Once again, Google’s on the news here in the small business arena. What do you expect? You’re looking at the multi-media cyberspace ultra-giant mega-monster of the internet. Google. And now guess what? They’ve gotten so big, so powerful, that they have their own entrepreneur word-of-mouth advertising service called….
Call it an interactive Yellow Pages, call it the true business social site (sorry, LinkedIn). Call it whatever you want. The fact remains: Yelp for Business Owners, a site designed for small businesses to connect with customers on a word-of-mouth level, is a handy little tool! But let’s go in real deep to see why (or why not, if the underlying setbacks are enough to put Yelp at the back of the pack….).
Yelp, a local business directory site with reviews by its members, is becoming increasingly popular in metro markets. It’s influence can be seen in both San Francisco, Chicago and New York where many shop owners display a “Yelp” sticker on their storefront windows.
As online directories take a certain market share away from traditional Yellow Pages – and even search engines – the rise in the popularity of website surfers looking for reviews has increased dramatically since 2005 (when Yelp first launched).
Yelp is also becoming a place where restaurant owners, plumbers and even professional services providers like attorneys can advertise. They have three ways of getting your local business listed – by advertising at a flat monthly rate, by paying $3 per click, or simply being listed for free.
Here’s how to be listed for free (it’s not as easy as one would hope).
The first step in good search engine optimization (SEO) is having your site indexed in the popular directories Google trusts.
The 5 important components of having your site well ranked in Google are:
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