Know It All Marketing

Being the selfless and diligent worker that I am, I can’t help but crack a smile when someone compliments the work my company performs. Call it pride or call it vanity, but I love it. Compliments energize me and the people I work with, and the benefits don’t stop there. Compliments from satisfied customers also help us sell our services. So, when we get a good compliment, we really like to publicize it on our website.

Testimonials about your company are good, yes, but when you really think about it, what company in their right mind would publish a negative comment on their company website? When you read other website testimonials, do you wonder if you’re only getting half of the story? This is where Yelp.com comes in - to help people find compliments and testimonials about businesses that they can trust.

What Yelp.com is: A website where people can review any business under the sun, be it their doctor, their favorite coffee shop, or the local dry cleaner. Apart from that, however, Yelp is also a social network where individuals can meet, exchange messages, and even compare reviews. Yelp originally gained popularity because it was a great source of restaurant reviews - today, it’s popular because it’s a great source of reviews. Period.

Why Yelp.com is important: Yelp is experiencing phenomenal growth ? according to QuantCast.com, they’ve almost doubled in popularity between between October 2008 and March 2009. In March 2009, Yelp.com had more than 5.9 million visitors. Nuff’ said.

Why Yelp works: Yelp.com is successful because it’s more than just a review site, it’s a social network where you can evaluate both businesses AND reviewers. If I read a review on Yelp that I like, with one click I can see what the reviewer has had to say about other businesses too. I can read all of this person’s reviews and decide if they’re someone I want to trust. This feature is what separates Yelp from the pack.

How Yelp.com can help your business: Many people are using Yelp to find places to do business, and you can add your business (including a link to your website) to Yelp’s directory free of charge. But free advertising is just the beginning - if your business listing on Yelp.com has some positive reviews, you can expect some new customers. Finally, you can link to your Yelp profile and show potential clients that you’ve earned some good reviews on an independent and reputable website.

How Yelp.com can hurt your business: Bad reviews. Yelp doesn’t moderate any of the reviews they receive. If an upset customer(s) leaves a bad review for your business, you have to live with it. Yelp will allow you to respond to bad comments (which is better than not responding), but once the bad review is placed the damage is done. When you respond to a bad review, the best course of action is to “kill them with kindness” and freely admit any mistakes you or your company may have made.

Now that you know the low down on Yelp.com, it’s time to get started on your company’s Yelp profile.