I’m bummed. I had a client who probably spent an hour writing a glowing review at Yelp about what I did for his business with my KickStart consultation program. It was a full page filled with all the details of how I helped him and the embarrassing results he got – embarrassing because he commanded 8 positions on the first page of Google. He was aglow and went on and on and on. It was the kind of review that every business wants to get.

Sadly, I’m guessing that Yelp considered it too good to be true, so they removed it. That’s not all that uncommon. They do it in an attempt to keep out spam. Unfortunately, though, it may appear that they are over-zealous, some say unfair, and then come the conspiracy theories about Yelp.

I don’t want that to happen to you, so I want to share two pieces of advice with you and give you a REVIEW TOOL for FREE that might help you get and keep the great reviews you deserve – it’s just not going to be on Yelp.

Why is that? Because it’s against Yelp’s policy to ask for reviews.

“But I’m not prompting them what to say and I’m not only asking those who had a good experience,” you may argue.

Doesn’t matter. Requested reviews are just not as credible as those that come spontaneously by your customers.

Also, Yelp knows that businesses will actually incentivize reviews with things like, “Leave a review and get a free latte on us!” And then how authentic are those? NOT!

For the good this does for consumers and for businesses who have to compete against the unethical review practices of their competitors, I stand behind Yelp’s decision on this. I think they are doing a great job keeping the platform trustworthy even though to the business owner like me who gets their authentic review filtered from time to time, it may not feel so fair at times.

(Honestly I wish Google would be so stringent.  Fake reviews are easy to fake there. Just go google “how to buy fake review on Google” and you’ll see. In November 2023, Google announced that they are revising their review algorithms so we’ll see if this changes.)

But don’t despair, I’ll also be giving you a tip on how you can drive new business from Yelp even without asking for a single review.

This time we look at where on the SERP (search result page) commands the most attention

One of my favorite sources for SEO information, SEOmoz, recently posted their results of an eye-tracking study they did to show how consumers are trying to find local businesses. I could just point a link to their post, which I’ll do here anyway, but I wanted to bring over their study and images because I have some additional points I wanted to make. Here’s their post. And here’s the Kat & Mouse take.

Online or off? Google? Local directories? Facebook? Where?

Last week I showed you some data that revealed where people were looking online to find local businesses. That was part 1 of this series on where people are looking for local businesses.

That report was published in October, 2011. The same research firm released some other numbers back in March. I’m not sure what they say is much different, but I think the chart is clearer, so I wanted to share this with you as well.

ONLINE sources people check BEFORE visiting a local business or restaurant

Do a search on “Scotts Valley chiropractic” and you’ll likely find:

Local SEO advice coming your way via Kat & Mouse’s “Free SEO Friday” audit for KickAss Coach

Congratulations to Vicki Garcia for winning our free site audit! Follow along as I tell Vicki how she can improve her website so that it ranks high in Google Places for local business search queries.

To begin, let me compliment Vicki on her great looking website! No one should underestimate the value of a pretty page. It speaks of her professionalism and her insistence on quality which as a consumer might also lead me to believe she does the same in her business.

Watch out Yelp! Here comes Thumbtack! YEOW!

Getting listed in local directories is a must for all local businesses if you want a good place in Google Places, but here’s one that gives you more than just a listing. Thumbtack actually vets and verifies your listing which adds credibility to your business. AND it personally connects you with customers requesting your services through their site.

I’m impressed!