DSG has previously written tips to Optimize Your Free Yelp Profile. If you’re taking the dive and considering upgrading your business to an Enhanced profile, that’s great! Purchasing a Yelp Enhanced Profile is the first step towards getting your business chosen on Yelp.
A great feature that comes with Yelp Enhanced Profiles at no additional cost is competitor ad removal. No ads will be shown on your business page, ensuring that you have your prospects’ full attention. This feature automatically activates when you upgrade your profile, with no intervention needed from you!
However, other features that come with an Enhanced Profile require a bit of attention after the upgrade. In our experience, the time it takes to optimize these features is time well spent as it increases engagement with your profile. Now, let’s explore the Enhanced Profile features that you will need to set live manually.
Basic Business Information
Before delving into the new features you’ve unlocked by upgrading to an Enhanced Profile, make sure that your basic business information is in check. Browse our previous blogs on Yelp to learn more about claiming, creating, and optimizing a basic Yelp profile. Maintaining accurate, updated business information enhances your business’ hyperlocal marketing strategy by ensuring your business can be located.
Once your basic information is set, it’s time to explore the features available with your EP.
Photos
Upgrading your profile grants you the access to a more customizable photo experience. Most importantly, you can now select one photo as your business’ “featured photo”. This photo will appear next to your business name in Yelp search results, so select a picture that is representative of your business, like your logo.
In addition to the featured photo, Enhanced Profiles also allow business owners to organize the order of all photos on your profile. You will want to put your best and most impressive photos towards the top, where users will see them first.
Photo Slideshow
Enhanced Profiles also allow business owners to select which high-quality photos they would like to display in the photo slideshow that appears at the top of Yelp profiles. The photo slideshow lets you create a customized digital storefront for new and returning customers to see.
Call to Action Button (CTA)
When you upgrade to an Enhanced Profile, you unlock the ability to add a customizable button to the top of your business page. Businesses who implement a CTA on Yelp drive, on average, 38% more leads than those who don’t. Your CTA button is customizable, can hold up to 30 characters, and links out to wherever you would like. We advise that you link out to a webpage with high lead generation capabilities such as a “schedule an appointment” page, or a “request a quote” page. This feature won’t appear on your profile automatically, so be sure to implement it in your Yelp For Business settings once you upgrade your profile!
Business Highlights
Business Highlights is a feature that DSG highly recommends – you can showcase important attributes about your business where your customers will see them. The top two highlights even appear next to your business in Yelp search results. You can select up to 6 business highlights from dozens of diverse options.
Additional Upgrades
There are, additionally, a few other upgrades that you can add to your Yelp profile for a small fee. Photo Portfolios, Business Logo, and Verified License are three Yelp add-ons. The Logo feature allows you to set your business logo to be displayed prominently on your business page and in search results. This offers different benefits than using your logo as your featured image – see the image below for the comparison of a business utilizing the Logo add-on versus a business not using it.
Portfolios help you to manage photo collections to showcase different areas of your business’ work. A Verified License displays and validates your state-issued trade license to earn trust with your customers.
There are an abundance of ways to leverage your Yelp Enhanced Profile to gain more exposure, leads, and conversions on Yelp. Be sure to follow us on social media to catch up on the latest marketing insights, and stay tuned for more Yelp hints and strategies in the future. If you would like a free evaluation of your Yelp presence, please contact us here.