Hay There! When it comes to listing your business online, there are many roads to take, but which one leads you down the right path? Since each business has its own strategy and goals, it’s hard to pinpoint which listings will be best for you.
In today’s blog post, we are helping you break-down 2 listing sites that your small business owners NEEDS to be aware of: Yelp and Google Places.
Google Places
Google Places is a listing where business owner can input information, including address, phone number, website, directions, and even photos representing their business. With Google juice behind the listing, these pop up often when people search for a specific business using Google as a search engine.
Don’t think restaurants are the only type of business that get reviewed! Venues, specialty service providers and even churches have feedback available for others to read and learn from.
Google users can also utilize the listings to voice their opinion by posting a business review.
Yelp
Yelp’s tag line is “Real Reviews. Real People.” – which means business owners have little control when it comes to what’s being said about their business. This can be a blessing and a curse, depending on whether or not reviews are positive or negative.
While there’s nothing you can do about reviews that are posted, you can make sure that your listing in Yelp is as up-to-date as possible by claiming your business. This simply requires you to fill in all the information surrounding your business – including your address, website, phone number, photos and then verifying that you are the owner.
Yelp reviews are not something to opt out of! You may be thinking, ” I haven’t set up a Yelp profile or claimed my business page, therefore, I don’t have to worry about reviews being up about my business.” This is not the case. People can post reviews about your business even if you’ve never been to Yelp. It’s easy to be concerned about bad reviews, however, it’s just as important to be aware of GOOD reviews! You wouldn’t want someone to publicly display a compliment to your business and you not thank them for doing so, right?
Additionally, many times Yelp listings can pop up before Google Places, making it crucial that business owners keep the profile updated so people are able to locate and contact your business in an accurate manner.
To learn more about how Yelp can help your small business, visit a past blog post of ours HERE.
What do these listings mean for businesses?
It is crucial to have both a Google Places page as well as an updated Yelp listing.
Both are very search-friendly sites, and with more and more customers finding new businesses to patronize via online resources, it’s time to give up that hard copy Yellow Pages listing and hunt for more search-friendly options.
For help with getting your business listed on Google Places and Yelp and managing your reviews, contact Hay There Social Media today!
Contributed by Hay There Social Media Team Member, Lauren Weber
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