==== ====
What business doesn't need a higher star rating by Google, Yelp or the other rating sites? Now
you will improve your rating significantly or your money back.
seositesonline.com/online-offline-seo-services/reputation-management/
==== ====
I've known about Yelp for years, but only within the last year have I spared it a single thought. It's
a powerful tool for the consumer and if leveraged properly, an equally powerful tool for business
owners. It's been established for so long that people know what it is, and trust it as an invaluable
source for information. At the same time, astute individuals try not to underestimate the ability of
certain challenged Homosapiens to pound out an angry review through the beer goggles of their
life. The victim mentality shines brightly in Yelp-land.
I don't entirely blame them; I never had even the slightest inclination to write a review until I had a
particularly awful experience at a restaurant in Carmel. I have an account with only two reviews
written but never published because I changed my mind about spewing such negativity online,
where it already breeds at a rapid pace. I don't run straight to Yelp for information about an
establishment, but I do Google those I'm wondering about and that often results in an inspection of
the Yelp page for the business. I fully appreciate the value that Yelp brings to me as an interested
party in general.
That said, since attempting to manage the process for a few different business owners, I must say
that Yelp's support for that side of the transaction falls abysmally short. Their FAQs are abrasive at
best, defending their policies so aggressively that the tone of their answers suggests I've been
yelling at them over the phone all day. Before I've even begun, I feel like I've had my wrist slapped
for being a business that gets a plethora of one-star reviews, when in actuality I have no reviews
at all. (i.e. "Note: Our support team cannot manually restore reviews that have been filtered.
Should you contact us about filtered reviews you will receive the information above." - The second
part of that statement is unnecessary, particularly because the type of person who would write to
them about the filtered reviews would generally be the type of person who wouldn't have bothered
to read that statement.) What about the people like me who are committed to an outstanding
consumer experience, and who are just looking for as much information as possible to facilitate
that process? Is there a softer side of Yelp, or is their support department just full of people with
what I like to call the "IT Guy Attitude"?
They filter reviews through some sort of automated process that decides the quality of the review,
but Yelp purposefully does not publish all of the criteria that their algorithm follows. The most basic
is that users who have written mountains of reviews will usually stick, and those who have only
written one may not. Additionally, if you solicit reviews and a number of your customers write them
at the same time, those will generally be filtered because the algorithm will recognize them as
solicited reviews. The sentiment is that if you had to ask for it, it wasn't deserved.
They cite a Catch-22, suggesting that the more transparent their algorithm, the easier it would be
for people to find the loopholes to unscrupulously influence the review display outcome of a given
business page. I don't argue with this reasoning. I have always said that because enhanced airline
security methods since 9-11 are widely published, terrorists know exactly what they need to do to
get a bomb on a plane. It may be harder, but if they really wanted to do it, they'd find a way. Yet
millions of us have to fill tiny bottles with shampoo and strip down to our underwear every time we
go to the airport, just in case. National security is one thing and Yelp's algorithm is another, but I
think you get my meaning. I could also easily hypothesize that another reason behind not
publishing their guidelines is to help prevent lawsuits. The less you put into writing, the better.
On the very top of my frustration over their published (and unpublished) support resources lie
some real life examples that have me scratching my head. It would seem that teams of Realtors
don't often submit their businesses to the Yelp directory. I recently submitted a page for my "day
job" on The Look Team here in the Silicon Valley using the name "The Look Team Real Estate."
When the page was approved after about a week, the name had been changed to that of our
brokerage. I figured I would claim it anyway and then worry about changing the name, but a part of
the claiming process involves Yelp making an automated phone call to the number provided. Well,
when I submitted the page initially, I wasn't able to enter an extension number, so that phone call
would have gone to the front desk of the office, rather than to our team line. I opted to contact Yelp
via email at that point to try to resolve the issue, and expect to hear back within a week or so.
The trouble, as I learned with a past Yelp account of a similar nature, is that you are not able to
change your own company name or phone number from within the business management tool.
The Yelp team has to do it, and they do not involve you in their process of deciding what it should
be changed to. They do not contact you except to tell you that something has been done. This
particular time, it took over a month for the change to be reflected, and then it was still incorrect.
They do not ask questions of you to ensure they understand what is being asked in the first place.
Having worked in tech support, I can only imagine that they're working case numbers and are just
aiming to close as many as they can before the end of the day. I suspect that whoever was in
charge of approving our page did a quick Google search of our address to find the brokerage was
there and that was the end of the story. It may be that Yelp has guidelines for Realtors. Maybe
they have to be listed as individuals and not teams - I've seen plenty to believe that may be the
case. The problem is that I've asked this of Yelp several times and do not get a response. I just
need to know what I'm working with so that I can get this ball rolling.
My general feeling is that if Yelp does not begin to treat business owners as a valuable part of
their process, the trust level in their product will decline over time. They are not practicing what
they preach, so to speak. The site is supposed to be about engaging with your customers for a
better experience, and yet, here I sit, feeling confused and dejected by Yelp. When will Yelp
actually try to build a relationship with ME?
You know, everyone these days claims social media as an interest. I think it's supposed to show
that you're progressive. You're ahead of the curve. To some people social media is as simple as,
"Facebook? Yeah I have one of those." And to other people it is a deep science. I'm somewhere in
the middle. I've been blogging since before it was called blogging (Diaryland anyone?) and I've
always had a tendency to share far too much information, and instill far too much trust into the
World Wide Web. So here I am, writing stuff.
Follow Me: @venitahale
Article Source:
http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Venita_Hale
==== ====
What business doesn't need a higher star rating by Google, Yelp or the other rating sites? Now
you will improve your rating significantly or your money back.
seositesonline.com/online-offline-seo-services/reputation-management/
==== ====