This week this a new Qdoba location is generating traffic to their store and their Yelp page in two ways. They’re holding a free tasting event that they are announcing on Yelp, and yelpers (everyone who reads and comments on Yelp is a yelper) are commenting on the event. In addition, customers who bring proof to the restaurant that they are yelper get a free meal. For details on both of these follow this link.

This is a great way to generate traffic to your restaurant or store, to build up recommendations on Yelp — and other review sites — and to generate traffic to your website. After all many of the people who see your profile on Yelp are likely to check out your web site. This last point is an important one, especially for online businesses. The key to social media, whether it be review sites, Facebook, Twitter or the many other options, is to drive interested customers to your website. Keep in mind though, just like everywhere else, on social media people are NOT interested in being sold. Simply telling them to visit your site isn’t the best course of action. First, you should generate interest by writing something interesting. And occasionally offer something of value when you are more explicit about encouraging people to visit your web site or physical location.

On that note, I hope everyone close to West Chester, OH checks out the new Qdoba Mexican Grill locationand I wish the owners of the new Qdoba much success. (In case you are wondering, I do not know the owners of this Qdoba location and I only found out about this offer via Yelp.) Take care everyone!

There are many ways to use customer reviews and testimonials. The most powerful is the video testimonial, but it can be as simple as asking someone to write a couple of lines in support of your business. There are even services to help your business get testimonials from your most satisfied customers and place them on tens of review sites. If your interested in knowing more about this, contact me at (513)545-0059.

Pay attention to customers who write reviews (positive and negative) and make sure you thank them or ask them how you can improve your service. You could get a negative review changed and build a stronger relationship with your most loyal customers. I wrote review for a hotel a couple of weeks ago and was thrilled when the check-in clerk thanked me on my next visit.

Tell me about your experiences receiving or writing reviews for businesses.

In return for your website analysis HubSpot asks for your email address try to get you to sign up for their newsletter and get you into a 30-day trial for their paid services. I recommend checking out the other information on they offer in their newsletter and website.

Tell me about other tools, free or not, you’ve found helpful for improving your website and getting found by the search engines.