How to create Yelp business accounts

Creating a Yelp business account is important for any business that understands the value of local search marketing.

Is it worth creating a Yelp business account?

You might assume that it makes more sense to focus your local SEO efforts on Google Business Profile. But Yelp is still an effective channel for connecting with a local audience. 

A huge 80+ million people visit Yelp every month, and 83% end up buying from a business they find on the platform. That’s a huge number of potential customers that could find your business and become paying customers. 

For business owners, taking advantage of Yelp actually helps boost your rankings in Google Business Profile too.

By improving your NAP (name, address, phone number) data distribution, you’re more likely to appear in search results. This is because Google considers you to have stronger online prominence.

Setting up a Yelp page is so simple, it makes sense for most local businesses to create one.

Yelp: Add a business or claim an existing one

You don’t need to have extensive experience in local SEO to learn how to claim a business on Yelp.

First, search for your business. If a page already exists, you should see a link under the average star rating that reads “Unclaimed”.

Claiming Yelp pages is quite straightforward. Simply hover over the link and then click “Claim this business,” which will take you to the Yelp signup page. Enter your name, email address, and password to create a free account.

If someone has already claimed your business, you’ll need to contact Yelp support so they can determine you’re the genuine owner.

Owners who can’t find their page need to understand how to add a business to Yelp from scratch. Simply type your business name into Yelp’s page for adding your business and select “Add to Yelp for free.”

Or to make life easier, create a Yelp business account using listing management software. Listing management allows you to upload details to one centralized source to distribute to Yelp and other top directories.

Listing management tools make it simple to create Yelp business accounts and boost prominence (a Google local ranking factor).

Optimizing your Yelp for Business page

The most important thing to get right when optimizing your Yelp for Business page is your NAP data.

 Check your business name, address, and phone number are accurate and reflect what you’ve published elsewhere, both online and offline.

 Next, make your Yelp page shine by adding as much detail as possible. Include your opening hours, type of business, and information about your products or services.

Write a compelling description and optimize it with local keywords (use Semrush’s keyword research tools before you begin).

Post photos to keep your Yelp page fresh and show off what sets you apart from the local competition. Add captions to help your page appear in image searches.

 Yelp’s guidelines warn against actively asking customers for reviews. However, you can encourage Check-Ins, which may result in users leaving you a review too.

 Respond promptly and professionally to online reviews—positive or negative—to demonstrate your commitment to customer satisfaction.

Or use a listing management tool to automatically publish the content you’ve already uploaded to the centralized platform. A good listing management tool quickly optimizes your Yelp page and saves you posting to each site one by one.

Beyond Yelp: Next steps for boosting your local search presence

A well-optimized Yelp page is a great asset to your local SEO. But there’s plenty more to do to improve your overall rankings.

 If you’re not using a listing management tool, you’ll need to put in the work to check all your listings are consistent. This might mean tracking the data published to each directory in a spreadsheet and regularly scanning for errors.

 Run an audit (you can do this for free with Semrush Local) so you can be confident that your listings data is uniform.

Craft compelling local content. Blog about relevant local events and share stories about your community involvement. If you serve multiple areas, consider location-specific landing pages. Include local keywords in your content, meta descriptions, and title tags.

Build strong backlinks from local websites, directories, and social media. These links signal to search engines that your business is credible and provides value to others.

Ensure your website is mobile-friendly for local users on the go. Mobile-first indexing is the present and future of local search. Google loves mobile-friendly sites and rewards them with higher rankings.

Manage your online reputation across all your review sites, not just Yelp. Engage with reviewers, address customer concerns, and show appreciation for the feedback.
And pay attention to what similar businesses in the area are doing. 

Keeping an eye on competitor reviews and positions helps you set realistic goals for your own local strategy