My New Year’s Resolution: The Yelp Challenge

I’m a business owner through and through, and as a result, I have really mixed feelings about online review platforms like Yelp. I don’t spend a ton of energy focused on them, and by in large, we’ve been lucky over the years to get positive reviews. For me, I have always thought of them more as a place for people to rant unchecked. A few days ago, I had a call with my SEO guy to talk about 2021 goals (if the word goal or resolution we’re a drinking game this past week…) and he brought up the topic of how we used Yelp as a business. I answered honestly - we don’t.After a lecture on the importance of review platforms for businesses (essentially, the search engines reward businesses who receive reviews regularly and who interact with reviewers. The more active a business, the more visible they become in internet searches, which turns into more traffic driven to their website.) it occurred to me that I should be doing more to recognize the small businesses I love and support in my community.  This is a no brainer for me, and it should be for you too.It’s a great way to boost a store or restaurant’s presence in Google searches and a great way to shout out staff who you love. As a business owner, few things make me happier than receiving a review or an email about how great my team is or how they received excellent customer service. The best part of online reviews?  It’s totally 100 percent free to do, and, in this climate, it’s one more thing we can do to support small business.So, my challenge to all of you and to myself: write a review or two (or ten!) for the businesses you love.