As digital marketing consultants, we are often asked a version of this question: “What are some low cost, high return first steps we can take to market our company?”
At DSG, we believe that establishing a consistent and accurate online presence is foundational to all your marketing efforts. Specifically, this means claiming and optimizing your online profiles on the various search engines, online directories, social platforms and map/nav apps across the web.
One key platform we recommend companies focus on is Yelp. Ensuring that you have complete and accurate information on your Yelp profile will not only increase engagement, but will also help your search results.
Is your Yelp profile set up to deliver maximum impact? While purchasing an Enhanced Profile unlocks many features that take your Yelp profile to the next level, there are also several things you can do to enhance your free Yelp profile to deliver improved performance. Read on as we explore five easy ways to optimize your free Yelp profile.
Name, Hours, Address, Phone, and Description
The most important and obvious way to optimize your free profile is by ensuring that you have filled out all of your basic business information. It’s important to ensure that your business name, hours, address, and phone number are all correct and identical to that which is on your website. This will make customers finding your business an easy and seamless experience. Plus, when business information is consistent across the internet, search engines rank you higher.
Write out a detailed, yet concise description of your business that will catch your readers’ attention. A general rule of thumb is to avoid massive walls of text and, rather, break your description down into digestible bits. Yelp business descriptions have a 1,000 character limit, so be efficient with your words.
Choosing Business Categories
Yelp allows free business profiles to select up to three business categories. DSG suggests that you use as many categories as you can, so long as they are relevant to your business. If there are multiple categories that are appropriate for your business then utilize all three slots – this will increase your reach and ensure that your business appears in relevant user searches.
Adding Photos
Be sure to add several photos to your Yelp profile. Adding photos gives visitors a visual representation of what your company does – not to mention it makes your profile more colorful and robust. Please note that free Yelp profiles do not have the ability to rearrange photos or select your logo as their profile picture. Yelp utilizes a number of factors in determining which photo on your profile is shown as the profile photo, including user votes and how recently the photo was added.
The only way to be certain that your business logo appears as your Yelp profile photo is to upgrade to an Enhanced Profile. DSG is a Yelp Preferred Partner; contact us if you’re interested in learning how we can improve your Yelp presence.
Set up Yelp Messenger
Yelp Messenger is an important feature that allows users to send your business a message without ever leaving the Yelp platform. This is an easy way for potential customers to ask a question or request a quote from your business. When you set up your profile to accept messages, Yelp will notify you via email whenever a potential customer contacts you. Monitoring these messages is an effective way to gather high-intent leads.
Respond to Reviews
Responding to business reviews helps to increase consumers’ trust in your business. It shows users that you value your customers’ input and are going the extra mile to engage with them. It is beneficial to respond to both positive and negative reviews. For tips on responding to business reviews, check out this DSG blog.
Optimizing your free Yelp profile is an easy way to extend your business’ online presence to a large audience of potential customers.
Are you looking for even more ways to enhance your Yelp profile? Check out DSG’s webinar featuring speakers from Yelp, “Beyond the Yelp Review: Be Chosen. Be Found.” Click Here to view a recording of the event.
Do you have a Yelp Enhanced Profile and has this blog left you wondering how to optimize it? In this DSG blog, we’ve covered tips on optimizing your EP. Plus, stay tuned for future blogs where we’ll cover more Yelp topics and questions that you’ve been asking!
