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How To Increase Reviews On Your Local Yelp Profiles

 

A new survey of 1,500 U.S. consumers, conducted by Yelp in collaboration with consumer insights firm Kelton Global, finds that 75 percent of consumers read more online reviews now than they did in the past. This suggests the importance of reviews for all segments of digital commerce has only increased over time. Similarly, more than half of consumers have passed up a business due to their local ratings and reviews. The data speaks for itself. As a multi-location business, ratings and reviews are a must on Yelp. So how can you increase your business’s volume of reviews? We’ll break it down for you.

 

Ensure All Your Local Yelp Pages Are Claimed 

 

Before your multi-location business can begin to think about increasing reviews on Yelp, it must ensure all your local Yelp pages are claimed. When consumers are trying to find a place to do business, they want information about the specific business location rather than the corporate office. The same goes for ratings and reviews. Local Yelp pages allow consumers to leave reviews about your local business for potential customers to read. Get more information on how to claim your local Yelp pages here

 

Ways to Increase Your Volume of Reviews 

 

Once you have your local Yelp pages claimed, you can begin thinking about increasing your business’s volume of reviews on them. Yelp does not allow companies to solicit reviews, so the key is to get creative. When asked about ways to increase local reviews, Yelp suggests that businesses link to their local Yelp pages from your website with their badges and email signatures. For instance, a “Find Us on Yelp” sticker has previously been used and could be featured on your business’s website. This sticker was paused during the pandemic, but Yelp has announced that they will be coming out with new stickers in early 2022 that your business can put on its local pages.

 

Yelp also shares that the key to success on their platform is to engage with customers. A great way to encourage more reviews on your local pages is to respond to the ones your business is already receiving. Consumers said they tend to read 10 reviews before deciding on a company. Of those who read reviews, 97 percent said they pay attention to business owners’ and operators’ responses. If a previous customer is on the fence about leaving a review but sees that your business has taken the time to respond to other reviews, they’ll be more likely to leave one. The more reviews your company responds to, the better! 

 

There are a few additional tactics your business can use to gain more reviews without directly asking for them, which include: 

  • Putting a CTA on your receipts that link to your local Yelp profile where consumers can leave a review. 
    • An example would be “Let us know how we did! [link].”
  • If you have an in-person event, you can have a tablet or computer out where customers can leave reviews about their experience. 
  • If your multi-location business leverages chatbots, the chatbot can include an opportunity for the user to provide feedback in the form of a review. 
  • Highlight reviews on your website and social channels. If customers see that others are leaving reviews, they’ll be more inclined to do so themselves. 

 

Whether your multi-location business is just getting started with local reviews on Yelp, or you’re looking to build upon the reviews you already have, the tactics mentioned above can help! It’s time to start managing your online reputation, and SOCi is here every step of the way.

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