6 business owners share their favorite Yelp features and tools

The digital age has changed the way consumers spend their time and interact with businesses. Recent research reveals the average American spends over six hours looking at a screen every day, and 76% of consumers will search for a company online before visiting their physical location. Given this, it’s now more important than ever for local businesses to curate their online presence to appeal to their target market and draw in customer interest.

So what are some potential ways to make your Yelp Page stand out? We asked six small business owners about their favorite parts of their Yelp Pages and how each benefits their businesses.

1. Intriguing Hair | Videos

Videos are a great way to showcase what your product or service looks like in motion. Use them to show off lighting, sound, function, mobility, or the steps in your work process so customers know what to expect. 

From Nikia Londy, CEO and co-founder: “Yelp is extremely important because, even for myself, that’s how I figure out where I want to shop and who I want to go to. My favorite feature is the option to feature a video, which is extremely helpful, especially in the [beauty] industry. A picture is just one little second, but [it’s helpful] when people can actually see the video because with hair, people need to see what it actually looks like in motion. You can tell the difference [between high and low quality] through a video, so that’s very important.

“A lot of customers, when I ask them how they found us, say they found us on Yelp and could tell we were the best through all the photos and videos we had. A lot of people don’t update their Yelp Pages frequently, especially the videos, and I think that’s the most important thing being in the beauty industry. People need to see what they’re going to get.” 

2. Sunbliss Cafe | Attributes

Adding business attributes (also called amenities) to your page are effective ways to draw in customers looking for specific qualities, values, or services. 

From Tani Ahmed, owner: “I love that Yelp highlights women-owned businesses. There are [free business attributes] like “women-owned” and “Asian-owned”—things that might have mattered to the end user who was looking us up on Yelp. I don’t think people take advantage of these features very often, even though it’s important information because there are so many dietary restrictions for so many people.”

3. Saville Flowers | Photos

Taking social media photos with a high-quality camera or smartphone, colorful backdrop, and professional lighting can make all the difference when creating appealing content for your target audience.

From Mark Jones, lead designer and owner: “Beyond the customer reviews, the pictures are really great for us. Photos are what really helps distinguish a brand and display more of what we do and give potential customers a better idea of the kind of work we deliver on, especially having such a vision-driven product line. People definitely call over the phone after seeing our Yelp photos, especially our customers who are calling from out of state or out of town or even out of the country. When they want to look up flower shops in Evanston, it’s helpful for the more savvy shopper to be able to look online and see different pictures of what they can expect to get.”

4. MF Strong | From this business

Use the “From this Business” section to tell your story directly to potential customers, so they know who you are, what you do best, and why they should choose you.

From Miriam Fried, founder and CEO: “My favorite part of my page is being able to be really clear on who we are and what we offer in the “About the Business” section. We are not your average gym where you walk in and say, ‘Hey, I want to lose 10 pounds.’ That’s not us, so we’re not for everyone. So it’s always really important to me to be crystal clear so that when that ideal client comes across the page, they’re like, ‘Yeah, that’s exactly what I’ve been looking for.’

“One of the things Emily [Washcovick, Yelp’s Small Business Expert] said [when helping me with the From this Business section] was to add as many keywords for things that we provide. Instead of listing the things we don’t offer, being really clear about all the things we do offer so that when people do a search, we come up for them.”

5. Lash Pilot | Yelp Connect

Try Yelp Connect to promote special events and holiday offerings or add personality to your pictures (paid feature).

Quymh Tram Vu, founder and owner: “What I like most about my Yelp Page is the posts. I can go into my Yelp Connect and create a post, and I love that it’s so easy to do. I talked with a couple of Yelp representatives who reached out and encouraged me to update my posts three times a week. I usually [post] my most recent beautiful lash jobs. If I have a good picture, I’ll go in there and update my ongoing post to change the words. It could be for the celebration of a certain holiday or a specific promotion to say: ‘We have these certain services that you want.’”

6. Tempoe DJs | Slideshow

Using Slideshow allows you to curate which photos consumers see first—on your page and in search results—and is a powerful strategy for highlighting the best aspects of your business. The Upgrade Package, which includes Slideshow, can help make an immediate impression on potential customers (paid feature).

From Ryan Girgis, owner and DJ: “I really like Yelp’s photo Slideshow feature. You can choose and display your work and who you work with. When you pay for Yelp, it gives you a feature where you could have your own customized picture order. [Without Page Upgrades,] you can’t pick which picture goes first. In our company, we have multiple DJs, and I didn’t want people getting the impression that we only had one DJ to offer. I wanted our page to showcase our whole team. [This is] especially since the diversity our team has is something that’s really important because we live in a diverse city, Long Beach, and I want to show that we have DJs that could pretty much cover every culture’s music.”

The benefits of Yelp

A great Yelp Page can encourage potential customers to purchase from a business—90% of users on Yelp compare their options before enlisting the services or products of a business. When business owners claim their Yelp Business Page, they can strengthen their online presence with both free and paid tools. Not only can they engage with their customers to build communication and trust, they can also entice potential customers to patronize them by adding high-quality photos, displaying identifying business attributes (like Black-, LGBTQ-, and women-owned), and taking advantage of the Request a Call feature.