Listing your business on Yelp should be at the top of your to do list as a business owner and it’s easier than you think. Not only does Yelp deliver 142 million monthly users, it also dominates search engine results, making your Yelp business listing one of your most effective marketing tools once it’s implemented.
Understanding the Yelp platform is key to answering the question, “How Do I Get My Business on Yelp?” and the following article will explore the Yelp platform and explain the process.
What Is Yelp? and How Do I Get my Business on Yelp?
Yelp is an online reputation management platform where consumers are encouraged to rate businesses on their performance based upon a five star scale and leave comments for other consumers to read. This can aid in the decision making process that may be involved in everything from where to get a great taco in San Diego to finding the best veterinarian for Mr. Furpants.
For the business owner, Yelp is the FREE modern day yellow page listing with a real-time connection to existing and future customers. The savvy business owner will strive to answer the question, “How Do I Get My Business on Yelp?” because doing so will provide them with valuable insight regarding their customer experience. It will also provide them with an opportunity to respond to reviews, measure visitor activity, and create an online community around their product and or service.
The Process of Securing a Yelp Business Listing
The business owner and/or marketing lead will likely be the persons responsible for establishing the Yelp business listing. Both of these roles have the required signature authority and information regarding the business to produce an accurate business listing. In addition each would be interested in the consumer insights to be gained once the listing becomes live which can have an effect on future marketing and customer relationship management efforts.
For the business owner looking to answer the question, “How Do I Get My Business on Yelp?”, the process is fairly simple. First visit the “Find and Claim” business page and complete the form to see if your business has already been listed. Assuming it has not, Yelp will then give you the opportunity to “Add your Business on Yelp“. Once you complete and submit this form, Yelp will verify the entry for accuracy and approve the request. At this point, the business owner will receive an email from Yelp instructing them on how to claim their business page.
6 Tips for Success
After discovering the power of Yelp and answering the question, “How Do I Get My Business on Yelp?”, remember these 6 tips for success:
- Make sure all business information is correct and consistent with every other listing you have for your business across all print media and digital platforms. Having an accurate listing is of primary importance as it will affect your SEO and ultimately your bottom line. Be certain that your business name is spelled accurately and all contact information is correct.
- Remember to “claim” your Yelp listing and don’t forget that Yelp will be sending you an email to “claim your business” after you complete the “Add your Business” on Yelp form. Follow their instructions to complete the process.
- List all of the relevant categories for your business, this is important so that your business appears in the online search results when potential customers are trying to find you.
- Promote your Yelp listing by using a Yelp badge on your business website to highlight your Yelp reviews. You can also promote your Yelp listing by placing a call to action link in your email signature, “Please Review Us on Yelp” and invite your customers to write a Yelp review after all positive customer interactions.
- Respond to reviews by remembering that Yelp is a reputation management platform and as a business owner you can utilize it to improve your customer relationships! Always follow up with reviews, thanking customers for good reviews goes a long way toward building loyalty, in turn, responding to negative reviews, in a positive way, can repair a damaged relationship and promote good will and excellent customer service. Some business owners even take the opportunity to offer a special discount on future service to encourage an amicable resolution to any problem and portray the business in a positive light.
- Use Yelp metrics to plan future marketing strategy. Your Yelp business listing provides you with the opportunity to understand your market better and develop effective marketing campaigns. Yelp business analytics can tell you how often a user visits your business listing or if they’ve checked in at your establishment, when they’ve left a review or posted a photo, or clicked through to your website. Gaining knowledge about your customer will help you serve them better and Yelp metrics are a valuable tool for any business owner.
Summing Up
Using Yelp to promote your business is FREE and the benefit to your business can be well worth the effort. Initially you will need to follow the steps above to answer the question, “How Do I Get My Business on Yelp?” but once you have completed the short process you will have opened up a dialogue with your customers that provides you with continuous feedback and consumer insights, opportunity to resolve conflict, improve processes and provide excellent customer service.
Your business listing will also help customers find you quickly and identify you as a legitimate business among the competitive business landscape. Your Yelp listing will enable you to measure customer behavior and plan future marketing efforts that can be designed to address the needs of your specific customer base. Now that you know how to get your business listed on Yelp, the only question left to answer is “When Will You List Your Business on Yelp?”