Yelp Reviews: The Secrets to Better Reviews

Yelp Reviews: You either live by them or curse them. Here are some quick "insider tips" on how to generate better, 5-star reviews, as well as improve your ranking within their online ecosystem. 

Step Zero: Ensure that ALL your data on your business profile is complete and correct. Add as many relevant photos as needed. Empty fields on your page will lower your rankings. Key point: Add the Yelp button on your website to your Yelp page. This "backlink" gives an important signal to Yelp that you are being transparent and encouraging engagement with your customers. 

One: Deliver superb service. Ask happy customers if they would be willing to volunteer their great experiences on Yelp. I have one client of mine who asks, "Would you be willing to say that on Yelp?" every time she hears a compliment about her business. 

Two: When you see your customers on the mobile devices, ask them to check-in on Yelp. Offer them some type of incentive to check-in on Yelp, but do not offer incentives to leave a review. The more check-ins, the more likely Yelp is to see that activity and thus increase your rankings. 

Three: Respond to ALL reviews, good or bad. After all, Yelp is social media. So the more you interact with your clients, the more likely you are to earn some kudos from Yelp. Moreover, share the better reviews on social media. Activity = Life. 

Four: Engage with "Elite Members." Even one review from an Elite can dramatically improve your reviews. Here is how to find them: http://www.yelp.com/elite

Five: Throw an event for Elite Members. 

Six: Make review marketing, with Yelp and Google My Business, a routine activity. Check out LimeLight on how they can help: http://limelightspark.com/

Seven: Leveraging targeted keywords for a website helps increase higher rankings, but this is also applied to Yelp. Optimizing your Yelp business listing is the same as optimizing your website for search engines. The difference being taking out the technical on-page elements and adding linking to earn backlinks through any guest posts, PR.

You want to utilize keywords in your business listing that applies to your business, and try to earn backlinks (from reputable sources) wherever you can, either through guest posting, press releases, or other social media outlets like Facebook and Twitter. If your business is known for a good “brunch” for example, encourage customer/reviewer to write about it as the reviewer is rating a proven service or product. Example: If you type in “Brunch Food” or “Best Brunch.” (Tip: use the free Google AdWords Planner to research top keywords searchers are using)

Eight: Get some good backlinks to your Yelp Page. Backlinks to your Yelp business profile can help your ranking on both Yelp and other search engines. Link to your Yelp profile on all of your business's social media profiles, websites and any time you create new content or blog posts. If you can, get other high-quality websites to link to your Yelp profile. You can ask other website owners for links by creating guest posts or by offering something in exchange. If you offer to link to their website or Yelp profile in return, other businesses may be more willing to help you. Include your Yelp URL on any correspondence you send out to customers. 

Social Bookmark your Yelp page with your keyword in the title and description.