Yelp historically has been used predominantly for restaurants. Although the user landscape has shifted to include a wider variety of retail and service businesses, restaurants still dominate the field. In fact, nearly half of all reviews left on Yelp are for restaurants. With an average of 178 million unique users per month, this is a staggering number of restaurant reviews. But this begs the question – what do these reviews actually do for restaurants? Let’s take a look at how the reviews work and why they are important.
How do Restaurant Yelp Reviews Work?
As soon as someone reviews a restaurant, Yelp evaluates it. Yelp checks a few things:
1. Is the poster an active and reliable user?
2. Is this information helpful?
3. Does it seem like this person was encouraged to write this review?
Yelp checks these things to make sure that the featured or recommended reviews actually bring relevant information. You’d rather get restaurant advice from someone who frequently goes out and has a good grasp of what quality is and what it isn’t than someone who eats out once a year, right? Yelp knows this. That’s why it prioritizes active and reputable users. Yelp is also not looking to turn into Reddit. No one wants to read a page-long rant about the traffic you faced when you went out to eat or how you were late because your dog ate all your socks. Yelp doesn’t recommend rants because they simply aren’t helpful. So the reviews you see on Yelp are vetted so that only the most helpful ones show up!
Why are Yelp Reviews for My Restaurant Important?
Yes! A million times, yes! Your reviews can make or break your restaurant, especially if you are a small business or just starting out. For some perspective, PR Wire found that 52% of a company’s market value is attributed to its reputation. Since the days of talking to your neighbors about places they go or reading reviews in the newspaper are gone, the only way businesses really gain a reputation is online. Yelp dominates as the top restaurant review platform. So yes, your Yelp reviews matter. A Harvard study found that with each new star earned on Yelp, business could see up to a 9% increase in overall revenue!
What Can I Do About My Reviews?
As far as what reviews are left on your page, just about nothing can be done. Tampering with the validity of your reviews is highly frowned upon. Customers are likely to trust a business less if they are asked to leave positive reviews. This is a sort of review phishing that customers can see right through. However, you can use your organic reviews to your advantage. Over half of Yelp users say that they are more likely to buy from a business that responds to its Yelp reviews. This means it pays to respond! Responding to your customers’ reviews (even the bad ones!) build your credibility and trustworthiness!
Looking to bolster your Yelp account? We’re Yelp’s Agency Partner of the Year with all the experience you need to bring your business to the next level.
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