Make your Business Awesome on Yelp

For those of you that were at the philadelphia bar and nightlife convention you already heard me talk a little bit about managing your reputation online. Having a good reputation is essential for the growth and prevalence of your business. Anything from bad customer service to negative reviews can lead to an undesirable reputation; this explains the number of companies that access reviews management for agencies. Having a stable and respected reputation will ensure sales and drive your business to outgrow competitors. I mentioned working with Yelp to improve your star rating instead of ignoring it. You may also want to try to conduct an SEO audit on your site if you’re concerned that your search rankings aren’t as strong as you’d like as this is another thing that is affecting your company’s reputation and its discovery. Here’s my list of the 5 things you can start doing today that will immediately help to build your online reputation through Yelp.com.

1. Claim your Yelp Business page. This can be a bit of a process if your email address isn’t @[businessname].com but it’s simple enough to request a pin number in the mail. Yelp has a separate login for business owners, biz.yelp.com

2. Once you have your Yelp business page claimed you need to make sure that all of the information about your business is 100% up to date. Yelp will guide you through this process making it simple for you complete all of the necessary content. Click the tab on the left that says “Business Information” to get started.

3. Respond to your reviews. On the left side of the dashboard you will see a “reviews” tab. Click that and then click “respond privately” to every review that anyone has given you thus far. It’s Yelp, so you’re bound to have a few unfavorable reviews, but please don’t think this is an opportunity to set them straight. Simply ask the person to give you another try and promise that they’ll have a better experience the next time they come in. You’re limited to 5 responses per day.

   

4. Add awesome photos. It’s your establishment, why would you want customer photos to dictate the first impression that consumers receive when visiting your Yelp page. Get some amazing food photos taken in natural light and post them where it says “photos”. And make sure you write something in the caption. This will ensure that you’re given the best possible chance to lure new customers into your establishment.

   

5. Last but certainly not least, add a check in offer. This is the one free tool that yelp has that will drive new customers directly through your door. I love giving away a free drink with a purchase.

   

Reputation management is one service that I truly love offering at Small Talk Media. There’s something truly rewarding about taking a client’s Yelp page from 3 stars to 5 knowing the impact that has on his or her business. If you have a business with a great product or service but that isn’t reflected online please reach out to us right away. Yelp is just the beginning of a great online reputation.

– Rob