Yelp – Is It a Good Thing for Your Business?
In this digital age, online reputation matters for businesses. Why? It’s simply because online reputation helps in growing their reputation, which leads to success. For that reason, many businesses use online review platforms to improve their online reputation. One platform they often use is Yelp. If you are unaware of Yelp, you might wonder if is Yelp good for my business? Or, if you are familiar with it, you might consider the idea of how to get my business on Yelp?
How beneficial is Yelp for businesses? That answer to that question depends on several factors. Depending on the situation, it can either help improve business’ reputation or worsen it. Therefore, before you go searching the web on “how to get my business on Yelp?”, you should look into Yelp’s positive and negative aspects. In this article, we will discuss these aspects as well as provide examples that will help you determine whether to get my business on Yelp or not.
Yelp’s Advantages
Increase Business Credibility and Visibility
Yelp provides a lot of exposure. It is for this reason why entrepreneurs want to know how do I get my business on Yelp. Why does it provide such amount of exposure? The answer is the fact that Yelp is the largest review platform on the web. First, it is a huge online business directory for over 80 million businesses, which means any legitimate business can set up their own Yelp page. Second it has close to 180 million visits online, which allows your business a great opportunity to be viewed by them. Lastly, Yelp’s positive reviews can help make your business gain more credibility and trustworthiness.
Example: Let’s say there is a humble yet popular family-owned restaurant in a certain area with a strong local customer base. Indeed, it has strong local support but it cannot tap into a much larger market. But if such a restaurant knows how do I get my business on Yelp and succeeds in establishing a profile, the business will immediately have access to an audience outside its immediate market. Potential customers looking for a new restaurant on Yelp may stumble upon them. If the restaurant has glowing reviews about its food and service, more customers will flock in.
Improve SEO
A well-curated Yelp listing will rank highly in Google and other SERPs. When a person searches for a particular service or type of business, the SERPs might return with your business’s Yelp profile. A Yelp profile appearing on SERPs will help the business get noticed by potential customers.
Example: A small auto-mechanic business does not have an optimized website for search engines because of its resources. However, if they know how do I get my business listed on Yelp and created a well-optimized Yelp profile, with accurate business information, detailed reviews and high-quality images, their profile can appear if a person searches the web for “auto-mechanic in (city).” Thus, the business can get leads from search engines without investing a lot in SEO.
Understanding Customer Preferences
Yelp’s review platform provides a valuable avenue to understand customer preferences. By reading Yelp reviews and identifying the frequent points or suggestions of customers, a business can identify areas that they can improve. These helpful insights will help the business improve its offerings, service, pricing or any areas of the business that can improve its performance.
Example: A café owner might notice several reviews mentioning their lack of non-gluten or vegan options. In order to cater to the growing demand, the café can add non-gluten or vegan options to their menu. This action will not only please their current customers and improve customer satisfaction but will also help attract potential customers.
Customer Interaction
Yet another good reason to know how to get my business listed on Yelp is that Yelp allows businesses to interact with their customers. How? It’s simply by giving them the chance to respond to customer reviews. Business owners value the opinions of their customers, yet at the same time, customers also value the words and remarks of business owners. Responding to reviews, appreciating positive remarks, or addressing negative feedback, these actions will provide value to both existing and upcoming customers.
Example: A moving company receives a negative review from a disgruntled customer due to late movers and a delayed truck. The owner responded professionally, admitted their errors, apologized, and offered a discount. Potential customers will see that the business not only listens to their customers but is also proactive in problems. This will improve the business’ overall perception.
Yelp’s Drawbacks
Indeed, entrepreneurs can rely on Yelp to help them grow their business. Since it is a powerful tool, if you’re an entrepreneur, you might want to ask yourself how to get my business on Yelp. Unfortunately, Yelp is not perfect. It is an undeniably potent business tool, but the fact is, Yelp has its own set of challenges.
The harm of Negative Reviews
The biggest pitfall of using Yelp is the potential harm negative reviews might bring. Whether fake or real, warranted or not, a simple negative review can harm a business’ reputation deterring potential customers. Thus, the business loses the opportunity for growth.
Example: A local chiropractor with a proven track record of satisfied clients suddenly received a negative review from a disgruntled customer who believed the service was mediocre. This scathing review also appeared on the first page of the business’s Yelp profile. When potential customers see this review, it might drive them away and seek business elsewhere.
Yelp’s Discouraging Filtering Algorithm
The biggest frustration amongst the businesses with Yelp is its filtering algorithm. Businesses would have this sparkling 5-star review that would suddenly disappear. Missing that review, owners would waste their time searching how do I find my reviews on Yelp only to find out that their glorious 5-star review was filtered by Yelp’s algorithm. Yelp claims that this is done to filter out fake reviews, but sometimes, genuine reviews get buried.
Example: A store owner notices that the 5-star review written by a longtime loyal customer disappears only to be replaced by a 1-star review from an account without a profile or prior reviews. Such circumstances will discourage the business owner from encouraging positive reviews from customers. Moreover, that scathing 1-star review will harm the business’ reputation at the same time.
Sabotaging Yelp Ratings
Ever wonder why you cannot get those good reviews to go live on your Yelp page even though you search how to get my Yelp review recommended? It’s because there are many folks out there manipulating Yelp reviews. To be precise there are folks posting fake reviews masking themselves as disgruntled customers. These reviews would come from competitors or simply individuals who want to sabotage the reputation of businesses.
Example: A dental clinic with a stellar reputation would suddenly receive a series of negative reviews from dubious Yelp accounts. These reviews would attack the business, the staff and even the dentists, even though the clinic has no records of these users. Worst of all, these reviews would remain for weeks or months despite the attempts to have them removed. The result is a big blow to the clinic’s reputation.
