This ongoing blog post will follow my client’s experience with paying for Yelp. I hope to update this post every few weeks.
What is Yelp Advertising
For the long answer read it from the source at https://biz.yelp.com/support/advertising. For the short answer, this is how I see the two programs:
- Cost per click. These clicks come from Ads on competitors pages (those not advertising) and the Yelp search.
- Upgrades to your Yelp page. These include removing competitors ads, including a call to action, the option for video and call tracking.
Question I hope to answer
Is Yelp advertising worth it?
How can I tell if this is actually helping or is my client paying for clicks that they would have already received?
November 6
2 whole months later, finally checked in with my client. The bottom line? If the contracted ended today, they would not renew. While Yelp has lead to more calls, for the most part, the calls are either “tire kickers” or the wrong service altogether. So while Yelp pads their stats with bad leads, my client feels like they are wasting money and time.
In Yelps defense: 1. They did try to help, by changing categories and giving some help to the budget. 2. Really the issue is Yelps strength: The Yelp Users. They are looking for two things: 5 stars and the lowest price (I will explain why I believe Yelp advertising is all about having the lowest price in the future). So if you compete on value, Yelp advertising is not for you. On the other hand, if you are the lowest costing service in your city, Yelp may be perfect for you.
Unfortunately not perfect for my client, we are speaking about where to spend the budget money when the Yelp contract is up.
September 6
It has been a while since I checked in on my client. Their over all sense is that it is helping, but not that much… so how much? Probably enough to pay for the monthly fee, but nothing life-changing. The leads that are coming directly from Yelp (and there are more) are not quite the level they are hoping for; little jobs here and there, but not the big fish.
So they will continue and see how it goes.
August 2
Hmmmm, there seems to be action on the Yelp stats, but not action for my clients leads. It is still early, but we I inquired, they told me they have received a few calls, not the right call, but more telemarketer type of calls. Could it be that all these “conversions” are not the clients they are looking for. Real leads so far 0, leads that are too small to act on 2, telemarketer calls… many 🙁
July 25
I was told there was no problem getting the full amount of clicks for my client’s industry, but the real question is how much would each click cost? The first click was $5, but the second was $9. No new business so far, but it just started.
Hint: Find a Yelp ad or offer online, where you “Get $300 of Free Clicks”, send it to the agent when you sign up, even if the offer is not valid, they can add it to the budget.