Not sure if improving your Yelp page’s rankings is even worth it? When you consider that most people are influenced by social proof (reviews), prefer to receive recommendations from friends, and mobile search is finally taking over desktop search, it’s easy to see that Yelp is a must-have for any small business. Whether you love or hate it, for now it’s here to stay! If you haven’t claimed your Yelp listing yet, we’d recommend it. If you have claimed your listing, here are several ways to optimize it:
Add your complete, comprehensive, and up-to-date business information
While Yelp’s success is driven by user-generated content (specifically, customer reviews of local businesses), it doesn’t mean you have to relinquish full control of your Yelp business listing to the temperaments of your customers and reviewers.
Yelp business owners can supercharge their listings by generating their own content and filling their Yelp listing with all relevant information, as completely and comprehensively as possible. Here’s a checklist to help you get started:
- Business name
- Business category
- Address, neighbourhood, ZIP/Postal code, and map location
- Operating hours
- Phone number
- Website and contact e-mail
- Price range
- Menu (for restaurants, bars, food and beverage establishments)
- Delivery and take-out information
It’s also useful to indicate if your business:
- Is good for kids
- Accepts credit cards
- Has parking spots
- Takes reservations
- Has a strict dress code
- Has Wi-Fi
Optimize the “About This Business” section
Next to the tab that displays your Yelp reviews, you’ll notice an “About This Business” section, which you can also fill out and edit in order to provide more information about what you do and what you can offer.
Feel free to share your business or company’s history, list down your specialties and recommendations, and add a short bio about the business owner.
Here’s a bonus tip (that doesn’t require you to have an SEO expert on your team): Conduct a little bit of keyword research to find out what potential customers are typing into their search boxes in order to find you (or your competitors).
The results of this research should help you tweak the content of your “About This Business” section in ways that, hopefully, will have your keyword-rich (but not keyword-stuffed) listing pop up at the top of both Yelp and Google search results.
Add high-quality photos to your Yelp business page
Recent research showed that people searching Yelp for local businesses spend 2.5 times more time on a Yelp listing with photos than on a listing without photos. So here’s what you should do: check out Yelp’s free business tools, upload high-quality photos, and use these images to enhance the visual appeal of your Yelp business listing. Don’t forget to add captions, too.
Be as creative as you can with the photography, and go beyond taking pictures of your storefront. If you’re not sure what else you can take pictures of in order to optimize your Yelp for business page, try snapping shots of:
- Your products, specialties, and recommendations – complete with descriptions and pricing
- Your employees and staff members
- Your reception or welcome area (this works especially well for restaurant and hotel review sites)
- Images of your flyers, special promotions, and deals
- Events you’ve hosted in your business location
Check the accuracy of your map location
Existing and potential customers who search for local businesses using Yelp and Google will typically see a map as part of their search results. As a business owner, you want to be seen on that map – and be part of the top results – in order to get more people to click and visit your website or Yelp listing.
Work on making your business information and map location as accurate as possible. Having great reviews on Yelp is one thing; having great reviews on Yelp that actually show up in maps and search results is another.
Customize your Yelp business URL
We recommend this great tip to owners with lengthy or hard-to-remember business names, as well as to those who have not yet customized their Yelp for business URLs. By creating shortened custom links that lead to your Yelp listing, you make it easier for people to find you, remember you, and give you a review.
An excellent tool that we use is bit.ly, which, apart from creating custom URLs (bit.ly/Raven5, for example), also lets you analyze link stats like number of clicks, social media referrals, and geographic information.
Another bonus tip: Apart from sharing your custom Yelp business page URL across your website, blogs, and social media profiles, you can also have it printed on your advertising and promotional materials: posters, flyers, brochures, business cards, press kits, what-have-you.
It goes without saying that lots of people are already carrying their smartphones and tablets wherever they go. Cater to these people by making it easy for them to find, remember, and visit your Yelp listing.
Understand your Yelp metrics
To support your Yelp review management and monitoring efforts, visit Yelp for Business Owners and check out the data being tracked for you. Stats and charts measure several kinds of information about your business page (like traffic, mobile check-ins, number of calls, number of bookmarks created and deals sold, etc.), and from these you can gain insights on how to improve your local search performance.
Want more Hyperlocal information? What about other Hyperlocal Considerations? Need some tips on Why You Should Be on Bing Places. Have you Optimized Your Google Listing? Get Noticed With Hyperlocal Marketing.
