We’ve fixed the Bing link issue – link now works on Mike’s widget

Good spot Wayne – cheers

Myles

@Lauren – we’re working on some more flexible options for customising reviewbiz for specific businesses/industries – will be a couple of months until these are rolled out though

@Lee – the FB app is a great idea and one that we have slated for phase 2 of ReviewBiz. Also, we’re developing an HTML email version of ReviewBiz so when you create the widget you also get an email you can forward to existing customers. This should launch in next 1-2 weeks.

@Wayne – good suggestion about opening in a new window – we’re now changing the widget to do this as standard

Thanks to you all for taking an interest in ReviewBiz and for sharing your thoughts. Please sign-up for the free Beta trials for our other planned local SEO tools – it would be great to get your views on those too when they launch.

Thanks, Myles

Good point about the Bing link! They just can’t get any love.

I don’t think of this as the only solution to garnering reviews. This is but a small part of a program that should include emails and or personal asks. In that context it can be used via a quick redirect that the client can easily remember – like: barbaraoliverandco.com/reviews

In this context it brings an existing customer back to your website with the potential for a second sale.

Yes, I added the check box and it dramatically slowed down spam.

In principle it is great and shows an awesome level of transparency and a commitment to customer interaction.

The (admittedly small) downside is customers perhaps leaving your site too early – like Lee I would consider putting it somewhere where this wouldn’t be an issue. It should also be a default that the review page opens in a separate window maybe?

BTW, I like the spam check box you have, better than captcha.

@Lee

I think your Facebook app idea is a winner.

I am not sure that I fully understand your hesitancy in putting the widget on the website as a place for an existing client to access…

Something like this would be awesome as a facebook app that could be pushed to a biz’s fans.

Anyway, my two bits. I have my clients use bill slips and e-mail to solicit reviews…

I have been bugging Myles too since your post, and I can’t wait for the dynamic button options they have in mind. I asked him about creating button images in the mean time that would focus on the industry. Hotels (my client) would prefer TripAdvisor, Yelp, CitySearch, Google Places, Yahoo, Bing, and Foursquare logos in their ReviewBiz button, while restaurants would want Yelp, OpenTable, Zagat, UrbanSpoon, TripAdvisor, and CitySearch logos. The biggest thing for my client is that widget is just way too big to be placed on the homepage, but the button would be a perfect addition to the footer navigation (if it could be altered to show review sites we want).

Take care and thanks for alerting me to BrightLocal,
Lauren

Though I signed up for hotpot my rating didn’t get assigned a name. oh well. At least it gave you the 5 starts you merit for yeoman’s work on Google Places.

My oh my, you’ve been prolific over the last few days

Dave