Isn’t it interesting that, over the past few years, Yelp (almost like Amazon) has become an indispensible part of our lives? When I was seeking a restaurant to host my dad’s most recent milestone birthday, Yelp was the first (and only) place I looked. When I needed to change salons, again Yelp. When I got hooked on karaoke and needed to find the best spot in my neighborhood, once again Yelp was the answer.
Though Yelp might be an amazing resource as a consumer, as I discussed in a recent post (about Your Competitors Giving Themselves An Unfair Advantage) I’m also quite aware of the downsides for some business owners. After all, “Nothing is worse than providing the best service possible but having a customer leave a negative review nonetheless for some ridiculous reason.” Given how ubiquitous Yelp has become, having a bad or average rating damages your ability to attract customers to your business.
That is why in 2010, a group of businesses banded together to challenge the Yelp system in court. As Nicole Leinbach-Reyhle discusses, this lawsuit was based on the plaintiffs’ claim that Yelp alters business ratings in exchange for money. In a September 2, 2014, ruling against the plaintiffs, found that there was, “no extortion or any other wrongdoing by Yelp [because]… ‘the facts only showed that the reviews were likely from actual customers’”.
Ok, now that you know that the Yelp system isn’t rigged against your business, should you put your business reputation at risk by becoming a member? Well, if driving customers to your business is a priority, then the answer is clearly “Yes!”. After all, according to Leinback-Reyhle,
1. 138 million people on Yelp each month;
2. 89% of Yelp users said they make a purchase within a week of finding a business on the site;
3. Businesses can respond to their reviews for free.
4. A study found that Yelp drives real revenue to Small Businesses
a. Free Yelp Business accounts average $8,000 in additional revenue from Yelp sources annually while paid Yelp Business accounts average an additional $23,000 per year.
If you are still concerned about the downside of being on Yelp (even after seeing these economic benefits) please accept the same advice I gave in my September 19th post:
- You should always respond to every negative review by giving your side of the story (or apologize if you are genuinely wrong). In so doing, customers visiting your Yelp page will have a more balanced view of your business; and
- Remember that you have the right to sue those who given patently false reviews for defamation, libel, or slander (that is, if you want to spend the time and resources to track them down).
Regardless of what you decide, you now have court reviewed proof that Yelp is a company you can trust.
