If you are running a small business – say, a mechanic shop, diner, dentistry or hair salon, chances are people are talking about your business on Yelp. Over 30 million customers have written a review of a local business using Yelp and about 78 million folks check out those reviews every month. The site’s popularity is such that a search for a business by name could list it’s Yelp review even before the business’ own website.
Getting a positive (or negative) review on Yelp is not hard, but since a big chunk of Yelp’s 78 million monthly users are accessing reviews directly via their website or app, the challenge is getting your business at the top of Yelp’s search results. Here are five tips for improving your ranking on Yelp –
1. Get more reviews. Unless your business is the only one of its type in a particular city, having one or two reviews will not put your business at the top of a search for your business type. Ask your clients to review your business – try receipt marketing and use your enewsletters to ask for a review.
2. Get recent reviews. If you have a few old reviews and your competitor have a few recent reviews, guess what? Your competitor will rank higher in Yelp’s search results. Drum up recent fresh reviews through point-of-sale SMS marketing and solicitation, use QR codes or have a computer handy so your clients can write a review while you wrap up their transactions.
3. Claim your profile. Businesses have the opportunity to create and maintain their own profile on Yelp – get yours. Ensure that all fields are filled out with the correct address, keywords, service categories etc. If your listing is missing information, you could be missing out on referrals.
4. Advertise on Yelp. Promotion is great for businesses. Although advertising on Yelp won’t directly improve your ranking, it will attract the type of people who Yelp to your business. Yelp provide at least two great advertising opportunities on their Website.
5. Provide a (great) service people will want to talk about and let your clients know where they can talk about it – search ranking aside, you’ll find this is also the best way to get a better rating on Yelp.
Until next time, happy marketing!