As a business owner, I know you’re constantly looking for ways to help your business be found on search engines. But in today’s society, we can’t just rest on search engine results. Smart phones, particularly iPhones, now have apps that help drive consumers to your business.
When a customer searches in Apple’s “maps” app for a business or a service the results that are generated are all linked through Yelp. What is Yelp? “Yelp is an online urban city guide that helps people find cool places to eat, shop, drink, relax and play, based on the informed opinions of a vibrant and active community of locals in the know. Yelp is the fun and easy way to find, review and talk about what’s great — and not so great — in your world.”[1]
Consumers use Apple maps to do a search for coffee, pizza, entertainment, etc. to find a business in the nearby area that has what they are looking for. Each business that pops up is tied to its corresponding Yelp page, showing their Yelp star rating right along with the business name.
A simple click of the arrow by a consumer and they will be able to see a variety of information about the particular business. From photos to business information to consumer reviews.
So what does all of this mean? Without getting into the Android vs. iPhone debate, we need to first realize that consumers with an iPhone now have it easier than ever to form an opinion about your business. Have you checked out your Yelp business page yet? If you haven’t, you may want to take some time looking at your Yelp page and find out what consumers are learning about your business before they have had a chance to judge for themselves.
Over the next few weeks, your Marketing Specialist will be calling you to get your website address added to your Yelp listing so that consumers will be able to easily access to your website from your Yelp page.
Check back next month for tips on how to encourage better reviews on Yelp from your customers!
[1] Yelp faq. (2013). Retrieved from http://www.yelp.com/faq