This 2024 study shows that the majority of Yelp users are more affluent and more likely to visit or purchase from a business after reading their positive reviews on Yelp—making it a smart, low-cost marketing channel for new businesses.

Here's how to claim your Yelp business page step-by-step and optimize it to drive more customers to your business.

1. Go to Yelp for Business and type your business name into the search bar. If your business is listed, your name will pop up. Click on it. If it’s not listed, select “Add business with this name”.
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​2. Enter your business email address. You’ll use this address to manage your page and receive messages from customers.
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3. Next, add a phone number so that customers can contact you.
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4. Add your Zarla website address so that customers can learn more about your business. Then click “Continue”. If you don’t have a website yet, select “I don’t have a website”.

5. Next, you’ll select your business categories so that customers can find you on Yelp. Type in a keyword that best describes your business, e.g. “Gardening” — a list of categories will appear on screen.

Select the ones that best describe your core business and click “Continue”.

6. Enter your registered business address or an address where customers can find you. If you prefer, you can choose to hide your address; only your city, state, and zip code will be visible to customers. If you have more than one location, you’ll be able to add them later.

7. Next, you’ll create a business account. Add your first and last name and a password, then click “Continue”. You can also opt to register with your Google account.

8. Lastly, you’ll be asked to complete your business claim. There are two ways to do this: receive a verification code via text message, or answer a call with the phone number you provided.

Once you’ve completed your claim, a “Claimed badge” will be displayed on your business page to let customers know you’re trustworthy.

9. Next, you’ll want to add compelling, high-quality photos of your business and products/ services. Remember that people make decisions based on what they see, so it’s best to choose photos that are high-quality and visually and emotionally enticing to potential customers.

Aim to include pictures of the interior and exterior of your business (if it’s open to customers), photos of your team, and offerings. You should also add captions to all of your images to give customers a better understanding of what they’re looking at. Captions can also help to gain more organic visibility for your business as they’re more likely to appear in search results.

If you have videos of your business, you can share those too!

Now that you’ve set up your business page, you’ll want to make sure your page is optimized to attract and convert new customers. Here are a few easy ways to do that:

Adding relevant keywords

Besides being a key review platform, Yelp is also a business discovery tool. Therefore, including the right keywords in your business information, history, and owner profile, can improve your chances of appearing in search results. Moreover, targeting niche keywords that your successful competitors are using can potentially drive traffic to your business.
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So, how do you find the right keywords?

Just do a little competitor research on Yelp itself! Go to Yelp.com and type the name of your competitor or a keyword term, such as “gardening service”, in the search bar. Use the location bar to set the geographic region you want to search and click the search icon.

If you searched by keyword term, Yelp will bring up a list of businesses in your area which you can sort according to “Recommended”, “Highest Rated”, and “Most Reviewed”.
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Go through a few competitor profiles and jot down any industry keywords or keyword phrases that are mentioned often.
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Once you’ve made a list of your top keywords, you’ll want to add those to your Yelp page. On your business profile, go to your introduction, history, and specialties and include these keywords as naturally as possible in your text. Be careful not to overstuff the text with keywords, as this’ll make it sound ‘salesy’ or robotic.
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Responding to reviews
Once the reviews start rolling in, it’s crucial that you respond to every single review, whether positive or negative, in a timely manner. This means you’ll need to monitor your page regularly. Check out these Yelp-approved tips for responding to customer reviews.
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It’s also worth knowing that Yelp has serious rules against soliciting reviews from customers, so if the Yelp algorithm suspects a review has been requested, it will likely be removed.
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Creating “Check-in” offers
A Yelp check-in offer is a free tool that allows businesses to offer loyal customers a free offer or discount which they’re able to redeem at your business.

When customers use the check-in feature on the Yelp mobile app, a broadcast is sent out to their friends letting them know where they are. This is a great way to reward loyal customers and entice new ones to check out your offerings.

Read Yelp’s handy guide on how to create check-in offers.
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​Posting Yelp Deals
​Yelp Deals are discounted vouchers that customers can purchase to use at your business. These are handy for engaging with repeat customers and drawing in new ones.

Follow these easy steps to post a Yelp Deal.
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​​Keeping content fresh
​Aside from keeping your existing information up to date, you’ll want to let customers know when anything new is happening at your business to keep them informed and interested in what you have to offer.

These could include announcements about new service offerings, season-specific products or services, promotions, or photos of your latest project.

Not sure what to post? If you're already posting frequently on social media, just pick a few posts each week to cross-publish on Yelp as well.

Using Yelp Analytics

Yelp Analytics gives you a better understanding of your target audience and allows you to tailor your marketing efforts accordingly.

Things to take note of are your Page Visits: how many times users have visited your page, and the About Your Audience section, which shows the percentage of users who visited from a mobile phone, as well as the number of times your business appeared in Yelp search results.

You’ll also be able to see a full breakdown of your customer leads i.e. what actions were taken on your page, such as direction and map views, clicks to your website, mobile check-ins, and more.

You can find Yelp Analytics in the “Performance Summary” section of your dashboard.