Almost 8 in every 10 Americans regularly read reviews of local businesses before visiting or shopping, and they are the percentage of consumers most likely to use companies that respond to their online reviews, according to BrightLocal. That’s why it’s so important to use top review sites like Yelp to successfully market your local business. In this well detailed article, we shall be exploring the steps and tips to make the most of Yelp for small business.
Yelp for Small Business: Understanding Yelp
Yelp is a crowd sourced review site launched in 2004 and accessible online or through its app. The site lists millions of companies and targets customers in specific areas. Users can rate local businesses and comment on their performance.
Yelp does not verify user reviews; but uses advanced techniques to identify fake or bad documents. Yelp is a popular website that generates more traffic than YellowPages.com and WhitePages.com, so it’s a great way to attract potential customers and convert them into buyers.
How can I use Yelp for my small business?
Yelp is a great place for small businesses, but you have to work to get the most out of it. We recommend following these four steps to grow your business with Yelp.
1. Request your business’s Yelp page.
If you haven’t created a Yelp listing for your business, someone else will,” said Rochelle Sanchirico, Global Director of Small Business at Spotify. She recommends doing so. Research to see if a listing has already been created for your business (perhaps by a customer).
Yelp will also tell you to find your business at the start of registration. “If your business is already listed, Yelp allows business owners to claim or ‘lock’ their business page,” Sanchirico said.
To claim your business name, go to the Yelp Claims page and enter your business name. Yelp will check its database to see if the listing already exists. If so, follow the on-screen instructions to claim it. If not, please click “Sign Up for Yelp for Free” to begin registration.
You will then be directed to the account creation page where you can enter your company information. You will then receive a verification code via email or phone number to verify your identity.
2. Improve your Yelp page.
Creating your Yelp page takes some effort, but if you want to maximize the value of your listing, this is just the beginning of the process. After all, a simple and unpretentious name is unlikely to attract many customers. Yelp offers many customization and optimization options to improve your page commercially.
A picture is worth a thousand words, especially when someone is looking for a good restaurant to eat or something they want to buy,” Sanchirico added. Check out these 10 mouth-watering advantages of Yelp advertising for small businesses.
With these tips in mind, consider adding images to your page to showcase what you offer. An optimized platform not only helps you clarify your business, but also helps your customers find your company easily. Here are some great, free ways to use your profile:
• Present your business accurately. Yelp has 22 main categories and hundreds of subcategories. For example, “Restaurants” has 157 categories, ranging from “Afghanistan” to “Burritos.” Choose categories that increase the chances of people searching for your products or services.
• Write a good job description. You have 1,500 characters to market your business to page visitors. Include here your skills, your employees’ experience, and why customers should choose you over your competitors.
• Connect by creating a description of the company you want to join.
• Enter your working hours. Let people know when they can visit your business or the best time to contact you.
• You can add additional information to your profile that your customers will find useful, such as whether you have Wi-Fi, whether there is on-street or off-street parking, whether dogs are allowed, or whether you provide a pickup service.
• Use of key terms. You can make it easier for users to find your page by adding search terms.
• New pictures and videos added. Consider photos that reflect your unique business, including the food you sell, the clothing you make, or the design of your storefront. Make your photos professional and attractive with one of the best photo editors.
• Provide your contact information. Add your company’s website URL, email address, and phone number to your profile.
• Save your new profile. Yelp profiles that haven’t been updated recently are standing out for the wrong reason. Keep your content updated by sharing special offers and announcements regularly.
• Link to your Yelp profile. You can attract the attention of the Yelp algorithm by linking back to your Yelp profile from your business website.
• Already logged in. Yelp users can “sign up” when visiting a business in person. Encourage your visitors to come to your site by offering them free gifts or discounts on future purchases. You can combine the offer with a customer loyalty program.
• Match your NAP information with your Google Business Profile NAP. “NAP” refers to the company’s name, address and telephone number. To better appear in the “local group” of three businesses listed in Google searches with the report page, make sure the NAP on your Yelp profile matches the NAP on your Google Places profile.
• Any location provided. If your business operates on more than one website, be sure to create a separate profile for each business.
• Some of Yelp’s tools are expensive. It’s usually worth paying for at least some of these features because there are some improvements:
• Added call to action (CTA) functionality. For as little as $2 per day, you can add a CTA button to your pages that invites visitors to make an appointment, print a coupon, tour your site, and get a quote. Learn how to create a CTA.
• Remove candidate ads. You can remove the “Still Thinking” section on your profile that provides links to your competitors for just $1 per day.
• For an additional $1 per day, you can choose the order in which images appear on the page. Otherwise, Yelp will randomly display the photos and snaps that customers upload to your listing when they leave a review.
• Give Yelp deals. Offer discounted products or services to your visitors on your profile. This may increase sales, but Yelp takes a 30% commission.
• Sale of gift vouchers. You can offer gift cards to visitors for which Yelp charges a 10% fee.
3. Enjoy many Yelp reviews
Yelp will not contact customers to solicit reviews; the platform even “cuts off” businesses that violate this policy. But there are many ethical ways to encourage your customers to leave positive reviews on your page. Here are the best ways to generate Yelp reviews:
– Link to your Yelp review page from your company website.
Add a review carousel to your site to display recommendations.
– Use Yelp tags on your site.
– Promote your best comments on your company’s social media.
– Tell your customers more about your business with a first special offer.
Bradford Hines, the digital marketing expert and founder of YumDomains and HungryKids.org, recommends posting notifications on your website and store to promote your business.
Add a sticker to your window, a friendly reminder about your menu and products, and a Yelp review plug-in at the bottom of your site,” he said. – Try linking to your Yelp listing in your email signature or on your company website… After the person filling out the form, say “Thank You” If you add a link to your Yelp profile on your “I thank you” page, you won’t have to worry about affecting your conversion rates.
4. High ranking on Yelp.
One of the best ways to ensure your Yelp listing is successful is to get as many reviews as possible,” says Brandon Seymour, SEO analyst and owner of Beymour Consulting. – This is especially true for search engines. For example, the more reviews and online presence your business has, the higher your business ranks the more customers search for it on Google.
How do I manage negative Yelp reviews?
Business owners worry about dealing with negative customers on Yelp and other platforms. Bad reviews are inevitable, but the way you respond can have a big impact.
If your business has negative reviews from Yelp, here are the best ways to fix them:
• Don’t take this personally. People have the right to express their opinions, no matter how wrong you think they are. Set the goal of resolving conflict rather than proving critics wrong.
• Don’t let the crisis get you down. Even if a bad review isn’t an inherent problem, it can feel that way in the first few minutes of reading it. Instead, think of the review as an opportunity to learn and avoid the same mistakes.
• Quick response to review. Try to respond to customers within two days or even a week.
• Be as honest as possible. Thank the reviewer for bringing this issue to your attention and we apologize for any inconvenience. It also doesn’t hurt to offer discounts on future purchases.
• Address their concerns directly. According to ZenBusiness research, one in three customers will withdraw their review if they think the company has handled the issue well.
• Try taking the session offline. In many cases, direct (but private) communication with the customer can resolve the issue. It’s best not to discuss the perceived failure of your business in public. Reply with explanation of how to solve the problem.
Remember that most people will leave a company due to poor customer service; Therefore, it is not good to establish a good relationship from the beginning to reduce your chances of getting treatment.
Yelp FAQ
As you create your Yelp page to attract and retain customers, you may have more questions about getting the most out of the platform. Here we answer some questions that most Yelp users have.
Can you pay to remove bad reviews on Yelp?
Yelp generally does not remove negative reviews upon request. However, if the message contains hate speech, obscenity, harassment or threats, you can request that it be removed. Consider joining the Yelp Advertising Partner Program to increase sales.
What are the alternatives to Yelp?
In addition to digital marketing available on Google and Facebook, other methods Yelp uses to review businesses and the percentage of customers used to rate a local business include:
– TripAdvisor – 36%
– Best Business – 31%
– Apple Maps – 13%
– Health Level – 12%
– Trustpilot – 7%
What advertising options are available on Yelp?
You can pay to have your business rank high in user searches for your product or service. You can use location and keywords to target users who see your ad. On Yelp, just like a Google Ads campaign, you pay every time someone clicks on an ad. For this reason, there are separate solutions for local and national companies. [Learn the difference between advertising and marketing so you can make the right choice for your business.
Is Yelp SEO friendly?
Yelp won’t help your business rank higher in search results because not all links to your site are followers. However, Google may consider the Yelp page as a reliable source of notifications for the Google Business Profile. If your NAP content on Yelp matches your Google business profile, it will increase your chances of appearing in the Google suite.
Can I remove my Yelp listing?
Yelp often lists businesses on its own listings without asking permission from the owners. You can’t choose whether your business appears on Yelp; Even if you ask, your list will not be removed.
How important is Yelp to my company’s success?
If you do not take advantage of this platform, you will miss the opportunity to market your company to local customers. If you don’t engage with users who leave reviews, your business will be overlooked by your customers. Whether you’re claiming your business page, enhancing your profile, promoting and responding to reviews, Yelp can be a valuable marketing tool.
