A presentation by Pierre Zarokian of Reputation Stars / Submit Express. Contains tips and advice about reputation management specifically on Yelp. How the Yelp filter works, how to remove negative reviews, available methods for negative complaint removals and more.

1. Reputation Management, Yelp
& Beyond
Presented by:
Pierre Zarokian

2. About Me
• CEO of Submit Express & Reputation Stars
– Launched in 1998
– Services: Search Engine Marketing, SEO, Social Media Marketing, Reputation Management & Web
Design
– Based in Burbank, CA and has 10+ employees
– Ranked #1 SEO Firm by Website Magazine
– - 2007, 2008 & 2009
– - 2008 & 2009
• Expert in SEO & Reputation Management
– Writer for Search Engine Watch, Search Engine Journal, etc
– Quoted & Interviewed by Forbes, WSJ and LA Times
– Trade show speaker: Search Engine Strategies, Pubcon, etc

3. Stats
•142 Million Average Monthly Visitors
•2.1 Million Claimed Businesses
•90,000 Local Advertisers
•77.3 Million Reviews
•In 27 Countries

4. Impact of
• Harvard University research shows that 1-star difference in reviews on Yelp may
result in 5% to 9% in business gained or lost
• 83% of consumers say online customer reviews influence their purchase decisions.
• 63% of viewers of Yelp, visit/call that specific location. 38% of those viewers make a
purchase.
• 14% of users would try a business that had 3 stars or less
• 80% of users would try a business that had 4 stars or more

5. Action Plan / Goal
•Increase Positive Reviews
•Decrease Negative Reviews
•Use gathered feedback to improve customer
experience

6. Review Breakdown

7. How Yelp Works
• Review Filters
• How to get reviews removed
• General Yelp Advice

8. How The Filter Works
• New reviewers get filtered
• New reviewers may need at least 10 Reviews + Friends +
Activity + Time
• A business with few reviews may display reviews from new
users (no filtering)
• A business with primarily negative reviews may get more
positive reviews filtered
• Some reviews stay a few days then get filtered
• Useful / Funny / Cool – may make reviews stick

9. Can Negative Reviews be Removed?
• Original poster can remove
• Reviews against Yelp Terms of Service (TOS) may be removed.
Examples:
• Not a Personal Experience
• Wrong Business Reviewed (Corporate vs. Agent site)
• News influenced reviews
• Promotional Content
• If you can provide solid evidence to Yelp legal department they may
remove it

10. Flagging Reviews

11. EXAMPLE 1
“I had taken my beautiful golden
retriever next door to the vet but
apparently some insecure and petty
man (who I believe was a dentist)
lured her away from there into his
business, trapped her, shot her with
a compound bow and arrow using industrial sized search
lights, beheaded her, skinned her, and then stuffed her for
taxidermy...”

12. EXAMPLE 2
Chris & Pitts Restaurant
“Heard about this place on tv….
awesome floor show…better
than medieval times….with
authentic special effects…
apparently its to die for!”

13. How to get reviews removed
• Contact original poster
• Flag review and explain to Yelp
• Send legal cease & desist to original poster, but watch out for ANTI-
SLAPP laws! – You could be liable for damages!
• Send legal notice to Yelp
• Hire a professional to do it for you!
• If all above fails, Respond Publicly

14. What Else You Can Do
• Claim your Yelp Profile
• Advertise with Yelp, but only if you have at least 3.5 stars
• Ask manager to handle upset clients.
Offer discounts.
• Follow up calls - within a day

15. What Else You Can Do
• Ask happy customers to review
– Giveaways / Gift Cards
– Offering an incentive is against Yelp policy!
• Customer satisfaction surveys
- Repengage
- Bridg
- ReviewInc

16. Google+ & Local Review Sites
• Positive reviews on Google+ will help your rankings in Google
• Don’t forget about:
– YP and other Yellow Page Sites
– City Search
– Twitter
– Facebook
– BBB

17. Complaint Sites to Watch Out For
• Ripoff Report
• ComplaintsBoard.com
• Complaints.com
• Scam.com
• Scambook.com
• PissedConsumer.com
• Thedirty.com
• Revenge Porn websites
• Personal Blogs: blogspot.com, wordpress.com, etc

18. Available Methods for Removal
• Original poster can remove on very few sites
• Push down report to second page via SEO
• Get it de-indexed from Google due to Copyright
Violation, Private Info, Illegal Info, etc
• Black-hat SEO methods – it will only work on weak
sites
• Legal lawsuits and court ordered removals
• Pay Site Owner! (Is it extortion? No!)

19. Recommended Activity
• Register main TLD’s for your domain, .net, .org, companysucks.com,
company.sucks, companyblog.com, company.wordpress.com, etc
• Get your industry TLD: .dentist, .law, .studio, .plumber, etc
• Register and open accounts on all major social media. Top 300
recommended!
• Be active in social media
• SEO your website and social profiles, including link building
• Write guest articles for other blogs and ask for DOFOLLOW links
• Create Youtube videos + Vimeo + DailyMotion

20. My Contact Info
linkedin.com/in/submitexpress
Twitter.com/submitexpress
www.submitexpress.com
www.reputationstars.com
www.iclimber.com
pierre@submitexpress.com