The best review sites for a small business are the ones your customers actually check before they buy: for most local businesses that means Google first, then one or two of Facebook, Yelp, the Better Business Bureau, Apple Maps and the main directory for your type of business. You don’t need a presence on every review site. You need to claim the ones that rank when people search your business name, keep them accurate and focus your effort on the two or three that matter most to your customers.
This guide explains how to figure out which review platforms matter for you, what each major one is good for and how to manage several without spreading yourself thin. For why reviews matter in the first place, see the importance of online reviews.
How to Find the Review Sites That Matter for Your Business
Rather than guessing, let search results tell you. Three quick checks:
- Search your business name. Note every review site on the first page. Those are where people looking for you specifically will see your reputation.
- Search your main service plus your city. Note which directories and review sites appear. These are where people who don’t know you yet are comparing options.
- Ask new customers. “How did you find us, and where did you check us out?” Their answers show which sites influence real decisions.
The sites that show up in all three are your priorities. Anything that never appears can wait.
The Best Review Sites for Small Business, Compared
For most local businesses, Google reviews are the most visible, because they appear directly on your Business Profile in Search and Maps. They also feed into how Google presents your business in local results. If you only manage one review platform, make it this one. Google lists prominence, which includes review count and rating, among the factors behind local results, alongside relevance and distance. Recent reviews also give searchers a current picture of your service, which older reviews alone can’t.
Facebook uses recommendations rather than star ratings: people say whether they recommend your business and why. Recommendations matter most for businesses whose customers find them through social media, local groups or word of mouth. Make sure recommendations are turned on for your Page if you want them displayed.
Yelp
Yelp is influential in some cities and categories and barely used in others. It also has unusual rules: Yelp asks businesses not to request reviews, and its recommendation software filters out many reviews it considers less reliable, so new reviews may not show prominently. Claim your listing, keep details accurate and respond to reviews, but don’t build your review strategy around Yelp unless your searches show it ranking well.
Better Business Bureau
The BBB shows customer reviews and complaints, and it tends to rank for business-name searches. Some customers, particularly for larger purchases or home-related services, check it as a trust signal. Having a business profile on the BBB doesn’t require accreditation, which is a separate program. At minimum, monitor it and respond to any complaints promptly.
Apple Maps
iPhone users can leave ratings and photos for places on Apple Maps. Claim your business through Apple Business Connect so your details are accurate for people who navigate with Apple Maps by default. You can’t control ratings directly, but accurate information and good service drive them.
Bing Places
Bing’s local results draw on data from several sources. Claiming your Bing Places listing helps keep your details right for people using Bing and services that rely on its data.
Industry-specific directories
Many types of businesses have a dedicated directory or marketplace that customers trust more than general sites. These often rank highly for service searches and can carry more weight with buyers in your field than a general platform. Your search checks above will reveal which ones matter for you.
Product review platforms
If you sell online, reviews on your product pages and on third-party review platforms help shoppers compare. Google’s product rich results can show ratings in search when your product pages use review markup that follows Google’s guidelines.
How to Manage Reviews Across Several Sites
Claim everything that ranks
Even sites you won’t actively grow should be claimed, so you can fix wrong information and respond to reviews. Unclaimed listings often show outdated hours, old phone numbers or the wrong website.
Pick one or two sites to grow
Spreading review requests across five platforms means none of them builds momentum. Focus requests on Google plus one other site that matters in your market. Sending a customer a choice of five links usually results in no review at all.
Monitor and respond everywhere
Set alerts or a weekly reminder to check each claimed site. A response to a complaint on a smaller site still matters to the person reading it before they call you. Our guide to responding to negative reviews has templates you can adapt.
Keep details consistent
Your name, address, phone number and website should match on every review site. These listings double as citations, so inconsistencies can confuse customers and search engines alike.
Respect each platform’s rules
Policies differ. Google allows you to ask every customer; Yelp discourages asking at all. Incentives for reviews are prohibited on Google and risky everywhere. Check each site’s guidelines before you start a review push.
Deciding Where to Point Customers
When you ask for a review, you need to send each customer somewhere specific. A few practical rules:
- Default to Google unless your searches show another site matters more for your type of business.
- Rotate a second platform occasionally if your Google profile already has plenty of recent reviews and another site looks thin by comparison.
- Match the platform to the customer. Someone who found you through a Facebook group may be happier leaving a recommendation there.
- Follow each platform’s rules. Don’t send Yelp requests, since Yelp asks businesses not to solicit reviews.
Whichever you choose, one clear link works better than several options. Our guide to asking customers for reviews covers timing and wording.
Common Mistakes
- Chasing a presence on every review site instead of the few your customers use.
- Ignoring unclaimed listings that rank for your business name.
- Sending customers a list of several review links at once.
- Responding on Google but leaving complaints unanswered on other sites.
- Copying reviews from one platform and posting them as if they were left on another.
- Letting old listings from a previous address or business name stay live.
What About Review Widgets and Aggregators?
Some tools pull reviews from several platforms into one feed for your website or send requests on your behalf. They can save time, but check two things first: that requests go to every customer without filtering by satisfaction, and that reviews shown on your site are real and attributed to where they were left. A tool is only as compliant as the way it’s set up.
Review Site Checklist
- Search your business name and note every review site on page one.
- Search your main service and city and note the directories that appear.
- Claim and correct each of those listings.
- Choose Google plus one other platform to actively grow.
- Set a weekly check to monitor and respond across all claimed sites.
- Show your best reviews on your own website, too. See our guide to customer reviews on your website.
Your reviews work hardest when your website backs them up with a clear path to contact you. Explore our website design services to make sure visitors who check your reviews can take the next step.