Yelp is the world’s leading review posting platform and it attracts approximately over 100 million unique visitors monthly. The reviews on Yelp have earned significant attention and dominated the search results, some businesses and companies received a lot of negative reviews. Companies should follow a proactive strategic approach to manage their reviews. Today, we’ll discuss Yelp reputation management; strategies, and best practices for online reputation management over Yelp.
Key Facts and Statistics about Yelp Online Reputation Management
- 90% of the users say that Yelp reviews impact their purchasing decision
- 72% of the customers trust online reviews as much as personal referrals and reviews
- 87% of the small business pages are streamlined with the SEO of the company
- Business name, address, phone number, and other contact information add value to the platform
- Pictures and videos have a great impact in remembering business information
- After verifying all the information, you should use a specific keyword for your business
Strategies for Yelp Reputation Management
Let’s discuss the main strategies and best practices for Yelp reputation management; they’re as follows;
Claiming Your Business
First of all, you should activate your business accounts. The confirmation process would take some time to open up various channels of communication between customers and the company, both public and private.
Responding to Reviews
The time allocation for managing the business reputation is different for various types of businesses and companies. It is necessary for them to effectively and carefully respond to all the reviews and feedback of customers, both positive and negative. A simple thank you note would let them know that you care about them and listen to their feedback. In case of negative reviews, you should contact them in a private message, listen to their feedback, and resolve their problem.
Yelp allows its users to edit their reviews and star ratings depending on the company’s response. Usually, 1 1-star rating means that the company messed up very badly; 4 and 5-star ratings are good for the company.
Updated Information Listing
Yelp platform has the listing of millions of businesses and companies in its directory. If the business has a clear description, and updated contact information, then it amplifies the the visibility of the business in the searches. Correct and accurate information is highly significant; companies should consider adding more details and information in the “About US” section with niche-focused keywords. It allows businesses and companies to differentiate themselves from their competitors. Otherwise, it becomes another business in the directory of Yelp.
Building Reviews
It is tempting for businesses and companies to build up their review portal with a lot of positive reviews to strengthen their brand credibility. If the company is purchasing reviews, the customers would receive a red flag about the business profile. However, fake reviews are against the court of law of the country and the platforms’ regulations. The “Operation Clean Turf” found 19 companies guilty of fake reviews New York Attorney General, imposed a penalty of approximately 350000 dollars for jeopardizing the trust and confidence of customers.
Respond to Reviews
There are two types of negative reviews; dissatisfied customers who have a bad experience with the brand; and fake users who are defaming and jeopardizing the reputation of the company. If the real customers are posting negative reviews after having a poor experience with the brand, then you should apologize to them and resolve their problem.
However, fake reviews are easy to recognize and they usually make false and exaggerated claims with no real profile picture or name. They give very few details while describing the problem. The company should ignore the negative reviews, responding to them would jeopardize the company’s ranking in the searches.
Connecting Yelp
If some reviews are mean and go against the company’s standards and policy, then you should request the Yelp platform to remove them. There is no guarantee that the platform will remove them from its platform or not, but some companies have achieved success through it. If your business has some fake reviews, then you should get them removed.
Motivating Positive Reviews
The best strategic approach to deal with bad and negative reviews is to encourage users for positive reviews. You can’t directly ask them to leave positive reviews; there are many subtle ways to request users for their reviews and feedback. For instance, you could send them a reminder email to inform them about your presence on Yelp and encourage them for their feedback on Yelp. If they are active Yelp users, they would actively participate in protecting the reputation of the company.
Conclusion: Yelp Online Reputation Management |Online Reputation Management on Yelp
After an in-depth study of Yelp reputation management; we have realized that Yelp is the world’s leading review-positing platform. If you are learning about online reputation management over Yelp; then you should keep in mind the abovementioned best strategies and practices for managing the company’s reputation.
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