I had a very interesting conversation the other day with a small business owner.
Like most everyone who has a profile on Yelp they have been repeatedly contacted him – enticing him to upgrade his account. Finally on call #1,983, in a moment of weakness, he bought their package. (I guess persistence pays off)
I get the calls too. I have a Yelp Page (http://www.yelp.com/biz/mike-mueller-web-design-concord).
As you can see, I have but one review. That’s it. It’s a five star from almost 5 years ago! w00t!
It’s also a free account I’ve never thought of upgrading. Oh, and I use Yelp all the time on my phone but hardly ever leave a review.
You can already tell from my tone just how I feel about paying for Yelp. But this isn’t as much about how I feel about Yelp – I want to hear from you.
WOULD YOU / DO YOU PAY FOR YELP?
But wait! Before you answer that, here’s 3 things you didn’t know you could do for FREE on Yelp:
1. Did you know you can get free tracking on Yelp?
Head over to https://biz.yelp.com/ Obviously, my stats are pretty poor when compared to yours. Yelp isn’t the first pace people think to search when they need Professional Web Development. That Revenue Estimate? Where did they pull that? They say it’s “Customer Leads × Revenue per Customer Lead = Estimated Revenue“. Revenue per Customer is pulled from some study they found. Strange that they point to it here as there’s nothing there stating my average revenue per customer is $11,130 / 42 = 364.64. Where does that come from?
2. Did you know you CAN reply to negative reviews (for free)?
It’s one of the big selling points I hear from people for going with the paid version but you can also do it for FREE. Sure there’s a limit, but if you are getting that many negative reviews, maybe that’s not what you need to be focusing on, eh?
3. Did you know you can ADD sections to your profile? 
I didn’t know this until I was working on this post! Valuable sections that include Specialties, History and a Bio.
Specialties: Keep is short and sweet. Comma separated tags. Although you get 1,500 characters to use, don’t write a flowery narrative of what you ‘specialize’ in here. (think keyword rich stuff here for better rankings)
History: Here’s is where you can better tell your story. You’ll get 1,000 characters to use. This is a great place to tap into their emotions, answer the questions of why you are different, why they should choose you, and what you’ll do for them.
Bio: I did upload a picture but their system isn’t showing it yet. My bio is short and sweet, written in 3rd person with a touch of humor thrown in.
BONUS: You can also get a badge from Yelp for your website showing off your spiffy review score!
WOULD YOU / DO YOU PAY FOR YELP? (and why)
Seriously. I’m asking. That wasn’t rhetorical. Leave a comment, eh?
He's an avid hockey fan, rides a mountain bike, sometimes rides a road bike, has a few motorcycles (he had a really fast one, bought a cool orange one, rode a really slow one, and now,a perfect "BDR Weapon"). If that isn't enough, he makes cheese and sourdough bread, loves strong beer and good red wine, and poorly plays the Mandolin.
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