Learn how to increase the number of times customers view your businesses profile, improve your reviews, and drive more sales by using Yelp for your business. This deck will show you how to: -- Optimize your Yelp profile to increase your traffic -- Strategies to make sure your reviews don't end up in the Yelp Filter -- Best practices when you respond to reviews (both positive and negative) -- Tips for generating more reviews -- Leverage customer review to boost engagement, and sales

1. WEBINARS
How to Grow Your Business
with Yelp

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Webinar Outline
✓ Why Yelp is important to your business
✓ Setting up and optimizing your page
✓ Responding to reviews
✓ 8 tips to generate more positive reviews
✓ Navigating the Yelp Review Filter
✓ Leverage customer reviews to boost sales

3. Why Yelp is Important
to Your Business

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How to Grow Your Business with Yelp // Why Yelp is Important to Your Business
+ Manage Your Image
✓ Yelp is the #1 local/regional website
and app
✓ Claim your business to upload
photos, add website link and ensure
hours, phone number and other
information is always up-to-date
✓ Yelp has free tools that showcase
your business to their community
Control Your Business’s Information

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How to Grow Your Business with Yelp // Why Yelp is Important to Your Business
✓ A Yelp Business Owner Account
allows you to connect with
customers and respond to reviews
✓ Use the free response tools
available in Yelp for Business
Owners to join conversations
✓ You can respond via a private
message, or post a public comment
for all future consumers to see
(Current + Potential)
Connect with Customers

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How to Grow Your Business with Yelp // Why Yelp is Important to Your Business
✓ Yelp makes customers more
comfortable choosing small
businesses over major brands
✓ In past, customers relied on brand
name to be assured of quality
✓ Research has shown that if a local
business is on Yelp, customers will
choose them over a big brand
Over Big National Brands
Gives You a Competitive Advantage

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How to Grow Your Business with Yelp // Why Yelp is Important to Your Business
✓ Google’s local search algorithm update
(Jul. 14) gives more prominence to local
map and directory sites, such as Yelp
✓ In many cases, your Yelp listing may
outrank your website
✓ A Yelp listing gives you organic SEO
✓ Gives search engines social proof
Yelp Helps Increase Your Rank
Local Search

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How to Grow Your Business with Yelp // Why Yelp is Important to Your Business
✓ 4 out of 5 Yelp users visit the site
when they plan to spend money
✓ 98% of Yelp users made a purchase at
a business they found on Yelp
✓ 55% of Yelp users take action (call,
visit, etc.) with a local business
frequently/every time they visit the site
Your Listing Helps Them Decide Where
Yelp Users Spend $$

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How to Grow Your Business with Yelp // Why Yelp is Important to Your Business
MORE EDUCATED
57% of Yelp users have a Bachelor’s degree or higher
Vs. 38% of all online users
MORE AFFLUENT
$68,000 annual income
Vs. $54,000 for all online users
YOUNGER
Average age of 41.1 years
Vs. 44.8 years for all online users
to Build Your Business
Connect with a Powerful Audience

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How to Grow Your Business with Yelp // Why Yelp is Important to Your Business
Be Ready!
…Your Customers Will Find You
VS.
As Yelp Continues to Grow…

11. Setting Up +
Optimizing Your Yelp Page

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How to Grow Your Business with Yelp // Setting Up and Optimizing Your Page
Visit biz.yelp.com
Follow the step-by-step prompts
Step 1: Find and Claim Your Business

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How to Grow Your Business with Yelp // Setting Up and Optimizing Your Page
…Respond to reviews privately and publicly
After you setup your page, you can…
Step 2: Respond to Reviews

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How to Grow Your Business with Yelp // Setting Up and Optimizing Your Page
…Track your user views and customer leads
After you setup your page, you can…
Step 3: Track Reviews

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How to Grow Your Business with Yelp // Setting Up and Optimizing Your Page
…Add photos and a link to your page
After you setup your page, you can…
Step 4: Add Photos

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How to Grow Your Business with Yelp // Setting Up and Optimizing Your Page
…Update important information such as your
business hours and phone number
After you setup your page, you can…
Step 5: Keep it Updated

17. Responding to Reviews

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How to Grow Your Business with Yelp // Responding to Reviews
✓ Respond in a timely manner
✓ You are saying “thank you” to a customer that went
out of their way
✓ Responding to positive reviews is now part of Yelp’s
Best Practice Guidelines
Respond to Positive Reviews
Build a Loyal Customer Base

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How to Grow Your Business with Yelp // Responding to Reviews
Use Reviews to Your Advantage
✓ Make sure the negative review is surrounded by
positive ones
✓ A Harris poll showed that customers actually trust
businesses more when they see a few bad apples
✓ Be sure to respond to the negative review quickly to
show that your business is addressing the problem
Managing Negative Reviews

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How to Grow Your Business with Yelp // Responding to Reviews
✓ Address the problem directly
✓ Identify the underlying issue and lead with an
apology
✓ Establish empathy by adding a human element to
your response - this will help mend the wound
Step 1: Proactively Respond

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How to Grow Your Business with Yelp // Responding to Reviews
✓ A short response is less likely to trigger additional
negative feelings
✓ Never accuse the customer of wrong doing or lying
✓ Always be polite and professional
Step 2: Keep it Brief and Polite

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How to Grow Your Business with Yelp // Responding to Reviews
✓ Always avoid back-and-forth arguments online
✓ Suggest you bring the conversation offline and
bring in a manager or owner (if applicable)
✓ Include a name and a direct phone line to establish
credibility
Step 3: Take It Offline

23. 8 Tips to Generate
More Positive Reviews

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How to Grow Your Business with Yelp // 8 Tips to Generate More Positive Reviews
Tip #1
Start with Family and Friends
✓ If you’ve done work for family and friends, there’s nothing wrong with
asking them to leave you a review
✓ Pace your requests; you don’t want to use all your resources up front

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How to Grow Your Business with Yelp // 8 Tips to Generate More Positive Reviews
Tip #2
Include a Link in Your Email Signature
✓ There is a strong chance you email customers, vendors and
partners on a regular basis
✓ “Have we done business together? Please review us on Yelp!”

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How to Grow Your Business with Yelp // 8 Tips to Generate More Positive Reviews
Tip #3
Never Stop Asking
✓ Make a habit of asking for reviews whenever the opportunity arises
✓ Solicit verbally, at point-of-sale, with window signage, showcasing
positive reviews in-store, etc.

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How to Grow Your Business with Yelp // 8 Tips to Generate More Positive Reviews
Tip #4
Reach Out to Previous Reviewers
✓ If you have positive reviews on other platforms, reach out to those
reviewers and ask them to leave you feedback on Yelp
✓ You already know that they review and that they like your business

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How to Grow Your Business with Yelp // 8 Tips to Generate More Positive Reviews
Tip #5
Ask During Phone Calls
✓ Did you just have a great phone conversation with a customer?
✓ Did a previous customer leave a “review card” with their phone
number?
✓ Ask them to review their experience with you

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How to Grow Your Business with Yelp // 8 Tips to Generate More Positive Reviews
Tip #6
Build a Reviews “Cheat Sheet”
✓ Include instructions that tells your customers how to review your
business
✓ Provide links to your Yelp profile and give them to your customers at
the point of sale (i.e. cash register, final bill, in the mail, etc.)

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How to Grow Your Business with Yelp // 8 Tips to Generate More Positive Reviews
Tip #7
Add a Reviews Page on Your Website
✓ Similar to the physical review “cheat sheet” but accessible online
✓ Provide links to your online profile with review instructions
✓ Make the URL to your review page easy to remember

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How to Grow Your Business with Yelp // 8 Tips to Generate More Positive Reviews
Tip #8
Email Marketing
✓ You do collect emails, right? If you don’t, you need to start today
✓ It’s as easy as collecting business cards or having a sign up sheet
✓ When sending emails out to customers, always ask for a review or
provide a link to your newly created “Review Page” on your website

32. Navigating the Yelp Review Filter

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How to Grow Your Business with Yelp // Navigating the Yelp Review Filter
The Yelp Review Filter
Searches for Fake Reviews
✓ Good and bad reviews can be filtered
out if Yelp believes they are fake
✓ Source of pain for local businesses
who are honest when using the
platform
✓ Yelp does a better job of filtering than
most other review sites

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How to Grow Your Business with Yelp // Navigating the Yelp Review Filter
How a Yelp Review is Marked “Spam”
Be Sure Your Reviews Comply
✓ When it is from someone who has only
written one review
✓ When it is from someone who has no profile
info (profile photo, additional info, Facebook
link, etc.)
✓ When it is strongly slanted both positively
and negatively

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How to Grow Your Business with Yelp // Navigating the Yelp Review FilterYour logo goes here
Why Are Legitimate Reviews Filtered?
You Aren’t Alone
✓ If you ask customers for Yelp reviews, you
run the risk of having a positive review
filtered out
✓ If your reviewer doesn’t have a long
history, creates a minimal profile and post
only one slanted review, Yelp may flag it
✓ How can you avoid this?

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How to Grow Your Business with Yelp // Navigating the Yelp Review Filter
Help Your Positive Reviews
Make It Through Yelp’s Filter
✓ Add the reviewer as a friend
✓ Send the reviewer a message
✓ Respond (which you should be doing for all Yelp reviews)
✓ Vote the review as “Useful” or “Funny” or both

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How to Grow Your Business with Yelp // Navigating the Yelp Review Filter
Help Your Customers and Friends
By Creating a Real Yelp Footprint
✓ Leave Yelp reviews for local businesses
✓ Follow customers and friends
✓ Leave honest reviews that have realistic
distributions (1 to 5)
✓ Connect to your Facebook account
✓ Make friends (you can use Facebook or
email to send invites)

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How to Grow Your Business with Yelp // Navigating the Yelp Review Filter
Help Your Customers and Friends
By Creating a Real Yelp Footprint Cont’d
✓ Download the Yelp app and check in
✓ Leave tips (show that you are more than
just review scores)
✓ Leave reviews over time
✓ Continue building your profile and you
might even be invited to join the Yelp
Elite Squad!

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How to Grow Your Business with Yelp // Navigating the Yelp Review Filter
So…
Should I Solicit Yelp Reviews or not?
✓ Okay to encourage customers to leave you a review, just not a
“good” review
✓ Never, ever pay for positive reviews! If Yelp catches you, it will label
you a Yelp Review Cheater

40. Additional Resources

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How to Grow Your Business with Yelp // Additional Resources

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44. Questions?
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