A recent survey by BrightLocal found that 91% of consumers trust online yelp reviews the maximum amount as peer recommendations.
Not to mention, Yelp’s 7.9 million monthly visitors.
Unfortunately, because customer feedback has the potential to skyrocket alittle business’s leads and revenue, fake reviews have started creeping their way into the web. within the same study, 89% of local consumers believed that they’ve read a false review within the last year–and of that 89%, 33% believed that they read tons of fakes.
And they’re right: in 2013, ny regulators caught nineteen companies posting bogus feedback. They were fined quite $350,000.
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Despite these major consequences, small business owners with struggling reputations are still tempted by the boost in ratings. If you’re not getting reviews online, you essentially don’t existto potential customers.
But as tempting because it could also be , paying for fake reviews isn't the proper option. apart from the moral concerns, here are some regrettable consequences:
1. Yelp hides fake reviews
Yelp prides itself on being more selective than the other review site. they need built their software to work out which reviews are going to be “recommended” (the rule followers) or “not recommended” (the rule breakers)–in other words, they’re not getting to allow you to cheat the system.
According to their explanation, Yelp’s software tracks signals indicating quality, reliability and user activity. It takes under consideration the quantity of reviews an individual has written within the past and if the person will give drastic rating differences between businesses—such as a five star review for a hotel then a 1 star review for its local competitor. Yelp can even detect certain wording which may seem suspicious and be a fake review.
Then, Yelp weeds out any reviews that come from unknown users, potential business owners, or are considered “unhelpful rants or raves.”
2. you'll be punished
Once Yelp detects fake reviews, they take action. A Consumer Alert notice are going to be on your business’s Yelp page for 90 days saying:
This red pop-up message will block the business’ review page with a warning and explanation. Then, users must manually close the pop-up to read any of the reviews for that business.
Obviously, this is often far worse than having a couple of bad reviews: rather than a corporation with an imperfect review profile capable of honest mistakes (or only one that has some really difficult customers), consumers will view you as an untrustworthy business before they even read the reviews.
Google punishes businesses that buy fake reviews too. They don’t put an alert on the business page like Yelp, but they're going to delete the review (and there are rumors, if not evidence , that Google will pack up accounts for fake reviews as well).
In addition, there are many cases during which fake reviews actually cost businesses quite they gained from having a “positive” review. Between 2015 and 2016 Amazon sued quite 1,000 people that were paid to write down fake reviews, albeit it had been for as little as $5. One suit demanded quite $25,000, including the profits the person made on Amazon, damages, and attorney fees.
3. Buying reviews is against the law
According to the Federal Trade Commision (FTC), it's illegal to endorse someone to write down a fake review. The FTC reserves the proper to impose dramatic fines, take action against or maybe pack up any business violating the “Rules Concerning the utilization of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
Any review that's “false or unsubstantiated,” “deceptive,” or contains “undisclosed connections” is against the law under these provisions.
This isn’t just a problem of ethics (though it's that, too). Though this could go without saying, if your goal is to achieve business, you would like to follow the law.
4. Your business lives and dies on customer trust
Even with these mitigating steps, fake reviews still make their way onto the web all the time. In 2012, data-mining expert, Bing Liu from the University of Chicago-Illinois, approximated that of all customer reviews online, one-third are fake.
And a report from Harvard graduate school reveals that the quantity of faux reviews on Yelp increased by 15 percent from 2006 to 2013.
But here’s the thing: albeit sites like Yelp and Google don’t automatically catch fake reviews, a customer might. And if a customer realizes that your reviews are fake, you've got zero chance of gaining that customer. That customer can then spread the word to other potential customers also .
People can often tell just by gut instinct if something doesn’t seem real. Maybe the Yelp review greatly contrasts with other reviews for the corporate or even on the reviewer’s profile he or she gives many positive reviews for little companies. Also, if the review is in English, the language could be just a touch off—a sign that the corporate is outsourcing cheaper offshore labor to write down the fake reviews.
A recent study sought to make a model for identifying fake reviews. within the study, researchers checked out the correlation between the quantity of accounts that reviewers have and therefore the amount of faux reviews. They found that if users have 10 or more registered accounts then they're more likely to be posting fake reviews than those that have fewer accounts. If a customer is in a position to inform if a user has many accounts, then it’s a giveaway that the reviews are likely fake.
How to get real Yelp reviews
Since people are often motivated to write down fake reviews, then how can your business motivate consumers to write down real reviews?
1. Have Excellent Customer Service!
The people that write reviews are typically very passionate—they either had a very bad experience and need to share their opinions or that they had a superb experience and need to encourage others to use your business’s services.
One of the simplest ways to form a customer so passionate that they write positive reviews is to offer them a unprecedented customer service experience.
Imagine two scenarios: within the first, a customer goes into a quick food restaurant, has an interaction with the cashier, orders and pays for hamburger, gets the hamburger, then leaves. The customer didn’t have a nasty experience, but it wasn’t outstanding. It’s highly unlikely this customer’s getting to jump online and leave a review.
How do you have to handle negative reviews?
Even if you determine ways to urge real reviews, the reviews won't always be positive. It happens.
Mike Blumenthal said, “There are two sorts of businesses within the world. Businesses that have gotten a nasty review, and businesses which will get a nasty review at some point.”
There will always be customers who occasionally aren’t satisfied and can leave a negative review. Though negative reviews might scare you, they will actually be good for business. Real negative reviews will show that your business is authentic which a spread of sorts of people are using your services.
Even if you've got some negative reviews, the chances are that the bulk of the reviews will still be positive. Researchers from MIT and NYU performed a study in 2013 that exposed that folks leave and are more influenced by positive reviews than negative reviews. So it’s okay. Negative reviews are going to be there, but as long as they don’t overpower the positive ones they shouldn’t have a serious impact.
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When your business does receive negative reviews, you'll still do something about them.
You can answer the people that left the reviews, apologize for his or her situations, and strive to try to to what you'll to resolve the issues . If you show sincere effort to resolve an unhappy customer’s issue, you won’t just show that customer you care—you’ll also show other potential customers online!
Share the great news
Along with responding to negative reviews, responding to positive reviews shows good customer service. you're showing customers that you simply are grateful for his or her feedback which all reviews are valuable.
Share your success! As customers leave reviews on Yelp, share them on social media and on your website. That way people online will immediately see the great things that folks need to say about your business once they search for it on the web . this may increase awareness of your Yelp profile and star rating, inspiring other customers to go away reviews also .
Just keep swimming
When your business is beginning or it's struggling to urge reviews, don’t fret. Resist the temptation to shop for fakes and remember that Yelp monitors reviews. It could find yourself costing you quite what you paid if you get caught, it might be illegal, and you would like customers to trust you.
Instead, try different tactics to urge the important reviews rolling in, like stepping up your business’s customer service, and establishing online review methods. albeit you occasionally get negative reviews, tastefully answer them, do your best to assist the customer, and highlight the positive.
If you are doing n’t buy Yelp reviews and you do your best to organically get real reviews, your business will soon be getting the five stars that it deserves!