When someone is searching online for new products and services, the first thing they usually want to know is how reliable a business is. What better way to find this out than reading online reviews written by previous customers? Yelp is one of the leading review platforms, and it has the power to play a major role in the buyer decision process. Not only does Yelp help potential customers, but it also provides a window of opportunity for businesses to gain more customers and establish client-business trust.
How do Yelp Reviews work?
There are many elements that make up the anatomy of a Yelp review. Here is a list of all those elements and their purposes.
- Profile photo: This a photo that identifies a reviewer like on any other social site. It shows businesses and other reviewers that this is the profile of a real person. Consumers tend to view profile photos as an indicator of trustworthiness.
- Name and badge: Yelp displays reviewers’ first name and last initial. In addition, Yelp will provide some accounts with an elite squad badge. This shows others that you are an experienced reviewer. This experience and the badge to prove it holds more weight with the Yelp community.
- Location: This tells you where the reviewer is from. This may be important for figuring out if your most active customers are local or if they travel from out of town. Depending on your business type, a negative review from someone who is not located in your area may be a red flag of a potential fake review.
- Friends, reviews and photos: The number of friends, reviews and photos on an account can provide both businesses and consumers with quick and easy criteria they can use to evaluate a reviewer’s validity and trustworthiness. The higher the number, the more involved and engaged these reviewers are and the less likely they are to be bots or paid reviewers trolling your business.
- Star rating and date: Before getting into the specifics of the review content, you will be able to see an overall star rating of a reviewer’s experience along with the date it was posted.
- Review content: This is the main section of a Yelp review. Reviewers are expected to share factual, detailed and relevant information about their experience in their review content. This section plays the largest role in determining how consumers will evaluate the reviewer and your business.
- Review specific photos: These photos are meant to function as an extension of the written review content. It validates and supports the information shared by reviewers.
- Reader reactions: Reader reactions are subtle indicators of consumer engagement for your business. They also help you measure how much of an impact a review has had on potential customers.
- Share and embed: This is a simple list of options consumers and businesses can use to share or embed specific reviews. This is a simple way for you to share great Yelp reviews on all of your social media sites.
What are the benefits?
Traffic
Yelp receives nearly 150 million unique visitors per month on a regular basis. That leaves opportunity for an entire world of exposure to your business. Placing your business on Yelp will make your business more accessible to this multitude of users and increase your visibility. Not to mention, good reviews on Yelp can help increase your clientele base, attracting new customers to your business.
Ease of Use
Yelp is a relatively easy platform to use. A user doesn’t even have to sign up to read reviews and other business data. This makes it more likely for people to discover your business through Yelp since there is no hassle of signing up. Yelp also allows for you to add your contact information, so potential customers can find your company and easily get in touch with you via the click of a button.
Trustworthy Reviews
Studies show that many people tend to trust online reviews just as much as they trust personal recommendations. This is the reason Yelp has become a go-to review site for many people. Yelp also filters reviews and recommends certain verified reviews. Reviews that are not verified are typically deemed fake, unhelpful or biased by Yelp. This contributes to Yelp’s credibility as a review platform.
Credibility
As Yelp has become a go-to review site, customers will typically expect to find your business on Yelp. If your business is not listed, it could be a red flag to users, implying that you are unreliable or too new to have any experience. This may ultimately send potential customers to another business that does have a Yelp listing instead.
Though there are mixed opinions on Yelp, the reality is that it is still a viable review platform that can be used to grow your business. Be sure to stay on the lookout for red flags that may indicate a fake review and establish a review management system that ensures you are notified about any review that is written and have a plan for responding promptly and effectively.