Can You Hear the Yelping Yet? - Yelp and Small Business
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If you or your clients have a business with a postal address or any kind of brick-and-mortar presence, you can benefit from Yelp. Every review page has a link labeled “Is this your business? Get involved!” Click on the link and it takes you to this page, for example, which explains what Yelp is and how to use it to grow your business.
Start by searching for your business on Yelp. It just might show up, whether or not you have any reviews yet. The first thing you want to do is make sure that the basic information about your business is correct. So check the address, business hours, etc. If it is correct, you can always upload some photos to show what you can offer your customers. If it is not correct, you will want to click on the “Edit Business Info” link. A form will pop up that lets you correct the information – and if you’re the owner of the business, click on the box that indicates this before submitting the form.
Once the basic information is correct, you can turn your attention to the list of “do’s and don’ts” that Yelp gives as advice to business owners. The don’t list is actually very short: don’t review your own business anonymously (likewise don’t have your friends review it anonymously); don’t panic when you see a negative review; and don’t lash out at negative reviewers.
The things that you should do emphasize the community’s environment of honesty and full disclosure. For example, Yelp suggests that you DO review your own business, while clearly stating that you are the business owner. Do register on Yelp as an individual and engage with the community. Use Yelp private messaging to thank reviewers for writing about your business – but wait 48 hours before responding to a negative review. You will probably need the time to cool off; it can help to try to put yourself in your customer’s mindset. You may come across as defensive if you aren’t careful.
Yelp has a sponsorship program. You can get a customized badge from Yelp to put on your web page that shows how many Yelp reviews you’ve received; visitors clicking on the badge will go directly to your Yelp page. The badge is free, and can add credibility to a business just trying to get its legs.
You might also want to consider paid sponsor packages. These vary in price depending on what you want. They could pay off nicely. Yelp has been partnering with both Google and Facebook lately. It has been ranking well in Google for certain local searches. And the review company just recently released its API, which opens things up for programmers to start using Yelp data in mash-ups. While some have said that Yelp’s restrictions on its API are too stringent, it is likely that we’ll see a large number of innovative applications and widgets using Yelp content in the months ahead.
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