Web Designer Cracks Code to Winning With Yelp Reviews

(Newswire.net — August 1, 2017) Mays Landing, NJ — Yelp is arguably the leader in online review websites, with Facebook and Google following closely behind. It is clear that a company’s overall rating on Yelp has an impact on future sales. Pre-purchase research plays a major role in consumer behavior today, and business owners are taking a hard look at how they’re ranked and reviewed. Many business owners are flabbergasted at the ratings they find on Yelp. Just a few bad reviews can sink a company’s overall score. Bad reviews may not reflect the business, or may not be truthful, but they will overpower good reviews unless there are a significant number of great ones.

When a New Jersey-based web designer heard these types of complaints coming from his clients, he set out to crack the code on getting great Yelp reviews that will stick. Sam published a blog post on Yelp reviews explaining why online reviews matter and detailing the challenges to managing a Yelp business page. Sam Natello of DotCom Global Media has a website design and digital marketing company in southern New Jersey. This company has been active for over twenty years and is widely recognized as an authority in digital media.

Since online reviews and reputation management is a big part of digital marketing and strategy, it was Sam’s prerogative to get to the bottom of the Yelp situation. First, he studied the data. He looked at various platforms and looked for patterns and algorithms that might impact a company’s Yelp rating. 

After that, Sam went straight to the source. He read all of the FAQ and discussion threads on Yelp, and made a list of unanswered questions to ask over the phone. After speaking with Yelp specialists for a total of three hours, Sam was able to develop a strategy for how to deal with Yelp reviews and improve page performance. He identified some key barriers that need to be dealt with before rescuing a Yelp business page. Most of the issues are tough to manage because they deal with external factors. For example, many customers do not have a Yelp account, or they don’t take time to write reviews. Another issue is when the reviews don’t stick. Yelp likes to hide reviews posted by inactive users.

The biggest thing that falls directly onto a business owner is control over the page. Yelp pages are auto-generated for most businesses. If the business owner ignores the page and doesn’t claim it as their page, the page will have low priority. Once the business owner takes control to manage the page, he or she can update information and respond to the reviews. How the business owner manages a Yelp page is also an important piece of the puzzle. If the account is flagged for one reason or another, the company’s rating is ultimately going to suffer. Reviews may be deleted or hidden from the page if Yelp suspects any “cheating” or suspicious activity by the page manager. 

Based on Sam’s Yelp insight, there are some strategic methods to dealing with a Yelp reviews page. It can be a challenge to outsource this kind of service, but that’s usually the best scenario. Unless an intern or staff member can be trained to manage the Yelp page and respond to reviews as needed, there isn’t enough time in the day to do this in-house. Most companies hire a marketing agency to help them with their online marketing, but Yelp reviews are still a mystery. This platform is far more complex than it seems, and very few marketers have tested their theories to prove out the best way to get great Yelp reviews to stick. 

The restaurant business is just one of the industries currently feeling the weight of Yelp reviews. Last week, Andrew Zimmern of the Travel Channel’s hit show “Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern” took to the web to voice his frustration with Yelp reviews. He said that Yelp drives him crazy, and “it doesn’t help me at all” when he’s searching for restaurants to visit and feature on his show. “If you’re into quality, Yelp is not for you,” Andrew said in his video rant, which was posted to the Business Insider website. He went on to suggest that Yelp is all about ads and finding contact information, but it doesn’t accurately reflect the business itself.

Andrew Zimmern is not alone in his frustrations over Yelp. Many business owners are trying to get a handle on their Yelp pages, but they find that reputation management is harder than it seems. For example, it’s hard to get customers to write reviews for you. Also, Yelp has built-in algorithms that further complicate the issue. You might have a few great reviews on your Yelp page, but they’re hidden because Yelp doesn’t “recommend” them for one reason or another. Even worse, you might have a lower rating than you deserve due to competitors. Yelp tries to keep moderate this but some people get away with playing dirty, using fake accounts to leave bad reviews and sabotage your rating.

Reputation management is one of the services that DotCom provides. DotCom Global Media has worked with a vast range of businesses, from Fortune 100 companies to startup-level entrepreneurs. They currently serve clients from the Northeast to Florida, and as far west as Montana, but this local South Jersey team is especially committed to helping business owners in their home state of New Jersey. The digital marketing team is currently helping several businesses at the Jersey Shore with reputation management, using Sam’s insight on Yelp reviews to rescue and rehabilitate Yelp’s business ratings.