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!
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:
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.
