What if, when people search for your company, the first thing they see is a bad review from a dissatisfied customer?

In this new online world, prospective customers are increasingly turning to customer reviews when deciding whether or not to buy from a company. A set of good reviews can work wonders and, likewise, a few bad reviews can send people off to your competitors. As a business owner, then, it’s important that you know what people are saying about you online. A small amount of work will help you identify what your customers perceive as the strengths and weaknesses of the service you provide and let you improve your ratings until your business stands out as one of the best.

How can you possibly keep track of what’s being said online about your business? The web’s a big place, after all! One handy tool that can help is Google Alerts. Simply set it up with your company’s name and it’ll send you email alerts whenever someone writes about your company.

photo credit: RLHyde