There are several ways to advertise your business online. Facebook, Google, and Yelp continue to develop cutting edge ways to deliver your ads to tailored audiences, yet the method that produces the best results largely depends on each individual business. Yelp Ads can prove to be the step that gains you loyal customers, or it could turn out to be a wasted long-term investment, yielding few results. Here are some points to consider when determining whether or not you should use Yelp Advertising.
Everyone Is Doing It
According to Yelp’s public offering of shares, the website and mobile app generated 25 million reviews, 66 million monthly visitors, and 606 thousand claimed business locations by 2012. Yelp is HUGE. The traffic volume alone makes it easy for businesses to get hits on their listing. These listings are created on Yelp whether you choose to add your business or not. Regardless of whether you decide to spend money on advertising, be sure to claim your business so that you can monitor and respond to incoming reviews and edit the contact information. An unmonitored listing can accrue negative reviews and drive potential customers away with a wrong phone number or website listed.
Close The Deal
When searching for a specific type of business, users rely on Yelp for its convenience and filters that allow them to prioritize results by price, reviews, location, and more. Yelp’s paid advertising lets business owners customize their profile, including the addition of a video and picture slideshow to give the listing a more polished appearance. For some potential customers, this elevated presentation could be enough to close the deal.
On the other hand, a fancier-looking profile might not be enough for a small restaurant with a lot of local competition, or a small hair salon with a couple of bad reviews. The large volume of Yelp users constantly scouring local listings can turn into accrued expenses through PPC (pay-per-click) marketing. Lots of clicks on your search result does not automatically guarantee lots of customers, but it can most certainly guarantee unwanted expenses.
Consider The Cost
Although Yelp’s website tells you to contact them for a quote on full service advertising, many users claim the search engine giant locks businesses into long-term contracts, regardless of how it performs for each individual listing. A steep upfront cost would not be ideal if the cost per click does not turn into paying customers.
Yelp does offer some enticing services, despite the initial price tag. Along with an upgraded profile, premium listings get advertisement space at the top of search results with related keywords, advertisements on their competition’s profiles, and the ability to restrict competitive search results and advertisements. It also gives you the ability to feature reviews on your profile.
Weigh Your Options
Before making the leap, make sure you play the field. Research experiences that similar business owners have had with Google AdWords, Facebook Advertising, and Yelp Advertising before throwing money at them. Each platform offers different features, so it is helpful to become familiar with which features are most effective for your business. If you are looking to raise the ranking of your website on search engines, Yelp’s proprietary landing pages and limited analytics will not be beneficial to the growth of your business. If you are simply looking for positive reviews to persuade people to use your business in favor of the competition, then it might be worth consideration.