If you’re a business owner, you probably know how important great online customer reviews can be to your bottom line. In fact, a 2013 study revealed that eight out of 10 customers trust both online reviews and personal recommendations.

So how do you go about generating reviews online? Here are some simple things to get you started:

1. Be social: If you don’t have a Facebook page and Twitter account, now is the time to get one. If you already have Facebook and Twitter accounts, be sure to check them regularly for feedback. You need to keep an eye on your social pages and respond to customer feedback, good and bad, as it comes up. And of course, you need to make it easy for people to find your social sites, so include links on your website and in your emails.
2. Make it easy to be nice: Sure, you might like to keep talking about how great your product or service is, but your customers might not be as talkative. For the verbally shy, make reviews easier by adding non-verbal options like multiple choice options or a star rating system.
3. Get playing: Have you heard of gamification? Basically, that term refers to websites that incorporate some sort of game into their design to make it more fun for customers to participate. It can be as complex as you like, but even something as simple as adding virtual badges or trophies for customers who leave reviews can increase feedback.
4. Be generous: Everyone likes to rate something for free, and offering a free sample or free trial can be really effective in getting customers to leave reviews.
5. Follow up: A customer has just made a purchase. Is that the end of the transaction? Not if you want to generate some (usually positive) reviews. Once a purchase is complete, contact the customer to discuss the item they purchased and the overall shopping experience. When you get positive responses, ask if you can share them as testimonials on your site.

Okay, those are just a few ways to generate reviews and comments, but what should you do if some of those comments are negative? First of all, put your anger and indignation aside, and don’t stress: every business is going to get criticized from time to time. Don’t ignore the negative reviews; instead, respond politely to calm down and help calm the customer down. Try not to get into a debate on your social page; Instead, invite the customer to contact you by phone or email, or offer to contact you. Be sure to thank them for their feedback and apologize for any inconvenience they felt. And of course, if the feedback is on target, use it to make any necessary improvements.

Engaging customers and generating positive reviews takes work, but it’s work that can pay off big. Take a few minutes today to think about how your business can improve feedback and start building your own dedicated fan base.