How to claim your business on Yelp

Just show me how >>

Some of us in the protocol 80 office are Foursquare people, but some others prefer Yelp. Generally speaking that's the way it works with the latest technologies, especially when it comes to location-based services like the ones I've been writing about this week. The good news is that it's just as simple to get started by claiming your business on Yelp as it is on the other services I've mentioned - so let's get started!

Claim Your Yelp Location

As is usually the case, the best way to get started when claiming your Yelp location is by heading over to the website and searching for it. If you find your business's page, at the bottom you'll see a little button that says "Claim This Business" under a list of reasons why you'll be happy you did. Go ahead and click on that button (similar to the one to the right) to get started!

You'll of course have to create a Yelp business account to actually claim your business, but as previously mentioned the benefits are well worth the time spent signing up. Once you've claimed your business you'll be able to:

• Monitor how many people view your business page
• Immediately update business information
• Announce timely news and events
• Privately message customers
• Receive email alerts of new reviews

As you can probably guess this is a great way to keep track of who is visiting your location and why! You'll also be able to create exclusive Yelp deals to entice people to visit you, and more importantly (as with the other services I've discussed this week) you can use these deals as an incentive to drive repeat business. Sound good? On to the next step!

Once you've created your Yelp business account you'll need to confirm your relationship with the business. This is done through an automated phone call from Yelp during which you'll be asked to enter the 4 digit code on your screen. Once you've successfully claimed your business you can do things like upload photos of your storefront, post the correct information about the business such as hours of operation, share discounts and even upcoming events at your location to draw a crowd.

Much like Foursquare, Yelp has a built-in analytics service that lets you track daily and monthly traffic to your location's business page. This is an awesome way to keep track of word-of-mouth. Since Yelp is so heavily focused on casual reviews, chances are good you may receive some (hopefully positive) feedback about your location. By claiming your business you can now interact with folks that post about your business - this goes a long way to cultivate brand loyalty. It's always great to show appreciation for a positive review, but more importantly be sure to reply to negative reviews and ensure customers you're working to solve any issues they may have had. Being active on Yelp lets your customers know that you care about the experience they have at your store, restaurant, or other place of business!

Quick-Start Guide:

• Step 1: Sign up for your Yelp account here: https://www.yelp.com/signup
• Step 2: Search for your business at yelp.com
• Step 3: Find your business listing, click on its page and click the Claim This Business button to start the verification process.