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Marketing Your Website – Review Sites Like Yelp

How Yelp Can Improve Your Restaurant’s BusinessYelp Zomato

 

The success of a business depends upon its clients and customers; as long as they are satisfied, the business will boom. But if they are not, the business will likely fail. This is true especially for small and medium-sized businesses like restaurants. Since a restaurant provides an important service, it is at the forefront of consumers, and they can expect many reviews on review sites, including map listings.

Reviews can essentially make or break a restaurant’s business; they can either be negative or positive, and that depends on the level and quality of service you are able to provide as a restaurateur. Online review sites have changed the way businesses are conducted. One of the most popular review sites is Yelp.

Yelp was founded in October 2004 by Jeremy Stoppelman and Russel Simmons. It is an online review website that publishes crowd-sourced reviews about different types of local businesses. 

A study carried out by two economists at the University of California showed that there was a link between how people made buying decisions at restaurants and the online ratings of the particular restaurant. For example, Yelp uses a 5-star rating system for businesses, including restaurants; those whose ratings were improved by half a star were the ones that were booked fully during dining hours.

They concluded that restaurants with good reviews had more customers, while those with poorer reviews didn’t do well. Whether it is Yelp or another site, reviews play a vital role in driving customer growth and sales for a restaurant. Here’s how positive reviews on sites like Yelp can help restaurants attract more consumers.

  • According to a survey conducted in 2012, nearly 72 percent of customers trust and hold online reviews in high regard as much as they do personal referrals and recommendations. Hence, restaurants can acquire more customers by asking their existing ones to write honest reviews about their food.
  • Social media is the best tool for promoting your restaurant and its food. When positive reviews are generated on Yelp, they eventually find their way on social media and, thus, are shared by people belonging to different demographics. Food lovers will definitely flock to your restaurant after they read amazing reviews about a specific dish offered at your restaurant.
  • Before people head out to eat, they usually check out the menu of the restaurant online and decide whether it’s worth it or not. Having reviews placed on the menu is an excellent way to increase your reputation and credibility. A restaurant with high credibility will automatically see an increase in customers.

Your business will automatically be added to most online directories and review sites over time, but you can also manually add your business listing. If your listing is already present, you should claim it so that you have better control over the accuracy of information. You will also receive notifications when users post a review if you are the listing owner.

Here are the URLs used to create or claim your listing at some popular directories:

Yelp- https://biz.yelp.com/

Google My Business- https://www.google.com/business/ 

Bing Places- https://www.bingplaces.com/

When you add your business listing, be sure that the name, address, and phone number (NAP) match exactly on all sites. This is important to improving your position in local search results.

Sources

http://performancing.com/3-benefits-of-testimonials-on-your-restaurant-site/

http://www.websitemagazine.com/content/blogs/posts/archive/2011/03/25/20-user-review-websites-critical-to-small-business.aspx

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2012/sep/02/ratings-boost-restaurants

http://www.reviewtrackers.com/ultimate-guide-restaurant-reviews-ratings-sites-business/

 

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