Yelp Secrets: How To Optimize Your Yelp Listing For Free

Yelp for restaurants: Given its prominence as a local search engine, it’s no surprise that Yelp has become essential for businesses looking to get their name out there. According to their own statistics, Yelp now has 140 million users and processes more than 140 million reviews monthly. In fact, there are over 540 million user-generated reviews on the site – that’s nearly double the number of Google searches performed in any given day! With so many people relying on Yelp to find businesses, it’s necessary to optimize your company’s presence on the platform from an early stage. Read on to learn how you can leverage the power of Yelp and other local search engines to drive new customers straight to your doorstep.

Yelp Secrets: How To Optimize Your Yelp Listing For Free

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With more than 135 million monthly users, it’s no surprise that businesses continue flocking to Yelp to claim their page and optimize their profile. In fact, according to the company’s own survey, 77% of small businesses see positive effects from advertising on Yelp. While the platform continues to struggle with its reputation as a review site filled with angry users and false reviews, those who take advantage of the opportunity are seeing real results. With so many potential customers lurking in the shadows of this site, it’s time you start optimizing your Yelp listing for free and get your business out there. Let’s dive into our top secrets on how to optimize your Yelp listing for free.

Establish a presence on Yelp

Yelp has a reputation for being the go-to place for customer reviews. This can be both a good and bad thing. It’s good because it’s a low barrier to entry for customers to share and rate your business. It’s also bad because it can be an easy place for customers to write negative reviews. But you can turn the tides in your favor by establishing a presence on the platform. You don’t have to win the algorithm and have positive reviews pop up first. Instead, you can be the one writing them. Just like with any other social media platform, the key is to be authentic and consistent. You can’t just send out a few posts and expect results. You have to be engaging with customers and potential customers. Show people that you care about their experience with your brand and they’ll be more likely to check you out.

Claim your free Yelp ads

Did you know that one in five Yelp users searches for a local business and then finds a different one instead? That’s a huge chunk of customers who are going to another competitor because you didn’t make sure your business was listed properly. Creating an account and claiming your listing is the first step, but you also have the option to claim free Yelp ads and boost your visibility. Yelp ads work just like Google Adwords. You create an ad with a headline, description, and image and then select the type of people you want to see it. If you’re a restaurant, for example, you can choose to show your ad to people who are searching for “breakfast” or “brunch”. You can even select the time of day when you want your ad to show.

Optimize your photos

Visually appealing images can make a huge difference in your Yelp reviews. You can’t just use any stock image, though. You have to use images that are relevant to your business. If you own a bakery, for example, you could use images of fresh baked goods. If you offer catering, you could use a picture of a sample menu. The image has to be consistent with your brand while still getting the point across. If you aren’t sure how to take good photos or don’t have the resources to hire a photographer, consider outsourcing the task to places like Upwork or Fiverr.

Be responsive

People are going to be contacting you in a variety of ways and you need to make sure you’re always accessible and responsive. That means making your hours of operation available on Yelp, responding to reviews, and replying to questions. If you get a negative review, don’t freak out. Instead, take it as an opportunity to improve. Respond to the review, thanking the person for their feedback and outlining how you plan to use it to improve your service.

Use Facebook Ads and Sponsored Emails

If you want your Yelp ads to bring in big results, try out Facebook Ads. You can use them to drive traffic to your Yelp listing and increase your click-through rate. When you pair Facebook Ads with Yelp Sponsored Emails, you can send people straight to your Yelp listing and increase your ad impressions. The great thing about Yelp ads is that you can track how well they’re doing. If your CTR is low, you can change the image, headline, or description and see what happens. It’s an easy way to test different ad variations and figure out what works best.

Conclusion

Yelp has grown into a powerful tool for businesses to gain insights, gather reviews, and increase foot traffic. However, in order to reap these benefits, you have to optimize your Yelp listing. While the process of optimizing your Yelp listing may seem tedious, it is well worth the time and energy. By following these Yelp secrets, you will be able to put your business in front of more customers and increase your overall sales.