Enhancing your Online Reputation with Yelp

Friday December 04, 2015

Digital marketing for your business goes beyond just the website. Online profiles like Google Places, social platforms like Facebook, and Yelp in particular are crucial for bringing in business as well. A full-fledged online strategy employs all of these tools to maximize exposure and enhance your online presence.

Yelp is an especially important tool for introducing consumers to your brand and collecting testimonials about your service. Yelp is crowdsourced, driven by user submitted ratings on a scale of 1 – 5 stars. Users can submit pictures, check in to your business, access deals, and leave comments about their experience. In essence, Yelp paints a picture of what to expect as a customer. It takes the guesswork out of visiting a new business for prospective customers.

Claiming your business on Yelp is the first step to getting started. Doing so allows you to update information - including contact number, address, store hours, URL, photos, etc. It’s wise to add photos and give clients a sense of your aesthetic. Don’t leave users in the dark – show off a bit!

The next step is gathering reviews from clients about your business. Gathering reviews can prove to be the most difficult aspect of growing your portfollio. Yelp generally discourages soliciting clients for reviews. However, incentivizing users has proven a useful strategy. Give clients a reason to speak well of you – whether its’ offering a free drink with check-in or posting the Yelp sticker in your storefront.

As reviews roll in, there will inevitably be poor ones. Every business is human, so errors are bound to happen. Take initiative by responding publicly to bad reviews. Offer solutions to the issue or make up for the complaint through store credit. Some customers will never be satisfied, but if a pattern of wrongdoing sprouts up, look into changing your approach to the issue.

Online reputation is a huge factor in how your business is perceived – and Yelp is the ultimate source for branding your business. It is most users’ go-to source for feeling out who you are and what you can offer. Be active and involved in crafting your reputation by tapping into the potential of Yelp.

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