Today, Yelp is one of the leading review networks for both local and online businesses. Yelp allows individuals from all over the world to share their personal experiences with businesses, whether good or bad. While Yelp can help to drastically increase a company’s online visibility, the platform also has the ability to turn potential customers away from giving your business a chance, even if you have received a false or defamatory review. Knowing the proper steps to take to remove bad online reviews is essential when building a brand and its reputation regardless of the market or industry you are in.
Contacting Yelp Directly
One way to report online reviews you have received that are defamatory or entirely false is to contact Yelp directly. Using the official Yelp site, it is possible to submit a formal complaint directly to the company itself. However, many users complain that Yelp treats businesses unfairly, often dismissing any and all complaints that are sent to the company directly. When you are unable to delete bad reviews yourself with the help of Yelp, you may begin to feel as if your brand’s entire reputation has been tarnished. Without a guarantee of Yelp’s backing and support, seeking an alternative option is often the best solution, regardless of your case and whether or not a review is false or defamatory.
Hire A Professional Review Service
Unfortunately, due to the difficulty of working together with Yelp as a business owner, many professionals are forced to work with a third-party service that specializes in deleting or removing negative reviews from Yelp’s platform. Many professional companies that are available to remove negative reviews do not charge for their services unless the removal itself has proven successful. Before choosing to hire a professional service, it is important to conduct thorough research to determine whether or not the cost of the removal is beneficial to you and your business in the long-run.
Seek Legal Counsel
When you are adamant about removing a bad review online due to the damage it has caused to your livelihood or because it is false or defamatory, consider seeking out legal counsel. Hiring a lawyer is often reserved for the “worst case scenario”, but it is, unfortunately, necessary for many business owners who are unable to remove the bad online reviews themselves or with the help of a professional service. If you are unable or unwilling to go the legal route, there are alternative platform solutions to keep you better-informed of all of your online reviews, your brand’s presence, and your overall reputation.
Consider an Online Review Tool
Customer review tools such as AddMe Reviews provide a robust platform to help manage all of your online reviews, manage poor reviews, while focusing and promoting only the most positive reviews available from your customers directly. Receive immediate alerts regarding new reviews while also gaining access to a complete dashboard to learn more about where your customers find and review you most. Take complete control of how your loyal followers and customers view you online, ultimately boosting web traffic and maximizing your revenue potential and online reach.
