Creating and Optimizing your Business Profile

In a post-Covid Era, small businesses need every advantage to capture new customers and re-engage existing ones. One of the best ways is managing your brand on Yelp. You can be a restaurant that’s re-opening indoor dining or a brick-and-mortar store that is competing with online competitors or a service-based business managing customer reviews - here are tips on maximizing your Yelp business profile.

Claim your business Yelp page (if you haven’t already). This creates a business account so you can access Yelp suite of tools to make changes to all of the information on your business page. How do you know if your page is claimed? Go to Yelp (through your computer, phone or tablet) and enter your business name. If you haven’t claimed it, Yelp will ask you, “Is This Your Business” 

Verify address and contact information  It’s important to provide updated contact information so customers can reach out through the method they are most comfortable with. Pro tip: Yelp can sometimes put their own phone number that routes to your business number so don’t be alarmed if you see a number that isn’t your own. This typically happens if your business has a paid package of services from Yelp.

Check and Update Yelp Profile Photo - Positive photos and videos profiles increase the level of engagement of your profile and increase brand awareness.

Update your Photos Gallery  - Similar to updating the Yelp profile photo, updating photos adds color and personality to your business. Pro tip: Include photos that show yourself, your employees, shots of the exterior of your business and replicate what customers will see when visiting you. 

Update Hours - Yelp allows businesses to update business hours for both regular and holiday hours and even closures for vacations, etc. A side benefit of posting business hours is to capture users searching for businesses that are currently open. Pro tip: During pandemic times, business hours may have been affected so be sure to change them back when your business is ready.

Add a complete description of your business - Yelp profiles can include mission statements, provide customer competitive advantages, and any other value added information.

Select Categories that your business falls into -  Filling out the products and services also helps categorize the business with the Yelp search engine as well as Google and Bing.