Yelp is one of the first places that consumers look when they need a review on a business or a restaurant. This means that for small business owners, Yelp can either be an awesome tool or a terrible liability.
Yelp offers owners a free account for their business and then publishes crowd-sourced reviews of that business for anyone that might be searching. Yelp was founded in 2004 and last year had approximately 135 million visitors. They also have approximately 71 million reviews shared on their website.
This multipurpose platform offers features like sharing events, creating lists, and a forum where reviewers can talk to one another and compare notes. Most importantly, and some would say controversially, Yelp has advertising opportunities for businesses. These are known as Yelp Ads and can be seen around the website. Some small businesses have argued that their negative reviews have been more prominent on Yelp if they didn’t purchase advertising. Yelp, naturally, vehemently denies this every time.
So how can Yelp be a liability? Think of that one client or customer who seemed determined to have a bad experience with your business; asking for services and/or products you didn’t offer, and becoming vociferously upset when you couldn’t deliver. If that same client goes home and writes a scathing Yelp review, your business is stuck with it — for good.
By that same coin, you may also have that one client who loves, loves, loves your business, and just can’t wait to tell the world about it. If that person leaves you a brilliant endorsement on Yelp, that will also follow your business around for a long time to come.
So with all this information, how can you make Yelp work for you? Here are some easy steps:
1.) Claim your profile and complete it.
Your business will likely be on Yelp even if you haven’t “claimed” your profile. Be sure to go do than, then fill your profile out with a description of your business, website, email, and phone number. If you are a restaurant, include your menu. This will help customers find you.
2.) Don’t forget photos.
Choose well-lit, attractive photos of your business, your services and your finished products. If you are a restaurant, be sure to include appealing photographs of your featured menu items. Also include an exterior shot, so people who don’t know what your building looks like can find you.
3.) Share Yelp with your customers.
This is how you get great reviews and are alerted to issues that may arise. A customer might not tell you to your face that they had poor service, but writing a review online might be easier for them to accomplish. Likewise for great service or an incredible meal. Make sure they know that they can share their thoughts on Yelp. Which leads us too…
4.) Read them and respond to them, even the really ugly ones.
This is not the time to get heated. Say that your team is working on the issues and offer them a chance to come back for an improved experience. For the great reviews, thank them!
Yelp’s algorithm is supposed to weed out fake reviews or spam comments, but if you have one from a disgruntled ex-employee, report it. In addition, Yelp offers training on responding to reviews. If you have one that you just don’t know what to say, look at their advice.
Do you have any ideas for Yelp? Has it helped your business? Give us your thoughts in the comments.