We all know that having reviews of your business online can help get people through the doors (or onto your website). A listing on Yelp can be great for search engine optimization and the positive reviews there can be the social proof that many need in order to feel confident enough to make a purchase from your business.

But the ability for anyone to leave a review of your business can make many business owners anxious about listing their business on this website. Here’s what you need to know about this review website and how you can use it to your advantage:

How are Reviews Filtered?

This is one of the things that can give you the most stress and anxiety about Yelp. It doesn’t make sense to most people, especially when they see some new reviews being featured at the top of the list for a few days and then return in a few days to find that those reviews are nowhere to be found. These reviews are usually slipping into the “not recommended” area on your listing. This might be great if these are negative reviews of your business, but it can be annoying if some of your five-star reviews slip into the not recommended section. In general, reviews are given more weight if they are from active Yelp users. Those that are not from active users are likely to slip out of the recommended section.

Does Yelp Punish You for Asking for Reviews?

Lots of people have heard this rumor, and the truth is that while Yelp doesn’t encourage businesses to ask for reviews, it is not going to punish you for asking for those reviews. It is not against their Terms of Service as many people have claimed. What is against the ToS, however, is incentivizing people from removing or leaving reviews. If you know that your customer is happy, however, you can ask them to leave you a review on Yelp, without having to worry about the website coming after you.

Does the Flagging System Work?

This is one of the biggest controversies when it comes to Yelp. What do you do if someone leaves you a bad review that is patently false or even just unwarranted? This is what every business fears, and rightly so. One horrible review can discourage customers from spending their money at your business, even if you have dozens of other high-star reviews. Yelp does have a flagging system for these types of reviews and it does actually work. While it won’t automatically remove any one-star review that someone has left for your business, it does give you the option to report a review because it contains lies, because it’s not even for your business, because it is threatening, and a slew of other reasons. If there is a violation and you report the review that is violating their policies, Yelp will take down the offending review. Keep in mind that you might want to do this for even positive reviews, if they are breaking the community guidelines.

Does Yelp Even Really Matter?

Yelp is extremely important. And, in general, businesses that provide a good product or service and do it in a friendly manner are going to do well on Yelp. There are always going to be people that you cannot please, and they might leave a nasty review, even if you really did nothing wrong or made a small mistake, which you did your best to correct. It is a mistake, however, to view Yelp as your enemy, simply because it opens up the possibility that you might get a one, two, or three-star review. If you run a legitimate business, your staff are friendly, your place is clean, and you are flexible when it comes to solving problems, you are going to do just fine on Yelp.

Can I Talk to Someone at Yelp?

Yes, and, in fact, it might be far more efficient for you to get in touch with your sales contact if you have an issue than to try to send an email to Yelp itself. For example, we have seen a business with more than fifty great reviews had their listing taken down because they changed their location. They tried all of the available customer service avenues, with no success. Then, they called their sales contact, and he got their page back up in just a few days. Your sales contact is primarily there to sell you advertisements, but they can also be your human point of contact for solving other issues you might have.

What have your experiences in working with Yelp? Share your thoughts below in the comments!