Why Small Businesses Need Yelp (And How to Claim Your Prize Once You Have It)
Consumers are pretty smart these days. Gone are the days of blindly purchasing without much background information. Now, buyers strongly rely on previous customers to decide whether a business or product is right for them.
In fact, 74% of “consumers searching online for a local business turn to consumer online review sites at least monthly.” Is your business visible to these people who are looking? Can they find reviews, as well as basic, reliable information about your business, such as hours, location, photos, and a description? These are the factors that play into consumers’ purchase decisions, and Yelp makes it easy to make sure you’re up to par.
Keep reading to find out why Yelp is key for local businesses and learn how to get a fun little reward for creating your page!
Some Facts About Yelp:
- The 74% of consumers using online review sites monthly voted Yelp as the most trusted, most influential and most useful for making a final purchase decision. Not maintaining a presence on Yelp means losing a significant and important source for customer leads.
- 92% of consumers using Yelp make a purchase after visiting the platform. Nope, you didn’t read that wrong. 92%! That’s a staggering amount of business that could be coming to YOU! Not only are a high majority of people making a purchase, but they’re also doing so much faster than before. In fact, the “number of consumers who report purchasing something within a few hours increased by 212%” between 2014 and 2016.
- This same study also compared conversion rates between Yelp, search engines, and leading social media. Among the 2,000 consumers studied, Yelp landed the top spot for driving the most conversions.
- 85% of Yelp users share the businesses they find on Yelp with friends at least frequently or occasionally. That’s a lot of free marketing!
- Yelp users are looking for local businesses while on the go. In the most recent quarter, 81% of searches and 69% of new Yelp reviews were done on mobile devices.
Phew! That’s a lot of potential for one website. This is why keeping an up-to-date listing and encouraging Yelp reviews from happy customers is so important.
On top of that, another great way to promote your business is by adding photos to your profile. Show off your space, services, menu, or more through high-quality photos that really visualize what you have to offer! By adding ten or more photos to your page, you could end up with up to 12x more customer leads per month!
SUGGESTED READING: For more information on how the proper photos can help grow your business, check out our interview with Photo Marketing Specialist, Rinat Halon Neal!
Photo Credit: Yelp
Now that your business is ready to roll out on Yelp, make sure your customers know that’s where they can find you with this fun Yelp window decal! Sign up for yours through this form!
Still need some help improving your Yelp listing? Check out the eJenn Solution’s page for some inspiration on how to make your page the best it can be for your customers!
