Yelp is the largest review website on the Internet. It helps millions of “buyers” and “customers” decide on which companies, business professionals or products to use to fulfill a need. Having a strong Yelp presence will illustrate the reputability of a business. The power of Yelp is the user base that is willing to write millions of reviews every single month. To post a review on Yelp here are the steps:
Access the Business Yelp Page
You can do this by searching for the business on Google, the Yelp search bar or getting the exact URL. The Team Jodi Yelp page is as follows: http://www.yelp.com/biz/team-jodi-chapel-hill. It should look similar to this (note that the photos change based upon what has been uploaded):
Write a Review
Notice in the screenshot above there is a box to “Write a Review” that is highlighted in red with a star to the left of the word Write. By clicking this box you will immediately be able to start writing a review even if you are not a Yelp user or member (yet!). This is something that is very effective as not everyone is on Yelp. You will be shortly! This is what will happen when you click the “Write a Review” red tab:
You can use your mouse to put the cursor over the “Rating” stars to adjust the rating. Here is how Yelp deems the ratings:
- 1 Star: Eek! Methinks not
- 2 Stars: Meh. I’ve experienced better
- 3 Stars: A-OK
- 4 Stars: Yay! I’m a Fan
- 5 Stars: Woohoo! As good as it gets!
Yelp uses the five star ratings system with five stars being the best and one star being the worst. Remember to properly choose how many stars you would like to give the company you are reviewing. If you enjoyed the service you will not want to hurt that business by accidentally giving them one or two stars.
After selecting the number of stars you will be giving a company or business you must then fill in the “Your Review” section. This review should illustrate why you choose to give the company the number of stars you did. The more in depth the review, the better. Remember, other people that could potentially use this particular business will likely read your Yelp review and decide to work with that company or use a competitor. Your review might be the last step of the decision process for someone that is going to hire a real estate agent or go to a restaurant.
I like to leave Yelp reviews that are, at least, a few paragraphs long. I enjoy pointing out the great things that companies do when they provide amazing customer service. I think Yelp users also help build the community by leaving honest reviews if something did not go as planned. Remember that businesses have the opportunity to reply to a Yelp review so this might be a way to politely point out something that was not exactly the way you wanted it.
Create a Yelp Account
Once you have selected the number of stars and filled out the review you can click the “Sign Up and Post” button at the bottom. After you click the button this screen will appear:
As you can see, you can sign up with your Facebook account or you can use an email address. From personal experience, I can say that if you sign up with an email address you will not receive more than one email a week. The emails will be related to the reviews you give and your local area. In all reality, the Yelp emails I have received have helped me to make decisions on where to eat in the near future.
Choose whichever method you prefer and once you are signed up the review will go live. Remember that some reviews are “reviewed” by the Yelp team so it may take 12 to 24 hours for your review to go live on a business Yelp page. Do not try to submit multiple reviews if your review did not show up immediately. If you hit submit, Yelp received the review and they will publish it as soon as they can.