monthly active users (more if you include Instagram and Whatsapp). More than 795 million people rely on Facebook for recommendations and reviews each year. 1.6 billion people use Facebook for local search.
Features: Facebook Recommendations
- Brands are encouraged to request reviews and recommendations from customers, provided that they follow Facebook’s policies and standards (see below).
- Facebook will show the recommendations provided by the closest friends to your customer first, this will increase your reach and make you discoverable across Facebook.
- Rich Endorsements allow customers to indicate whether they recommend your business by using tags, texts, and photos or videos. This makes it easier for customers to get an immediate sense of what your business is about.
- Recommendations can be embedded and shared on and off Facebook. They’re treated like status updates and have similar functionality.
Caveats and warnings for Facebook Recommendations
- Comply with Facebook’s terms of service, policies, and community standards when responding to customer recommendations.
- Facebook Recommendations are binary; customers are either for or against your business. There’s not much in the way of nuance.
- Facebook uses your reviews and recommendations to calculate your page’s ratings. They use a variety of factors to calculate your score, including reviews and recommendations, and the performance of other similar pages.
Bonus: Here’s our comprehensive guide on attracting more visitors via Facebook Recommendations and optimizing your Facebook business page.
Top review website #3: Yelp Reviews
Yelp is a controversial yet impactful review platform. Their site has attracted a significant amount of attention from critics, business owners, and, most importantly, customers.
Why Yelp reviews are important
The majority of traffic to their domain arrives via Google search. While Yelp and Google have been locked in a dispute for the past six years, Yelp reviews are still highly visible in Google’s search results. Additionally, Yelp has 35 million mobile app unique users per month.
This means Yelp would still be a valuable review platform for businesses to target.
Features: Yelp
- A verified Yelp account is required to leave reviews, respond to reviews, bookmark a business, add photos and videos.
- Businesses can respond to customer reviews publicly under their customer’s review, or privately via a direct message.
- Individual reviews can be shared on Facebook, Twitter, via a direct link, or embedded on your website directly.
- Yelp allows businesses to remove competitor ads (as long as they’re willing to spend a little more for the privilege).
- Yelp provides a comprehensive dashboard for businesses that includes recent activity, Yelp ads, page upgrades, reviews, photos and videos, nearby jobs, check-in offers, and more.
Caveats and warnings for Yelp
- Yelp states that review gating is strictly prohibited on their platform.
- Businesses are not allowed to request reviews.
- Businesses are instructed to use neutral phrasing (e.g., Find us on Yelp).
- Incentives and solicitation are also prohibited on their platform.
Bonus: Take a look at this step-by-step walkthrough showing you how to maximize Yelp reviews (without asking) and optimize your Yelp business account.
Top review website #4: TripAdvisor Reviews
TripAdvisor is the world’s most popular travel app. Billions of people worldwide rely on TripAdvisor each year to find accommodations, restaurants, airlines, cruises, and more.
Why TripAdvisor reviews are important
TripAdvisor generated 860 million user reviews and opinions across 8 million listings covering a variety of industries, including restaurants, hotels, vacation rentals, and attractions. Their website is a travel behemoth, and it’s a must-have for businesses in their core industries. Beginner and experienced travelers alike make TripAdvisor their first stop for research and reviews.
Despite the major toll the pandemic has taken on the world, travel will come back and you’re going to want to make sure that your business is ready with a beautiful impactful selection of reviews (even if they’re not as fresh as normal times.) In fact, outside of the United States, travel is already returning across the world.
Features: TripAdvisor
The TripAdvisor management center allows business owners to manage the essential portions of their review profile, and business owners can:
- Use Review Express to invite recent visitors to share their reviews on TripAdvisor.
- Respond to reviews, answer traveler questions, and manage photos and listing details.
- Access the Analytics Suite, where you can see key metrics and performance indicators for your TripAdvisor listing.
Caveats and warnings for TripAdvisor
- TripAdvisor penalizes businesses that incentivize customers to leave a positive review. It’s a good idea to take a more cautious approach and avoid promising gifts or incentives.
- Businesses with a history of fraudulent behavior can expect a drop in rankings in TripAdvisor’s popularity index and even a red penalty notice on your profile page (to warn customers about fraud).
- An unattended page will drop in TripAdvisor’s popularity index. If you’d like a steady stream of customers, your page needs a constant stream of attention from you.
Bonus: Take a look at our detailed breakdown showing you how to get more reviews on TripAdvisor.
Top review website #5: G2 Reviews
G2 is the world’s largest tech marketplace and peer-to-peer review site. G2’s focus is aggregating user reviews for business software. G2 helps businesses and individuals discover, review, and manage the technology they need to reach their potential.
Why G2 reviews are important
G2 asked themselves this question. “Why is it easier to get unbiased information about a $100 hotel room than a $100,000 piece of software?” G2 solves a high-value problem for businesses, namely which websites are a good fit for my business. So far, G2 has answered this question for more than 4 million people in thousands of organizations.
Features: G2
- Businesses can invite existing customers to write a review on G2, they can respond publicly, share or mark a review as “helpful.”
- Automate review collection via a dedicated G2 landing page.
- Collect video reviews, add testimonial widgets, or build customer reference pages.
- Track and manage SaaS spend, including usage, contracts, and compliance with G2 Track.
- Get email notifications when prospects visit your profile and export leads to your CRM.
Caveats and warnings for G2
- G2 relies on its algorithm to monitor its platform for fraudulent reviews, including fake reviews from company employees.
- Reviews are manually screened and voted on by the community to discourage spam and unhelpful comments.
- G2 also requests screenshots of the reviewer using the product for verification purposes.
- G2 aggregates review data, using it to score business software products on The Grid, which competes with Gartner’s magic quadrant review model.
Top review website #6: Zillow
Zillow is an American online real estate database company and the leading real estate marketplace. Users can search for real estate, apartments, mortgages, and property values on their platform.
Why Zillow reviews are important
Eighty-five percent of the homes in the U.S. are listed in Zillow’s U.S. database. They have a significant amount of public and proprietary information on home sales, properties, values, etc. Zillow receives 194 million monthly unique users (as of Q2 2019). One hundred eighty-six homes are viewed every second on their platform.
Zillow also has more than 2 million consumer-submitted real estate agent and mortgage lender reviews on its platform.
Features: Zillow
- Real estate agents can list recent sales, listings, professional bio, service areas, photos, and videos on your profile.
- With an agent account, real estate pros can request and respond to reviews from clients.
- Manage your leads with features such as lead segmentation, lead routing, lead reporting, and lead forwarding.
- Email templates: Create, save, and send email templates to respond to common questions, comments, or concerns.
Caveats and warnings for Zillow
- Only agents and real estate pros with a Zillow profile can be rated and reviewed.
- Removing your profile removes all reviews associated with your business profile.
- Only clients who have communicated or worked with a real estate pro can write a review and submit a rating on that pro.
- A dedicated team of specially trained moderators evaluates all reviews before they are published.
- Pros can respond publicly on the site to any review they receive. Additionally, reviews can be flagged for Zillow to re-moderate.
Bonus: Our detailed guide shows you how to build a profitable real estate business using Zillow reviews in 60 days or less!
Top review website #7: Avvo Reviews
Avvo is an online legal marketplace that connects qualified attorneys with clients who are in the market for their services. An attorney’s profile includes client reviews, disciplinary actions, peer endorsements, legal guides, and more.
Why Avvo reviews are important
In a recent interview with BizJournals.com, Avvo stated that it generates more than $8 billion in revenue each year for lawyers and law firms. A survey from SoftwareAdvice.com found 83 percent of prospective clients use review platforms as an initial first step to evaluate a pool of attorneys.
Seventy percent of clients stated that they would be willing to drive further and spend more if their attorney had better online reviews than a competitor that was closer to home. Lastly, 97 percent of attorneys in America are rated by Avvo, meaning your competitors are on Avvo.
Features: Avvo
- Attorneys and law firm representatives can respond to client reviews. Attorney comments are displayed immediately.
- Reviews can be removed through Avvo’s dispute process if the review is fraudulent or inaccurate.
- Legal Q&A forum where attorneys can answer publicly posted questions on a variety of legal issues.
- Avvo uses a 1-10 rating system, with ten being superb. Your reviews do not affect your Avvo rating.
- Attorneys are encouraged to request reviews from clients.
Caveats and warnings for Zillow
- Attorneys should be vigilant, ensuring that they comply with the ABA’s Model Rules of Professional Conduct, specifically Rules 7.1 through 7.5.
- There should be no quid pro quo for reviews.
- Attorneys may not solicit, encourage, or assist in the posting of fake, false, or misleading reviews.
- Attorneys may not threaten, bully, or harass the client to provide a positive 4- or 5-star review.
Bonus: How to win 4.5x more clients using Avvo Reviews.
Top review website #8: BBB Reviews
Does the BBB still have value as a review platform? Some perceive the BBB as an ancient relic for old-timers, a review platform that offers very little value. As a result, there seems to be some confusion about the BBB and the value they provide to local businesses.
Why BBB reviews are important
In 2018, the BBB received 160,175,192 inquiries (170,350,626 in the US and Canada), 835,846 complaints and settled 654,890 complaints. Statista confirms the BBB as one of the top nine sources customers used to read online reviews and ratings.
Customers are still using the BBB as a review and rating platform. If they’re using it, you should be using it too.
Features: BBB
Reviews
- Any consumer who has a marketplace interaction with a business can post a customer review, anonymous reviews are not allowed.
- A BBB complaint is not the same as a customer review. They’re treated differently.
- For a consumer to file a complaint with BBB, they must be seeking a resolution from the business. BBB staff works with both the company and the consumer to resolve the issues, and BBB reports the details of that process.
- A customer review is simply feedback about their experience with a business and doesn’t require a resolution.
Advertising
- Online Directory: Accredited businesses are listed first as part of the BBB’s Accredited Business Directory. Like sponsored listings, accredited businesses are rewarded for their memberships.
- Sponsored Listings: “To help further increase your company’s visibility, the BBB offers you the opportunity to showcase your business as a Sponsored Business above the Accredited Business listings in your business categories.”
Caveats and warnings for BBB
- Businesses are expected to follow the BBB’s accreditation standards.
- Businesses also need to follow the BBB partner code of conduct.
- Your profile must adhere to its content guidelines.
- The BBB validates each of the reviews that come in.
Top review website #9: Healthgrades Reviews
Healthgrades is the leading online resource and review platform for comprehensive information about physicians and hospitals. They provide consumers with information about physicians, hospitals and health care providers, collecting data on more than 3 million U.S. health care providers.
Why Healthgrades reviews are important
Half of all Americans who see a doctor this year will visit Healthgrades. They’re the number one platform for patient-doctor connections. This is significant when you realize they have a large number of competitors — many with deep pockets.
Features: Healthgrades
- Professionals and clinics can register their facility with physical address, phone, fax and directions on Healthgrades by signing up at Partners.Healthgrades.com.
- Add a list of patient reviews that can be filtered by recent (the default), highest, lowest, and most helpful.
- List your biography, specialties (e.g., family medicine, pediatrics, surgery), board certifications, education, and awards.
- Add specific variations of keywords so patients can find you using local search.
- Healthgrades encourages healthcare professionals to request reviews from their patients.
Caveats and warnings for Healthgrades
- Reviews from both patients and professionals are expected to follow their review guidelines.
- Professionals should not mention or endorse specific products, including pharmaceuticals.
- Professionals should not post content that mentions legal matters or proceedings.
- Reviews with personal website links are prohibited.
Bonus: Take a look at our detailed guide – How to boost patient referrals with Healthgrades reviews.
Top review website #10: HomeAdvisor Reviews
HomeAdvisor got their start as Service Magic in 1998. Then, In October 2017, HomeAdvisor merged with Angie’s List to form ANGI Homeservices, trading on the NASDAQ as ANGI. This merger created the largest digital marketplace for home services.
Why HomeAdvisor reviews are important
HomeAdvisor connects 4.2 million homeowners to 60,000 pros, facilitating over $10 Billion in home improvement spending. Their site receives more than 4 million unique visitors to its website each month.
Features: HomeAdvisor
- Homeowners can post anonymous or public reviews to share feedback on a specific service provider.
- Home improvement pros can provide detailed information on their services, service areas, facts, credentials, website, expertise, business overview, and more.
- A dedicated team follows up on reviews to determine authenticity and all honest, objective feedback is posted – good or bad.
- Professionals have the opportunity to respond to the reviews they receive and there is a resolution process for customer complaints.
Caveats and warnings for HomeAdvisor
- HomeAdvisor verifies reviews to ensure they’re honest.
- Honest reviews are posted, whether they’re good or bad.
Bonus: How to double your lead flow, using HomeAdvisor Reviews, in 45 days!
Top review website #11: RepairPal Reviews
As the name implies, RepairPal helps you find trustworthy auto repair shops in your area. They’re a niche review platform and referral service so the consumers who rely on their service tend to be more sophisticated than generalists who frequent mainstream sites like Google Reviews.
Why RepairPal reviews are important
RepairPal doesn’t accept everyone. Instead, they maintain a carefully curated list of providers. Jill Trotta, VP/GM at RepairPal, explains. “We don’t just list anybody in our network. We’re not a pay-to-play network. You have to apply and be accepted, and once you are, we send customers to you.” Shops that are part of RepairPal’s member network meet their stringent quality standards.
Features: RepairPal
- Only customers who have been independently verified by RepairPal can leave reviews.
- RepairPal shops must offer a 12-month or 12,000-mile warranty on its repairs (at a minimum).
- Shops are evaluated by a team of ASE certified technicians to verify competency.
- Shops can respond to customer reviews.
Caveats and warnings for RepairPal
- Reviews are moderated by RepairPal staff.
- The RepairPal community can flag or notify staff of an inappropriate review.
- Reviews that are not first-hand accounts, or that violate RepairPal’s terms of service will be removed.
Top review website #12: Caring.com Reviews
Caring.com is a senior living review site. Caring.com receives visits from two groups; families of seniors and seniors themselves.
Why Caring.com reviews are important
Adults age 65 and older are expected to outnumber children by 2030. In fact, approximately seven baby boomers are turning 65 every minute. All baby boomers and 1 in 5 U.S. residents will have reached “retirement age.” Caring.com is a helpful way for seniors to identify the facility that best meets their needs.
Features: Caring.com
- Caring.com requires that reviewers have firsthand experience with the listed service provider (without being an employee or paid representative).
- Offers senior living communities the option of collecting reviews via phone call.
- Offers senior living communities self-addressed, postage-paid postcards that can be sent to seniors to request reviews.
- Almost 80 percent of Caring.com registered users are female between the ages of 40 and 69.
Caveats and warnings for Caring.com
- Caring.com is a pro-facility platform, meaning that they’re looking to protect facilities so they’re not destroyed by malicious reviewers who are looking to punish your business.
- Reviews and responses (from facilities) are heavily moderated
Bonus: Here’s a detailed guide, showing you how to attract more seniors with 5-star Caring.com reviews.
Top review website #13: Glassdoor Reviews
Glassdoor is an employment review platform; they allow former and current employees to anonymously review companies, view salaries, and apply for jobs.
Why Glassdoor reviews are important
Glassdoor amplifies employee advocacy. Employee advocacy is employee-led, company promotion that includes: employee-led recruiting, promotion, and development. It makes it easier for your organization to attract employees and customers, retain employees, and outperform competitors in the marketplace.
Features: Glassdoor
- Glassdoor reviews from employees are largely anonymous.
- Employers can respond to employee feedback.
- Employer reviews are averaged for each company. Ratings are based on user-generated reviews.
- Employees reviews are screened and verified to ensure they come from real employees at the organization.
Caveats and warnings for Glassdoor
- Attempts to game the review process are policed heavily by Glassdoor staff, employees at the target company, and the Glassdoor community.
- Review manipulation or dishonesty is publicly outed, often leading to an avalanche of negative reviews.
Bonus: Learn how you can boost your reputation on Glassdoor with our deep dive guide.
Top review website #14: The Knot
The Knot describes itself as an “all-in-one wedding planner” with “the #1 wedding app.” Their platform provides couples with the A-to-Z information, tools, and support they need to plan the wedding of their dreams.
Why The Knot reviews are important
According to Wedding Wire’s 2019 newlywed report, reviews and photos, aside from price, are the most important features couples look for when determining which vendor they’d like to contact. The Knot reviews provide couples with the important information they need to evaluate vendors.
Features: The Knot
- Vendors can’t be added to the platform without permission. Reviewers can refer a vendor to The Knot who will reach out to the vendor.
- Couples share reviews which usually consist of first name, last initial. Users are allowed to edit their review.
- Vendors are allowed to respond to reviews, to provide shoppers with a complete picture of the events.
- Reviews can be added to The Knot message boards and forums, vendors will have the opportunity to respond to their reviews provided that they meet the following criteria.
Caveats and warnings for The Knot
- The Knot is pro couples. Their platform is oriented around taking care of and pleasing their users/customers so vendors should act accordingly on their platform.
- While no official reporting mechanism exists yet, The Knot encourages reviewers to report inappropriate reviews at [email protected].
- Reviews can be shared in a variety of places including The Knot forums.
Top review website #15: YP
The Yellow Pages originally got their start as a business directory listed in alphabetical order. In 2013, they decided to rebrand their business to YP, adding a variety of new products and services to help businesses.
Why YP reviews are important
YP receives more than 23 million visitors to their site monthly. More importantly, YP has partnered with the Better Business Bureau, displaying ratings for listings of businesses that have earned an A or A+ rating or BBB accreditation. This shared partnership provides a significant lift to both the BBB and YP, improving the results brands achieve across both platforms.
Features: YP
- YP users are loyal and well acquainted with the platform and seek it out directly (vs. searching in Google).
- Reviews from BBB are syndicated in YP along with YP reviews.
- Users can flag reviews they feel are inappropriate.
- Users can share reviews via Facebook, Twitter and direct link.
Caveats and warnings for YP
- Reviews can disappear without warning.
- YP is a niche platform so it would be best to build your review portfolio using YP and a variety of other mainstream platforms.
8 more review sites to get reviews
Zocdoc
Zocdoc has expanded its service dramatically covering 40 percent of the U.S. population across 2,000+ cities. They’re used by more than 6,000,000 people each month. Oliver Kharraz, MD, The founder, and chief executive of Zocdoc, states that he comes from a family with a 300 year tradition of being doctors. Check out our detailed Zocdoc reviews guide for more information.
Thumbtack and Angi
Thumbtack and Angi (rebranded from Angie’s List) are lead generation and review platforms for home service providers. They focus on “Mom-and-pop shops helping next door neighbors. Busy families hiring family businesses.” We’ve got plenty of insights on Angi reviews.
Indeed
Indeed is a job search engine that also provides employee prospects with reviews on the company they’re applying for a position with. Indeed receives more than 376 million visitors each month.
Lawyers.com
Lawyers.com is owned by Martindale-Hubbell, the very same people behind Avvo and Nolo. This website, along with Avvo, gives law firms access to their extensive network.
Capterra and TrustRadius
Capterra and TrustRadius, like G2, are software ratings platforms that focus primarily on SaaS companies. These review platforms help managers and decision makers choose the right software for their business using reviews from other like minded customers.
WeddingWire
WeddingWire lists more than 250,000 wedding professionals on their platform. They’re not as well known as The Knot, but they place special emphasis on making things as easy for their users/customers as possible.
A good rule of thumb with these review sites would be to focus your attention on the mainstream review platforms to start, then add industry-specific, and niche sites as you gain traction with your review management campaigns.
Use these top rated review websites to generate reviews
Your customers decide which review sites are viable for your business. Invest your time wisely, focus on the right review sites and you’ll have the tools you need to boost top-line growth on demand.
These top rated review sites attract a disproportionate amount of customer attention you can use to grow your business. Start with these review websites, then branch out and niche down to build a strong review portfolio that protects you from competitors, attracts customers, and establishes you as the market leader.
