How to Manage Yelp Reviews for Small Businesses

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As consumers, we base our decision on reviews. In this age of smartphones and smart businesses, Yelp reviews can make or break your brand. Every additional 1-star improvement in your rating has the potential to grow your business by 9%.

Yelp is our go-to app when on the search for the best spots around us. You could be searching for a qualified dentist, an exotic restaurant, or perhaps an antiquities store – Yelp is the one app that connects millions of users to small businesses in the locality.

Yelp is not just an app that helps consumers, but it also is of great help to small business owners as it can be used as a powerful marketing tool to assist in propagating your business further.

What is Yelp for Business Owners?

As a small business owner, Yelp gives you the chance to create a profile for your business. You can then work your way around customer searches to make sure that your business page appears in the search results. It gives you access to tools, both free and paid, which you can use to connect with consumers using the app. You can use these tools to customize your business page and attract attention to it.

Considering there is significant competition in every line of work, to ensure growth, you must make your profile stand out in the crowd. Managing Yelp reviews can help your business grow because not only does it ensure good reviews, but it also addresses any issues at hand.

Here is how you can manage Yelp reviews for your small business.

Boost Positive Reviews

One of the perfect ways to boost positive reviews is by offering an exceptional product or service. Customers should be motivated to leave a positive review not because you requested it but because they wanted to. Still, you should ask them to leave a review on Yelp too.

Link to Yelp

Post your Yelp link on your card, website, email, or your social media, so it is more effortless for them to find. You cannot expect people to make an effort to search you up online specifically. Instead, place the link in your message with a small reminder to leave a review.

Share Window Clings

Whenever you walk into a store or a practice, your attention shifts to the banners and messages present on doors and windows. A great way to direct your clientele towards Yelp is by telling them with the help of signs. You can request for window clings and stickers to encourage reviews.

Share Positive Feedback

Reviews always garner attention – whether it is good or bad. On the occasion when you receive a useful review, it is best you share it. What qualifies as a useful review?

A good review is one that shares valuable information about your business, is well-written, and discusses your customer service as well. The best place to share a good review is on social media. Facebook pages are the best way to attract attention and can encourage others to send in their feedback as well. Reviews help potential customers gain an insight into how you do your business. Be it your approach, your work ethic, or your attention to customer satisfaction – every comment adds to your overall rating and subsequent response.

Respond to Positive and Negative Feedback

Responding to reviews is something not many businesses focus on. It does seem like a taxing ordeal, but this one move can help boost growth immensely. Reply to good reviews and thank the person for taking out the time to review your business. Keep it simple, so it is not very time-consuming.

When it comes to negative reviews, they are inevitable. No matter how hard you try, someone or the other will have an experience that is less than ideal. Many are of the opinion that it is best to ignore them for replying would only attract attention that could harm the business.

In reality, negative reviews help the authenticity of your business. When customers see a chain of positive reviews, they act suspicious because it seems too good to be true. Many are often led to think that those reviews are paid. It is best to address negative reviews adequately, regardless of the customer’s claim. Adopt a conciliatory approach for the misfortune and seek to offer remuneration if possible.

Negative reviews must be kept to a minimum, yes, however, when you do receive one, it is best to address the matter, so the customer feels like you care about them and their opinion.

Stay Calm

Negativity can be discouraging and demotivating. It is also likely that you may feel upset afterward, especially if the review painted an inaccurate picture of your side of the truth. Remind yourself to stay calm and level-headed and never respond in anger. Your one response could contribute to increasing or decreasing the future influx of customers, so it is best to apologize and offer a solution simply. Customers appreciate businesses that take their clientele seriously.

Additionally, according to the best reputation management company, heated responses are often assessed to reflect immaturity and unprofessionalism. As a business owner, that is the last thing you need on your Yelp page, so try to keep calm.

Resolve Issues in Private

When responding to negative reviews, it is best to resolve client issues in private. Apologize to your client publically; however, when it comes to problem resolution, it is best to sort out your conflicts in private. If you feel like you should clarify a matter and bring it to the customer’s attention, contact them privately. Not only will this prevent your business from attracting lousy attention, but it will also help mend the relationship between you and the customer.

Once you have resolved your issues, ask them if they are satisfied. If yes, you can request your customers to update their review and perhaps even discuss how you were prompt to address their concerns. This will help future clients look at your dedication to customer care.

Flag Violating Reviews

We are no stranger to unnecessary hate comments. Customers often retaliate and write about entirely false things, often violating Yelp’s content guidelines.

In such cases, instead of attending to the matter yourself, flag the review. Yelp will work to remove these reviews. This move will prevent your star ratings from getting affected, as well. Threats, harassments, and inappropriate content, all warrant removal, so if you find anything in a review, be sure to flag it. You can review Yelp’s content guideline for further details.

Parting Thoughts

Now that we have sorted out what you must do to manage Yelp reviews, there are some things you should not do under any circumstance, including posting reviews of competing businesses, offer discounts for reviews, posting paid reviews from third-party vendors, or push customers to remove negative reviews. You do your part of providing exceptional services and work towards constant improvement.

Yelp is a vital tool to help promote your small business to increase revenue. Understanding how to manage both good and bad reviews will help both your rating and your business.