These days, online reviews seem to pop up everywhere, even when you’re not expecting or looking for them. You see them scrolling through your Instagram and Twitter feeds or for a Google search of nearby restaurants. In the digital age, no one is bulletproof from the power of an online review.

Though the world of online reviews was created for the greater good of society, it can be a pain-point for many businesses, specifically on Yelp. Why, you may ask? Well, Yelp has been cracking down on what they refer to as “solicited reviews”. What this means for you as a business owner is that you can no longer ask your customers by any means necessary to leave a review of their experience on Yelp.

No matter how you word it, these actions have been prohibited by the online review site, and unless you want to further upend your online reputation, it’s best to adhere to these newly implemented policies. Now, this may leave you in a stressful situation where you feel your hands are tied. Let’s say you’ve just received the dreaded negative Yelp review that we’re all susceptible to; what do you do?

As you likely know, there’s no possible way to delete a negative Yelp review. Look as you may and have reviews filtered as you want, that review is now in site of thousands of consumers as they run daily searches through Google; or maybe even Yelp specifically. Yes, bad reviews are an inconvenience to your online reputation, but they’re not the bitter end to your business’s existence.

Sure, because of the inability to delete these negative reviews, they’re going to be accessible after one singular search of your business online. However, there is a silver lining in this constantly evolving world of online reviews. Though no process is going to be perfect, there are steps that you can and should take once you receive a less-than-ideal Yelp review about your business. While no one enjoys being singled out, especially through an online platform one has no control over, the best first move you can make is to own it.

Take Ownership

Owning up to a comment or concern left on behalf of a recent customer of yours is typically known as best practice. Regardless if you’re in the right or wrong in actuality is besides the point. Think about it; what looks better: a business that owns up to a mistake on behalf of their business, or a business that argues publicly with a customer in an online battle that will likely see no end? And the people said in unison — the former. By owning up to any mistakes you or an employee may or may not have made will make your business look better in the eyes of onlookers, and may even erase the adverse effects a negative Yelp review can have on your business.

Update Your Social Media Accounts

What does this have to do with receiving a negative Yelp review? Well, companies that manage and monitor their social profiles on a consistent and daily basis are more susceptible to a.) see a negative review before it’s seen by a mass quantity of the population and b.) shows consumers that you do manage your accounts and take your business seriously. Also, consumers can leave reviews on your social accounts, and a gleaming social presence will likely outweigh the toll a negative review on Yelp, or an entire negative Yelp page, may do. If you’re constantly updating your social media platforms, you’re also bound to rank higher on Google for those pages, as well; giving your business a chance to shine at first peak rather than start off on a one-star rating foot from Yelp.

Monitor Your Online Reputation

Without knowing exactly what’s being said about your business and when, a bad Yelp review could get lost in translation with the masses from your perspective, but easily found in the search queries of consumers. Like Google, Yelp is constantly changing their algorithms. What this means for your business is that no matter how you or Yelp have your reviews being filtered and viewed via settings, that one negative Yelp review could still slip through the cracks and be served up to a potential customer as the first review on your business’s Yelp page.

If a potential customer sees this bad review, and sees that your business hasn’t done anything to acknowledge or respond to said review, that rubs off on the consumer in the wrong way. To best prepare yourself from mayhem, get connected with an online reputation monitoring software like ReviewPush to make sure one bad Yelp review doesn’t bring down what you’ve worked so hard to create.

Now that we’ve gone over some simple ways to counteract a bad Yelp review, what tactics do you use? Let us know on social media!

Lee McNiel