How to Get the Most Out of Your Yelp Profile

You probably already know that Yelp is one of the most influential review websites, offering millions of reviews of local businesses worldwide. Yelp has the power to drive people into stores, restaurants, and other businesses like few other platforms. What you might not realize, though, is that Yelp’s power extends beyond the local review space. As a social sharing and recommendations resource, Yelp plays an important role in local search, and Yelp is also one of the linchpins of local content on voice assistants.

Yelp is an essential component in digital marketing for businesses in nearly every industry. This is especially the case for businesses that rely on local search traffic. Establishing a presence on Yelp helps businesses stand out to both consumers and search engines.

When the social-local directory site FreshChalk analyzed local business websites and SERPs, the company found that Yelp was one of just two sites that dominated organic results. (Yelp was topped only by Google My Business.) In its analysis, FreshChalk found that Yelp appears in the top five Google search results 92% of the time when users are searching for local businesses, far ahead of Facebook and other local directory platforms.

To fully harness Yelp’s power in local search, businesses need to optimize their profiles. Keep these suggestions in mind as you work to get the most from your Yelp profile.

Claim Your Listing. By far, the most important thing a business owner can do on Yelp is to claim their listing. To get started, visit Yelp for Business Owners.
Fill Out Your Profile. You’d be surprised at how many Yelp profiles are missing critical information, like a working phone number or business address. The more information you include on a Yelp profile, the easier it will be for customers to find your business and the greater the chances your business will rank in all related local search queries.
Upload Photos. Yelp’s photo galleries give businesses the opportunity to put their best foot forward. Don’t leave it up to chance which photographs get shown on your profile. As a best practice, it’s recommended that businesses hire professional photographers to capture the personality of their businesses. Include photos taken during the daytime and nighttime, as well as both interior and exterior shots.
Optimize With Keywords. Keywords used throughout your Yelp profile signal to search engines whether your business should rank in local search. To improve your search rankings, make sure your profile is optimized for relevant keywords.
Treat Negative Reviewers with Respect. Negative reviews happen to everyone. How a business responds to negative reviews says a lot to potential customers. If you want to get the most out of your Yelp profile, you’ll need to respond to negative reviews thoughtfully and respectfully. Respond publicly and tactfully, apologize when warranted, and avoid getting into arguments with reviewers at all costs.

Because of the volume of reviews posted on Yelp’s platform, some businesses can get overwhelmed trying to manage their profile pages. Multi-location brands and businesses that receive more than a dozen reviews per week are usually better served hiring a digital marketing firm like SOCi to handle the optimization of all local review directories, profiles, and listings.

Yelp offers additional features to businesses who devote ad dollars to optimizing their Yelp presence, such as search ads and sponsored profiles. You can learn more about Yelp Ads here.