Good Idea: How (and Why) to Claim Your Business On Yelp.com

9 comments // Jun 23rd, 2010 // Good Ideas

Yelp is a social network of peer reviews of everything from restaurants to plumbers (even seasons for the more smartass inclined.) According to the site, 32 million people visited Yelp in May 2010 to make spending decisions. As Yelp continues to expand their service by incorporating location-based elements and hiring community managers across the country (Columbus included!), we can only expect this number to grow.

Yelp allows businesses to “claim” their business listing for free. Unlocking this page gives you the ability to

  • Communicate with people who review your business, privately or publicly
  • Track how many people view your business listing
  • Quickly edit your basic business information without needing Yelp approval
  • Unlock additional business information sections such as specialties and history
  • Recommend other businesses to your customers
  • Create special offers and discounts for the Yelp community
  • Display upcoming events, promotions and more

…did I mention this is all free to your business? Cha.

When I co-presented with Carolyn Maul at Podcamp/Wordcamp Ohio last weekend about location-based social networks, the question came up, “How do I take ownership of my business on Yelp, and why would I bother?” so… I figured I’d share the answer with you :)

How to claim your business profile on Yelp:

  1. Visit Yelp.com and enter the name of your business in the top search bar
  2. Once you find the listing for your business, click “Claim Free Business Owner Tools” if you are logged into Yelp from a personal account OR click “Work Here? Unlock This Business Page” if you are not logged in. These links will be in the top business description section above the “Send to Friend,” “Bookmark,” “Send to phone,” “Write a Review” buttons.
  3. Enter your name, e-mail address and password as prompted.
  4. To verify that you are an actual employee of the business at hand, you will next need to receive a automated phone call from Yelp and use your keypad to input the four digit code shown on your screen. If the number listed for your business is incorrect, you will need to change the number from the business listing page by clicking “Edit Business Info” and wait a few days for Yelp to confirm and process the change. If the number is correct, click “Call Me Now.”
  5. After the phone confirmation, you will unlock the ability to edit all basic business info (phone number, website, category, hours, photos, etc.) without needing Yelp to confirm.
  6. In addition to that information, you can now add the sections “specialties,” “history,” “meet the owner/manager,” and “business recommendations.” Fill out ALL of these sections and use rich keywords- Yelp packs a lot of Google juice.
  7. Set up a special offer for your business. Here’s a few ideas to get you thinking:
    • Mention Yelp and receive 10% off your purchase
    • Free valet parking for Yelp users.
    • Free appetizer for the duke/duchess (Yelp’s equivalent of a Foursquare mayors)
    • For that matter, any of these Foursquare promotion ideas for Yelp check-ins
  8. Visit https://biz.yelp.com in the future to make changes and track your visits and reviews. Be sure to contact everyone who reviews your business – thank them, let them know you appreciate their opinions and concerns, or try to rectify a negative experience. Just think before you write.

Have you had any successes or failures with Yelp? What do you plan to try going forward?


9 responses so far, want to say something?

  1. Mike McDermott says:

    While Yelp may have suffered some serious reputation damage last year, they have made some moves to vetting comments left by visitors. Reputation management is only good if the comments left are made by actual customers. Geolocation is an important part of reputation management for restaurants especially. Go out and make sure you fill in the blanks at Yelp along with any other reputation management site. Giving consumers at least some good information about your establishment is better than none at all.

    Jun 23, 2010, 7:46 pm
  2. Genuinechris says:

    Holy ugly typography batman. No wonder you drink so much, your site drives you to it. ;-)

    Jun 23, 2010, 7:52 pm
  3. Cheryl says:

    the redesign should be live this week, chris. thanks for being a smartass, lol

    Jun 23, 2010, 7:53 pm
  4. Mike McDermott says:

    It’s called being a better idea.

    Jun 23, 2010, 8:00 pm
  5. bethia says:

    Thanks for sharing – really useful!

    Jun 23, 2010, 8:19 pm
  6. Claim That Business! Getting Started on Yelp | Place & Profit says:

    [...] Yelp goes increasingly social and locational, it’s important for business owners to claim their business in order to keep information, promotions, events, etc. up to date. There’s all measurement [...]

    Jun 23, 2010, 2:34 am
  7. Why Joining Yelp is Vital for Small Business « Ideationsconsulting’s Blog says:

    [...] Good Idea: How (and Why) to Claim Your Business On Yelp.com [...]

    Jun 23, 2010, 6:24 pm
  8. Matthew says:

    Hello,
    Do you know why some of my businesses on yelp allow “additional business information” such as methods of payment/parking/appointment only etc, but my more recent businesses don’t have the option to include those details?

    Jun 23, 2010, 8:43 pm
  9. Cheryl says:

    They’ve changed some of the fields on Yelp businesses – also, I think it might depend on the category you put the business in

    Jun 23, 2010, 7:00 pm

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