The complete checklist for maintaining your Yelp Page

When you want to boost awareness (and sales) for your small business, a well-maintained, digital footprint is crucial. The majority of customers search for businesses online, and 90% of people on Yelp compare businesses before making a final decision. Keeping your profile updated and accurate will not only capture their attention, but it’ll provide them all the information they need to choose you.

It starts with a strong foundation: If you haven’t already, claim your free Yelp Business Page Once you begin the set-up flow, strengthen your profile with accurate information, such as your website, hours, and categories; add photos with captions to display your best work; and turn on notifications to stay connected with potential customers.

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Once you’ve laid down the groundwork, a great Yelp Page requires maintenance. Whether you make updates to your page daily, monthly, or quarterly, figuring out the timing of crucial tasks—such as responding to reviews and adding holiday hours—can help you get the most out of Yelp. The exact timing and frequency will depend on your business and industry, but you can use this checklist as a guide to decide which tasks to tackle and when.

Bonus: After reading the tips, check out our downloadable checklist.

Daily

Keep an eye on your Yelp inbox

Read and respond to messages and requests in a timely manner, giving you the best chance to secure the sale
Turn on email or push notifications to be alerted as soon as you have a new message or request
If you receive a number of messages with questions about the same topic, you may consider updating parts of your Yelp Page or website to proactively answer these questions

Bonus resources:

Respond to reviews

The best way to manage reviews is through public responses, including responding to positive reviews with a thank you
If you want to also address something privately or in more detail, post a public response, and add that you’ll follow up directly, then send a direct message
87% of people who read reviews are more likely to look past a critical review if they see the business has responded to it and adequately addressed the issue*

Bonus resources:

Weekly

Add recent photos plus captions

Customers want to see the latest and greatest from your business
Show off your newest renovation, product, or menu item
Always add captions so people know what they’re looking at; plus, captions help you appear in more relevant search results on Yelp

Bonus resources:

Review your Yelp metrics

It’s free to track the customer activity on your Yelp Page. Monitor page visits, details about your audience, and customer leads (mobile check-ins, directions and map views, mobile calls, clicks to your website, and more)
You can also check your activity notifications and when they occurred by clicking the bell icon in the top right of your account on desktop
For example, “A Yelp user viewed the map for your business, 22 hours ago”

Tip: If you aren’t seeing the results or reaching the customers you want (basically if customers aren’t finding you as easily as you’d hoped), it may be worth considering Yelp Ads, which can help you target the right customers in the right places.

Monthly

Keep existing information up to date

Continue to make sure your basic business information is accurate and reflects your current operations
Adjust your upcoming holiday hours and special hours; think ahead to the days and months ahead that you may operate differently, like over the winter holidays or in the summer for 4th of July

Bonus resources:

Add new information or offerings as your business evolves

If you’re offering new things, update your categories, service offerings, and specialties section to make sure you’re appearing in the right customer searches
New service offerings are always being released to help you communicate the goods and services you provide; check in periodically to see what new features may have been added since the last time you logged in

Quarterly

Make seasonal updates

Add season-specific images and descriptions if your goods or services change throughout the year
Review your “From this business” section to make sure your Specialities, History, and Meet the owner sections have the most timely and relevant information
You can make those updates as frequently as appropriate for your business type (and if you’re using Yelp Ads, you can adjust your ad image and text based on the season too)
For example, if you run a company that does snow removal half of the year and warm-weather landscaping half of the year, your page should reflect that

Tip: Add content to your page, but only remove content if it’s something you no longer offer.

Consider Yelp Ads or Page Upgrades

Paying to enhance and elevate your digital presence can help you get in front of more customers
Yelp Page Upgrades improve the look of your page, as well as how your business appears in places like search results
Yelp Ads displays your business in a number of key places on the site and app, such as above and below relevant search results in the “Sponsored Results” sections and on your competitors’ pages—this means customers are more likely to find you while searching for the services you offer
Both products are simple and easy to set up, and you can even walk through the process yourself via your Yelp for Business account; start, pause, and cancel anytime throughout the year

If you’re already running Yelp Ads, monitor and measure how it’s going and adjust accordingly to make sure you’re maximizing your paid presence throughout the year

Bonus resources:

*Material Survey 2022. This survey was fielded by Material among 2,000 people aged 18+ in the United States. The survey was conducted online during the period of August and September 2022 and has a margin of error of +/- 2%. Results of any sample are subject to sampling variation. The magnitude of the variation is measurable and is affected by the number of interviews and the level of the percentages expressing the results.