3 {{ upvoteCount | shortNum }}
3 {{ upvoteCount | shortNum }}

Anyone know if Yelp filters reviews based on inbound links?

by Goalie35
3 replies
Hi, I just had a few questions for any Yelp experts out there, in regards to how they track inbound links.

I've been helping a local business owner with getting more Yelp reviews. The most effective method's been when he engages his satisfied customers directly via text message & asks for reviews but I'm always trying new things. I recently built a quick website for him that he asks all of his customers to checkout once a job is finished. The site quickly asks if they were happy with their service. Happy customers receive a quick little "Thank you for your time, btw we'd really appreciate it if you could leave a review etc etc" link to leave a review on his yelp page. Unhappy customers are presented with a form they can fill out and send to the owner, letting him know about their experience.

I've seen similar services before, so I'm not creating anything that hasn't been tried before, however, I'm tracking the number of users who click the Yelp link, to the number of new reviews being left on Yelp, and I'm just not liking the number.

So far, out of 17 "happy" customers who have clicked the Yelp link, I'm only seeing 1 new review on Yelp. Obviously, I'm sure you have many of those who click the link & just decide not to complete the review & leave, but my bigger concern is how many are leaving reviews that are being filtered?

Which leads me to my question...in regards to Yelp's filter, does anyone know if the link the user clicked from my website has anything to do with it? Can they tell if the link is originating from a website different than the business owner's site (I'm hosting this review website on my own domain, not his)? If Yelp is tracking, would it help if the user originated from the business owner's domain?

Thanks
#based #filters #inbound #links #reviews #yelp
  • Profile picture of the author chaotic squid
    Not a Yelp expert, but maybe I can still help.

    As for the 17 who clicked, maybe you can follow-up with them to see if they actually reviewed the business. Like you said, it's possible that they clicked but didn't finish the review process. Only way to know for sure is to follow-up and ask them.

    Not sure about Yelp tracking inbound links. However, it really shouldn't matter. Seems silly that they would only allow inbound links from the business domain. Might matter if your domain is on some kind of blacklist, but otherwise I can't see this being an issue.

    Is there a reason that your so focused on just Yelp? Maybe the customers don't have a Yelp account so when they clicked the link and saw that they would need to create a profile, it turned them off. Also, even if they're new users and took the time to create a profile, there's a good chance their first review got filtered out.

    Can easily happen when their first review is 4 or 5 stars or they didn't fill-in their profile completely.

    I usually recommend that businesses have a few different options to leave a review based on what the person feels most comfortable using. So there might be links/options to leave a review on Google, Facebook, and Yelp.

    Maybe someone with more experience on Yelp can chime in.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[10563821].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author Goalie35
      Is there a reason that your so focused on just Yelp?
      Thanks for the reply, sorry I should've mentioned in my original post that I do provide links to a few other review sites, but Yelp is my primary concern right now, so I limited my question to just that.

      Not sure about Yelp tracking inbound links. However, it really shouldn't matter. Seems silly that they would only allow inbound links from the business domain. Might matter if your domain is on some kind of blacklist, but otherwise I can't see this being an issue.
      Yeah, they may not care. My concern is in reading Yelps terms about review solicitation. Under Why does Yelp discourage businesses from asking for reviews?, they say:
      Solicited reviews are less likely to be recommended by our automated software, and that will drive you crazy. Why aren’t these reviews recommended? Well, we have the unfortunate task of trying to help our users distinguish between real and fake reviews, and while we think we do a pretty good job at it with our fancy computer algorithms, the harsh reality is that solicited reviews often fall somewhere in between. Imagine, for example, the business owner who "asks" for a review by sticking a laptop in front of a customer and smilingly invites her to write a review while he looks over her shoulder. We don’t need these kinds of reviews, so it shouldn’t be a surprise when they aren’t recommended.
      I feel like this method I'm using of obtaining reviews may be considered "solicitation" under Yelp's terms. According to this quote, Yelp says they have ways to block these, which led me to wonder, what are they doing to filter out these reviews & are the inbound links from my website one of the culprits?
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[10563853].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author chaotic squid
    I think you may have hit the nail on the head about getting solicited reviews. Because of this, ANY inbound link may trigger their filter. However, the exception could be if the person already has a well established completed profile beforehand.

    This is why I can't stand Yelp. They have harsh/unusual policies in place to make it harder for businesses on purpose. Then they peddle businesses to pay for advertising. When you pay for advertising, they'll then go out of their way to bend the rules for you.

    Honestly, how can you run a review site but then prohibit businesses from asking customers to leave a review? Makes absolutely no sense.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[10564297].message }}

Trending Topics