Over the years, Yelp.com has grown in popularity and now has the power to make or break a business. If you’re unfamiliar, Yelp is a website that allows users to post reviews about their experience with businesses. The ranking system is on a scale of one to five stars, along with a comment if the reviewer so chooses to post one. If you’re an established business with a strong customer base, this can be a blessing. But for businesses just starting out or with a rocky reputation, Yelp can be a nightmare. So, how can you use Yelp to your advantage?
First, you’ll need to set up your profile. If you don’t know where to begin, check out your competitors’ profiles and see what kinds of keywords and terms they use. Look at both the profiles with four and five stars along with those with less than three stars. What kind of pictures do they have? What are their major critiques? Does their profile lead to a well put-together website? This will help you determine how to structure your profile.
Once you’ve put in your business’s basic info, you need to make sure you provide all the info that prospective customers may be looking for. This includes options like links to a menu, parking information, a strong photo gallery showing off your product/service/location, any dress-codes you may have, accepted payment methods, etc. You also need to make sure that all of your contact information is readily available. Another crucial detail is that your website is mobile friendly, because there are a whopping 78.9 million unique mobile visitors to Yelp every month. So, if they’re using Yelp from their phones and your website looks funky on a mobile device, they’ll be more inclined to check out a competitor’s site that’s more mobile friendly.
Now that you have an established Yelp profile, what do you do if you receive a bad review? It’s important to note that as a business you’re not allowed to alter reviews, take them down or pay people to write good ones. You can encourage your customers to write positively, but that’s the extent of it. If you do receive a bad review, it’s important to respond to it in a timely and professional manner. Remember, your response is visible to everyone who checks out your Yelp profile. So take the time to thank the reviewer for coming in and offer something to compensate for their bad experience. Whether it’s a complimentary service or free meal, it’ll pay off in the long run. Don’t be overly generous, but let it be known that you want to make their next experience with your business a great one. That being said, it’s also important to respond to the good reviews! Yelp even provides tips for business owners when it comes to providing responses, which you can check out here.
Yelp has a lot of power over businesses, but as long as you are able to provide quality customer service and timely responses to negative feedback, your business will flourish. Make sure to also use Yelp’s additional resources.
Looking for help with your business’s online presence? Call Traffic Jams today at 855-599-9998 or email sales@trafficjams.com.
