How to Get Yelp Reviews for Your Business

April 25, 2021

Users post about 26,380 reviews on Yelp every minute. Meanwhile, about 98% of Yelp users make a purchase at a business found on Yelp. Another 80% visit Yelp because they want to make a purchase.

Generating Yelp business reviews for business reputation management can help you generate more business.

What are the benefits of generating Yelp reviews? How can you easily manage your reviews? Keep reading to find out!

With this guide, you can learn everything you need to know to get Yelp reviews online. Then, you can boost your brand's reputation, foot traffic to your store, and more!

Read on to develop a Yelp review strategy for your business today. 

How Reviews Impact Your Business

About 95% of consumers read reviews online before they start shopping. In fact, over 90% use reviews to determine a company's credibility. Without reviews, consumers might struggle to learn about your business.

You could miss a chance to generate sales as a result.

That's only the start! Here are a few ways getting Yelp reviews for business can impact your success.

1. Learn From Customers

Are consumers experiencing issues with your current business operations? A bad user experience could scare consumers away. They might choose your competitors over your business instead.

If people are struggling, it helps to know what's wrong. Generating Yelp business reviews for business management can help. You can gather useful insights from your customers.

Their insights can help you recognize potential issues with your business.

Otherwise, consumers will think you're ignoring their needs. They'll take their business elsewhere.

How have the customer's needs changed over time? For example, more people are relying on deliveries in light of COVID-19. Maybe your customers were upset because you didn't offer delivery services.

If someone left a comment about deliveries on Yelp, you could have detected that need early on. Then, you could start offering deliveries to improve the user experience.

Learning about what your customers need can help you keep up with trends. It could even give you a competitive advantage. You can personalize your business with the customer's needs in mind.

Consumers will see that you offer what your competitors don't. Then, they'll choose you over any other business in the industry.

Meanwhile, consumers will recognize you're willing to listen and change based on their needs.

You can keep making improvements to your business to draw new customers to your store.

2. Improve Brand Awareness

People won't choose your business if they don't know who you are. You can use Yelp reviews for business brand awareness. Your online visibility will improve, helping brand awareness grow. 

It's important to generate reviews on more than one platform. That way, you can reach consumers regardless of the review platform they use. People will start to see your brand online more often.

In time, brand awareness will become brand recognition. The next time someone needs your product or service, they'll recall seeing you on Yelp. They'll remember the positive reviews they read about your business, too.

Then, they'll choose your business outright instead of researching others.

Generating Yelp business reviews can also help improve your search engine ranking. A higher search engine ranking will position you ahead of competitors. Consumers will see your business before anyone else's.

Brand awareness will continue to grow, helping you reach more customers on- and offline.

3. Improve Your Online Reputation

About 85% of consumers trust online reviews as much as a friend's personal recommendation. Unfortunately, consumers won't trust your business if they know nothing about you. If you don't have Yelp reviews, it could reflect badly on your business.

Consumers will think people have nothing good to say about you. They'll turn to a business that has a stronger online reputation instead.

You can use Yelp reviews for business reputation management.

Generating fresh reviews will show consumers that people already love and trust your business! Then, you can leverage brand trust to draw in new customers. Once people see the value you offer, they'll post a review on your Yelp listing, too.

Then, brand trust will continue to grow. In time, trust can become loyalty. 

Loyalty is sometimes worth 10 times as much as a single purchase. In fact, a 2% increase in customer retention can reduce costs by as much as 10%. You can foster strong brand relationships to boost retention.

Your ROI could improve in time. 

4. Stronger Search

Google looks for social proof like customer reviews when determining search engine rankings. It's important to have reviews on different review platforms. You can diversify, which could improve your ranking.

A stronger search engine ranking can position you ahead of competitors. Brand awareness and recognition will improve. Meanwhile, you can generate more website traffic, which could lead to more leads and conversions.

Ranking higher than your competitors can boost your brand's credibility, too. Brand trust and loyalty could grow as a result.

Is Yelp good for small business success? Definitely!

5. Generate Website Traffic

Improving your search engine ranking can help you generate more website traffic. It can also help you gather traffic from more than one place. Google will recognize that you're gathering traffic from multiple websites.

Your search engine ranking could increase further as a result. 

6. Increase Foot Traffic

People will use your Yelp listing to learn more about your business. You can demonstrate brand transparency, which could foster brand trust.

Remember, people won't choose your business if they can't learn more about you. You can respond to Yelp reviews and answer consumer questions. Answering their questions could help them feel more comfortable with your brand.

Meanwhile, consumers will see that you're not trying to hide anything. Remaining transparent can help them see you as an honest brand.

Once people read your Yelp reviews, they might decide to give your business a try. They can use your Yelp listening to find your address, too. Then, they might decide to visit your store in person.

Generating fresh Yelp reviews can help you generate more foot traffic.

Then, you can increase sales and improve your ROI.

How to Handle Negative Reviews

About 94% of people say bad reviews convince them not to buy from a business. About 97% of consumers read responses to reviews, too. Meanwhile, negative reviews cost businesses about 10% more per hire.

Responding to these reviews can help turn negatives into positives. In fact, a 1-star increase in Yelp ratings can result in a 5 to 9% increase in revenue.

Not sure how to respond to negative reviews? Here are a few tips that can help you manage negative Yelp reviews for business listings.

How to Respond to Reviews

First, don't respond to a negative review right away. You don't want to type something you might regret. In fact, reacting out of frustration could cause more problems.

Instead, take a deep breath. Get your mind off the review for a while. Give it a few hours.

Then, try to put yourself in the review's shoes. Does what they're saying make sense? Do they seem overly emotional or worked up?

Decide if you want to respond in public or privately.

Responding in public will show other consumers that you have nothing to hide. You can correct a discrepancy and offer a solution to all customers. 

In some cases, however, you might want to switch to a private conversation. 

Keep Calm

Either way, it's important to address the reviewer's comment in a calm, professional manner.

Remain polite and respectful. Avoid using an angry, emotional tone. You should also avoid insults, name-calling, and emotional language.

Otherwise, you risk looking as unstable as the reviewer, if not more so.

Use the reviewer's name in your response. Let them know that you appreciate your feedback and want to fix the problem. If the customer is just, apologize.

Consumers will appreciate your honesty.

Then, make an effort to change. Show people you genuinely want to improve. Offer an olive branch, such as a free tour or sample.

The consumer might decide to change their initial review.

Reviewing Negative Reviews

You can remove Yelp business reviews, sometimes. Yelp will only allow you to remove reviews that conflict with its Terms of Service or Content Guidelines. For example, a review might violate Yelp's Terms of Service if:

  • The review is fake or defamatory
  • Someone promoted another business
  • The review is really a rant about the business's political ideologies, employment practices, or other subjects that don't relate to the consumer experience
  • Conflicts of interest
  • Reviews that are irrelevant (Yelp refers to these as "extraordinary circumstances")
  • Non-first party reviews (written about someone else's experience)
  • Explicit or offensive content
  • Reviews containing private information
  • Plagiarism 

You can flag customer reviews for removal on Yelp by:

  • Logging into your Yelp business account
  • Selecting the Reviews section on your account
  • Locating the flag icon beside the review
  • Selecting the reason you want to report the review
  • Telling Yelp how the review violates Yelp's content guidelines

You'll receive an email from Yelp's User Operations team regarding next steps.

How to Avoid Negative Reviews With TrueReview

You can also use our review management platform to avoid negative reviews.

First, we ask customers about their experience with your service. Our system automatically segments the happy and unhappy comments. 

If the customer is happy, we show them which websites they can leave a review on, including Yelp.

If customers indicate they're unhappy, we give them the option to provide their direct feedback. You can also add contact options. You'll receive the consumer's direct feedback via email.

That way, the consumer won't post their negative comment on any review platform. Instead, you can make things right without worrying about negative reviews.

How to Get Yelp Reviews

Don't worry about searching "how to get my business on Yelp." We have you covered.

First, make sure to activate your Yelp page. Optimize your Yelp listing with:

  • Eye-catching photos
  • Descriptions
  • Menus
  • Phone numbers
  • Addresses/Locations
  • Hours of operation

Then, post a "Find us on Yelp" sign at your storefront. Make sure it's easy to see. You can also use stickers, badges, and other signage. 

Consider hosting a Yelp event, too. Yelp events can encourage Yelpers to visit your business. You'll establish yourself as an active community member and draw in local customers.

You can visit yelp.com/events and Add an Event to get started. Then, promote your event online.

Try offering swag giveaways during the event, too. For example, you can create a raffle for prizes. Branded materials can help you remain top-of-mind.

The Yelpers who attend your event can then post their reviews on your listing. 

Consider adding a Yelp QR code to your storefront or branded materials, too. A QR code makes it easier for people to leave reviews from their phones.

Verbally

There are multiple ways you can ask for Yelp reviews for your business. For example, try asking in person. It can take a little practice.

Don't push people to review your business. Instead, ask "how was your service today" or "did you find everything you need" while checking out a customer. Pay attention to their response.

Are they happy? Ask them to check you out on Yelp. You can plant the idea in their head without actively pushing for a review. 

Let people know you genuinely care about their thoughts, too.

Here are a few ways you can ask for reviews from your happy customers.

Online

You can also ask for Yelp reviews for business reputation management online. For example, add a testimonials page to your website. 

You can use review management software to keep everything easy, automated, and organized.

Consider adding a Yelp badge to your website, too. You can link straight to your Yelp page, prompting people to leave their own reviews.

Otherwise, use TrueReview as a tool for sending a review request via SMS. You can request reviews from any website, including Yelp. You can keep generating fresh reviews without taking time away from your business operations.

Yelp Business Reviews: Your Guide to Hearing From Happy Customers

Yelp reviews for business management can boost your brand and help you draw in new customers. With fresh reviews, you can show consumers the many reasons to trust your business. Reviews could give you the boost you need to get ahead of the competition!

Ready to start reeling in fresh Yelp reviews for your business? We can help.

Explore our pricing today to get started.


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