Yelp Complaints from Small Business Owners
Yelpers in More Troubles
Image via CrunchBase
I heard some disturbing news about Yelp the other day.
Before I get to it…
(In my own words) – Yelp is…
A review destination.
If I am correct Yelp originally started to gain traction in the restaurant industry.
Users or “Yelpers” can set up a profile and leave reviews on businesses they have been to.
Yelp covers everything now… not just restaurants.
Its directory listing is no charge.
In fact – when we do local SEO campaigns we always use Yelp.
When you take them up on their complimentary listing you do end up in their sales funnel.
They also (of course) have paid ad programs.
The short of it…
The Ads will give your Yelp listing a few more bells and whistles.
I am not a Yelp Ads expert.
When clients ask me if they should “do Yelp ads” I let them know if the numbers are right to test it out and we can always track the traffic and measure things.
But Yelp is increasingly getting itself into trouble.
There is a constant flow of complaints about their tactics.
Mainly… the obvious thing…
Example…
Yelp: So you have great reviews, huh? Well, if you don’t advertise with us we are not going to show those reviews.. In fact, we’re going to place your competitors ad above your listing.
Now – I am not saying Yelp said the above statement.
But this is the over-riding tone of each of the complaints filed against Yelp from small business owners.
The big picture…
I feel if Yelp keeps attracting this kind of attention eventually Google will stop favoring Yelp in search results.
And…
For you…
Your business identity has to be in order.
You have to work a “review strategy.”
Have a review infrastructure tied in with your website.
I encourage my clients to really work our Google Review system.
In fact – it’s the same system that helped my wife’s two month old part-time business gather 10 reviews already…
We’ll be happy to take a look at your business identity as part of our 48 Point Custom Review of your Internet Marketing.
https://www.cyberspacetoyourplace.com/48/
About the author
Mike Dolpies (aka Mike D.) owns “Ocean View Publishing, LLC” - a diverse media/Internet Marketing and Consulting Company.
He started his first business when he was just 18 years old. By the time he was 23 that business had generated well over a Million Dollars in sales and was consistently in the top 20% of its industry.
He's the Author of 6 different books. His first book, “Motion Before Motivation, The Success Secret That Never Fails,” became a bestseller on Amazon.com
He's been a guest on the Fox Morning News several times and has been written about in many newspapers.
His work has also appeared on Entrepreneur.com and Fox Businsss.com
