Just got the #1 ranking on Yelp for South Jordan!
As I was just updating a few details on my Yelp account I realized I was the #1 ranked photographer for South Jordan. I was just so excited about it that I had to give the blog a shout out.
http://www.yelp.com/biz/shane-harder-photography-south-jordan
Why does Yelp Matter for a business?
Just like many business listing websites, yelp’s effectiveness varies by location. For example, many people around the world use craigs list for classifieds. When I moved to Utah, I found that everyone here uses KSL classifieds. In places like Honolulu, HI where I moved from, yelp is a big deal, especially for photographers. My friend Joseph Esser (who is amazing BTW) ranks VERY highly on Yelp in Honolulu and he typically makes $70,000-$120,000/ year just from yelp referrals. I might ad that he also spends about $40,000/year on advertising through Yelp alone.
Why does Yelp matter for consumers?
Yelp really shines when it comes to restaurant reviews and brick and mortar business reviews. It can be very helpful when searching for a great place. It takes some sorting through the crap reviews but if you can manage it, things can work out really well and you’ll find a great spot.
Why does Yelp Suck?
Yelp suffers from the same exact problem every other review website has. There aren’t enough filters to make sure only verified customers/clients are writing reviews. Also, there’s no way to remove bad reviews and therefore it’s REALLY easy for a competitor to come and destroy your reputation. This has actually happened to me on my facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Shane-Harder-photography/174089565975894?sk=reviews
some crazy girl from Japan decided to destroy my reputation on facebook with a bad review. I’ve never met her, I can’t get through to her, I can’t get facebook to take down the review, it’s horrible. So doe’s yelp suck? Well, kinda but it’s really a fault of the same review system that every system has.
The Morral
Take every review with a grain of salt and realize they may be a competitor trying to place an online smear campaign against a wonderful business.