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Claim and Optimize Your
Free Business Listings
Part 2
by Mary Anne Baker

What You Will Learn in This Class:
● Important Marketing Tools Found in Your
Claimed Listings:
○ Google Places/Google Plus Local
○ Yahoo Local
○ Bing Business Portal
○ MapQuest
○ Yelp
○ FourSquare
○ TripAdvisor
● How to Track, Respond to, and Promote
Your Reviews

Google+ Local
● Offers
○ Google Offers allows you to reach potential customers
near your business. Using their mobile device, these
customers can find your offer and visit your business
right away. And it’s free,for a limited time
○ Customers simply show you the offer on their phone
and you apply the appropriate discount at checkout.
○ You can see how many offers have been saved and
redeemed in the Offers tab in your Google Places
account.
● Go to www.google.com/places, and login to your Google
account. Click on the top right blue tab that says "offers."
Follow the simple guidelines to post your offer.

Yahoo Local
● Go to http://smallbusiness.yahoo.com/dashboard/
○ Look at Reputation Tracker Tab (mentions and
reviews)
○ Look at Local Visibility Tab for other Local Listing
opportunities
○ No mobile promotions available on Yahoo for Small
Business

Bing Local
● Go to www.BingBusinessPortal.com
● Login to your Bing account
● Preview tab:
○ A mobile version of your website
○ A QR Code for your website
○ A window sticker to download and print
● Mobile tab:
○ Mobile content - list your specials here
● Click blue marketing tab at the very top:
○ Then click on "Deals" to set up an offer that can be
displayed on your bing listing and on the mobile
version.

MapQuest (formerly known as AOL Maps)
● https://listings.mapquest.com/apps/listing
● 1 out of 5 map searches are done on
MapQuest.
● Make sure your listing is current and
completely filled out to reach your potential
customers who are searching for you on
MapQuest.
● No mobile deals/offers available on
MapQuest at this time.

Yelp
Your business account is located at: https://biz.
yelp.com/
● Activity tab: Learn about your audience.
● Reviews tab: Monitor and respond to your
reviews.
● Check-in Offers tab: Create an offer that
appears on your business listing in the Yelp
Mobile app.
● Go into the "Account Information" tab to set
up your email notifications to be notified
when a new review is posted.

FourSquare
● http://foursquare.com/login
● Features include:
○ Share an update to have it appear:
■ When people view your location
■ After people check in
■ In your loyal customers’ friends tabs
■ Share your update to Facebook and/or Twitter
○ Find out how many customers you have on
foursquare, how many times they've checke
and who your mayor is (the customer who h
checked in the most times in the last 60 days)
○ Set up a special offer for mobile devices.

TripAdvisor
● Go to www.tripadvisor.com and login.
● Click on "Your Business and Account", then "Your
Business." The Management Center is full of tools,
including:
○ Manage your TripAdvisor Page: Enhance you
listing, upload photos and videos; update busi
details, rates and booking info; track performa
and more...
○ Manage your Reviews: Know what your custo
are saying about you and post your reply.
○ Free Marketing Tools: Use downloadable badg
and widgets on your own website to display yo
TripAdvisor ratings and reviews, encourage
customer reviews and create photo slideshows.

Responding to Reviews
“It takes 20 years to build a reputation
and five minutes to ruin it.”
- Warren Buffet

Fact: Consumers are far more likely to believe
the review (opinion) of a stranger than the
advertising message of a business.

Keep these three things in mind as you're
crafting a message to your customer:

○ Your reviewers are your paying customers
○ Your reviewers are human beings with
(sometimes unpredictable) feelings and
sensitivities
○ Your reviewers are vocal and opinionated
(otherwise they would not be writing
reviews!)

Responding to Positive Reviews:
● ALWAYS respond to positive reviews.
● Your purpose should be simply to deliver a
human thank you and let them know you care.
● That's it. No gift certificates. No mailing lists.
No event invites. No reactions to the minor
complaint in their review. No requests for
them to tell more friends about your business.
● Remember, this customer already likes your
business -- just use this opportunity to thank
them and introduce yourself.

Responding to Negative Reviews:
● Negative reviews can feel like a punch in the gut. We
care deeply about our business, and it hurts when
someone says bad things about it. A negative review
can even feel like a personal attack.
● Your first instinct is the "double D." Deny and Defend. It
doesn't matter whether their account is true, false or lies
somewhere in between. Defending and denying will be
a HUGE mistake!
● Failure to respond to a negative reviews sends a
strong message to prospective customers that you have
no customer service and further entices them to stay
away. One of the first things I review with a new client is
their reviews across multiple channels. When they ask
me why they have no business yet their competitors do,
this is often where we find the answer.

Stop, Drop, and Roll
1. Stop - Don't respond immediately. Sleep on
it. Waiting 24 hours can make all the difference.
2. Drop - Drop the prideful, defensive and harsh
response. Let a trusted co-worker or friend
read through your response before posting.
3. Roll - Roll with it. In the end, you can't
control the opinions of your clients. Attempt to
mend any valid issues this person presented
through their review. Keep providing the best
possible service and products.

Responding to Negative Reviews
● You have a chance to help the situation and maybe
even change this customer's perspective for the better.
There are many success stories from business owners
who were polite to their reviewers and were given a
second chance.
● But be careful here: if your reviewer perceives that you
are being rude or condescending, there's a chance he
or she could get angry and make the situation even
worse. Keep in mind that this is a vocal customer who
could well copy and paste your message all over the
Web.

Negative Review Response:

● Keep it simple.
● "Thank you for the business and the
feedback."
● If you can be specific about the customer's
experience and any changes you may have
made as a result, this could go very far in
earning trust.

Use a Listening Tool
1. Know what is being said about your business.
Negative statements, lies, rumors can spread in
an instant. The longer you wait to respond, the
more damage will be done.
2. To get notifications sent to you by e-mail, set up
Google Alerts for your business name. Google
Alerts sends you a notification when you have
been mentioned in articles, blogs, reviews, etc.
www.Google.com/Alerts
3. Some review sites can be set up to send you a
notification when a review is posted (Yelp,
TripAdvisor)

Learn From Others
Here are some businesses to study on
TripAdvisor. Their review responses - whether
to a positive or negative review- are very
appropriate and can help you craft your own
responses:
● High Hampton Inn, Cashiers, NC
● Grove Park Inn, Asheville, NC

Improve Your Review Rankings
Loyal and repeat customers can be a huge
asset to your online reputation.

When you have a satisfied customer at your
business location, hand them an easy review
sheet and ask them to share their experience.

Create a Custom Review Sheet

● Select up to 3 of the most popular
review sites for your business.
● Include a QR code so customers can
find your review site and leave a
review from their mobile phone
immediately upon leaving your
location.
● Include an active hyperlink to the page
on the review site for your business, if
you prefer to email this document to a
customer.
● Make sure the links and QR codes go
to the EXACT page on the review site
for your business.
● Use a URL shortener to make it easier
for customers to find your site in case
they need to type in the URL directly.

Handout Resources:
Create QR Codes: www.QRStuff.com
Create short URL's: www.Bit.ly

Fact: Every Star in a Review Leads to a 5-9%
Jump in Revenues

“Risk comes from not knowing what you’
re doing.”

- Warren Buffett

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Claim and Optimize Your Business Listings - Part Two

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Claim and Optimize Your Business Listings - Part Two