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• How to write a business plan
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• 9 type of small business insurance
• Ultimate guide to starting a small business
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Marketing | Ultimate Guide

Ultimate Guide to Yelp for Business Owners

Published February 3, 2023

Published Feb 3, 2023

REVIEWED BY: Elizabeth Kraus

WRITTEN BY: Hazel Emnace

• 1 Types of Companies on Yelp
• 2 How to Join and Use Yelp
• 3 How Much Yelp Costs
• 4 Yelp Pros and Cons
• 5 Benefits of Using Yelp
• 6 Frequently Asked Questions

Yelp is one of the largest user-generated review sites. Consumers use Yelp to find local businesses across various categories, such as restaurants, bars, shopping, entertainment, electricians, plumbers, contractors—and just about any other local service. To use Yelp for business effectively, build your free profile, respond to all reviews and inquiries, and use enhanced features and ads to attract customers and grow sales.

What Types of Companies Should Use Yelp for Business

Yelp is one of the most trusted online business directories when it comes to reviews. Over 80 million people visit Yelp monthly looking for businesses, and 57% connect to a business found on Yelp within a day. Thus, using Yelp for businesses can be a very powerful―and even free―tool for local businesses that want to get found online.

Every day, people publicly share thousands of opinions and ratings of local businesses, from restaurants and comedy clubs to pet grooming, contractors, and home cleaning services. In turn, these reviews drive sales to businesses using Yelp most effectively.

Here are some of the main business types Yelp is right for:

• Restaurants and food service
• Local retailers
• Nightlife (e.g., bars, clubs)
• Entertainment
• Home services (e.g., contractors, electricians, plumbers, home cleaners, movers)
• Auto services (e.g., auto repair, detailing, dealers, towing)
• Health and fitness
• Beauty services
• Professional services (e.g., accountants, consultants, legal services, caterers)
• General services (e.g., computer repair, pet grooming)

If you don’t see a main category that seems to fit your business, try searching Yelp for business services your company offers. To do this, visit Yelp.com and type keywords related to your business in the search bar. Then check the categories of the businesses that appear in the search results.

How to Join & Use Yelp in 6 Steps

Setting up an account and using Yelp is easy—and it’s free unless you add paid options or advertising to extend your reach on the platform. From building and optimizing your business profile on Yelp to managing it, here are six steps to maximize your return on investment on Yelp:

1. Claim or Register Your Yelp Business Profile

Check that your business is not already on Yelp before creating a new profile. To do this, start by searching for your business on Yelp using the search bar. If a profile exists, claim it. If not, create a new profile by navigating to the footer, clicking the “Claim your Business Page” options, and following the steps to build your business page.

Input your business name to start creating your business profile on Yelp. (Source: Yelp )

How to Claim an Existing Yelp Business Profile

Navigate to Yelp.com and search for your business name in the top search bar. If your business appears in the search results, click the listing to open the profile. You should see the option to “Claim this listing” on your profile to the right of your business name. Click this button and complete the steps to claim the listing and gain profile ownership.

Claim your Yelp business profile if your business is already listed on the site.

Create a New Yelp Profile

If your business does not have an existing profile on Yelp, create a new one. To do this, scroll down to the footer. Click “Claim your Business Page” in the menu options. Then follow the steps to register your new account, such as inputting your business’ name, address, hours, and contact information.

Yelp for Business allows you to register your business for free.

2. Add Your Business Information

After creating a business profile, complete it by providing as much information as possible about your company to optimize the chance of someone finding your business profile on Yelp. This includes your company’s physical address (if applicable), website URL, hours of operation, contact information, and a detailed description. Then, add at least five photos representative of your business.

Here are the nine sections to complete in your Yelp business profile:

• Business name: If you just created your business profile, this section will be all set. However, if your business had a pre-existing profile, check to be sure your business name was input accurately after claiming it.
• Categories: Link every Yelp business profile to specific major categories with a maximum of three categories allowed per business. Be sure your profile is linked to the most appropriate categories so users can find your listing when they browse Yelp.
• Location: Input your company’s physical address if it’s a business customers normally visit in person, such as a restaurant, retail store, or coffee shop. This is key as Yelp shows a map pinpointing its location on your profile and gives users the option to get directions to this address.
• Hours: Ensure the hours listed reflect your actual hours of operation. Be sure to also update any holiday hours, as some users may be looking to see if your business is open at these times.
• Contact information: Give visitors a way to contact your business should they have questions, want to book a service, or make a reservation. Include a phone number, an email, and any other contact methods routinely used.
• Your website address: Make sure your website URL is accurate.
• More business info section: This section includes additional information relevant to your category or categories. For example, a restaurant could input whether or not they accept credit cards, allow dogs, have Wi-Fi, offer takeout, parking, and more. Add all pertinent information for your category type.
• Business description: Add a summary description of your business of up to 1,500 characters. This can include information about your company’s specialties or strengths, business history, staff, and any other information that would make someone want to do business with your organization.
• Photo gallery: Photos are vital as they visually illustrate what your business is (or can do) and show visitors what to expect when they visit, hire, or purchase from your company. Upload five to 10 quality images representative of your business, such as its physical store (interior and exterior), products, services, before and after photos, and so on.

Below is an example of an effective business profile on Yelp, called Vega Vitality. It has basic business information and essential details about key offerings. It also has an extensive gallery of high-quality photos, a price level, a call to action (“request an appointment”), and a 5-star rating based on dozens of reviews.

Complete all the sections of your profile and use a call-to-action (CTA) button to land more conversions.

3. Get Reviews

People use Yelp primarily to research business ratings and reviews as part of their decision-making process. Therefore, it’s critical for your business to secure high-quality reviews from its customers. Get your new profile off the ground with reviews from existing customers, friends, and family. Invite new customers to leave reviews or encourage them to do so by offering incentives.

Ask for Reviews From Your Network

The fastest way to get positive reviews is to ask customers, family, friends, and staff to leave a review of your business on Yelp. Be sure reviews are genuine and left by real Yelp users, as Yelp filters out any reviews it deems to be inauthentic or “rigged.” To solicit reviews from your network, ask them personally or post a link to request reviews on your website, on social media, in emails or newsletters, on receipts, or via text messages.

Here are nine ways to ask for reviews from your network:

• Personal requests: Ask friends, family, and staff members to leave a review on your company’s Yelp profile. Also, keep your ears open for customers who openly speak about how much they like your business, product, or service and invite them to share a review on Yelp.
• On your website: Encourage website visitors to go to your Yelp profile by adding a Yelp badge on your site. Learn more about what a Yelp badge is and how to get one.
• Social media: Create a post on your business’ Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter accounts asking for genuine reviews. Also, leave a link to your Yelp for business reviews in your company description or bio section.
• Email: Send a mass email to your customers sharing the news that your business has a new listing on Yelp and you would appreciate their reviews.
• Email signature: Add a “Find us on Yelp” link or Yelp badge to your email signature, increasing the chances that someone you communicate with via email will leave a review.
• Newsletters: Periodically reference your Yelp business account in weekly or monthly newsletters, reminding and encouraging satisfied customers to leave a review. Add your Yelp badge to the footer area of your email newsletters.
• Countertop display: Set up a countertop display beside a register or checkout area asking happy customers to review your business on Yelp.
• Via your receipts: Some point-of-sale (POS) systems allow businesses to add custom messages to the bottom of receipts. If you have this option, add a message inviting customers to leave a review on your Yelp profile.
• Follow-up texts: Businesses that offer reservation-based services—such as salons, dentists, or chiropractors—often use text notifications to remind clients of upcoming appointments. Leverage this tool after the sale as a customer service follow-up requesting a Yelp review.

Incentivize Customers to Leave Reviews

If you’re struggling to get the volume of positive reviews you need, try offering an incentive and applying it to nearly any of the methods above. For example, you can email a coupon or gift card to those who leave a review. Use an incentive likely to be attractive to your customers and the best method (or multiple methods) to reach them with this offer.

For more ideas and insights, check out our detailed breakdown of how to get more reviews .

4. Monitor & Respond to Inquiries & Reviews

Your Yelp profile isn’t a set-it-and-forget-it type of business listing. After building out your profile and implementing strategies to get reviews, start monitoring your account. For one thing, people searching on Yelp will often reach out with inquiries as to costs and availability. Yelp businesses that respond to inquiries within 24 hours receive t hree times more messages and requests.

You should also check your Yelp account daily for new reviews—good or bad—and reply to them right away. Make sure you leave a public response to each review by going to the reviews section of your business account, finding the relevant review, and clicking “Add Public Comment.” Enter your response, click “Preview,” then “Post Comment.”

Respond to Good Reviews

When responding to positive reviews, show appreciation by thanking the reviewer for their patronage and feedback. This can be done with a short public reply, but vary your replies to avoid your response looking canned or automated.

Respond to Bad Reviews

It’s crucial to reply to bad reviews as fast as possible as they are an opportunity to correct an issue or explain a situation. Plus, many consumers won’t be put off by a bad review if they see that your business was responsive and tried to remedy the situation. Start by apologizing for the experience or issue the reviewer had, offer objective clarifying information, invite them to contact you directly to come to a resolution, and don’t get defensive.

Review & Analyze Yelp Metrics

Your Yelp for Business Owners’ dashboard provides data about those who visit your profile. Review and analyze these metrics to gain insight into when users are the most active, common issues or comments, or if they are posting certain types of photos. For example, a restaurant might find that people visit its profile on weekdays before dinner and then use that when timing future advertising and marketing campaigns.

Use Yelp Metrics to understand your customers better and shape future campaigns.

5. Use Enhanced Business Profile Features

You can upgrade your Yelp business profile with enhanced, premium page features and Yelp Deals. Yelp’s enhanced features include adding a call-to-action button, an enhanced photo gallery’s inclusions, and removing profile ads. Additionally, Yelp Deals allows you to offer exclusive deals on your profile, such as a discount or gift certificates, to monetize your account.

Enhanced business page features include the ability to add a call-to-action button, remove competitor ads from your profile page, and use an enhanced image gallery. Each individual enhanced feature currently costs $1 per month, and Yelp also receives a commission for deals and gift certificates sold. To add enhanced business profile features, contact a Yelp Ad Representative via phone at (877) 767-9357.

Add a Call-to-Action Button

A call-to-action button gives visitors a way to interact immediately with your business by performing a certain action. For example, a restaurant could include a call to action like “Make a reservation” or “Place an order,” whereas a salon might use a call to action (CTA) such as “Book an appointment.” The CTA button appears on the right-hand side of your business page.

Example of Book an Appointment CTA button on Yelp

Order Now CTA button on Yelp marketing

Request a Consultation CTA button for business on Yelp

Request a Quote CTA button sample on Yelp

Remove Competitor Ads From Your Business Page

Yelp automatically displays competitor’s ads toward the bottom of your business page in order to give page visitors alternatives within your business category. This can be good for a visitor, but it’s not so good for your business. To keep the focus on your organization, you can pay to remove competitor ads from your page.

Sample of competitor ads on Yelp business profile

Enhanced Photo Gallery

The enhanced photo gallery option allows you to select the order in which photos are displayed in the photo gallery. This enables you to control what visitors see when they visit your business page. For example, your company may use this feature to showcase professional photos rather than user-generated or other photos added more recently, which may be lower-quality and less flattering.

Use the Enhanced Photo Gallery feature to highlight high-quality photos of your business.

Yelp Deals & Reservations

Yelp Deals are prepaid vouchers and gift certificates you can use to monetize your business profile. They are sold via a CTA button on the profile page in the right-hand sidebar. Yelp Deals cost nothing upfront to use; however, Yelp charges a 30% commission for deals and 10% for gift certificates.

6. Advertise on Yelp

Yelp advertising increases traffic to your business’ profile, thereby attracting new customers. It achieves this through pay-per-click (PPC) ads that position your company’s profile at the top of search results.

The Yelp advertising cost of these ads varies, but most businesses spend anywhere from $200 to $1,000 per month with a three-month commitment. For more information, contact a Yelp Ad Specialist. Learn more about using online ads as part of your organization’s search engine marketing strategy.

PPC advertising on Yelp search results page

How Much Businesses Spend on Yelp Advertising

It’s free to set up and manage your business profile on Yelp , making it an obvious choice for many small businesses. However, to get the most from your company’s Yelp profile, you should invest in additional features and consider advertising your business on Yelp. For example, advertisers with a monthly spend of $200 to $1,200 appeared three times more frequently on results pages than when they didn’t advertise.

Around 95.78% of the total revenue on Yelp came from advertising, making Yelp a good addition to or even a replacement for advertising on Google . In fact, Yelp stats show that businesses advertising on the platform get 2.5 times more leads than those that use it for free.

Also, for a fairly low cost per day, your business can add a call-to-action button. In addition, you can advertise to a curated audience using Yelp Connect. Yelp also offers a package combining its most effective features for businesses, but you’ll have to speak to a sales representative for details and pricing.

Pros & Cons of Using Yelp for Business

Businesses tend to have a love-hate relationship with Yelp . While some love the free exposure and social proof it provides, others dislike the negative impact bad reviews can have on their company and complain that Yelp ads are costly. Plus, it’s difficult, if not impossible, to get bad reviews removed, even when you know they are fraudulent.

The Pros of Using Yelp

When considering whether your business should use Yelp, take a look at some strong pros that make Yelp an affordable and effective way to market your business:

• Increased exposure: With millions of monthly users, your business is likely to gain a lot of exposure if it has a quality business page with many good reviews.
• High buying intent: Consumers searching Yelp are generally ready to make a buying decision, so leads generated from the platform are highly likely to convert. Eighty-three percent of people who searched Yelp availed of services or bought from a business they found or researched on the platform.
• Social proof: People use reviews when making purchasing decisions; in fact, PowerReviews found that an astounding 99.9% of customers read reviews while shopping online. Good reviews provide social proof, which gives those new to your business the confidence to try it or choose it over a competitor.
• Free: While you can pay for enhanced business page features or Yelp ads, creating and managing a business page on Yelp is free.

The Cons of Using Yelp

The cons of using Yelp are light compared to its pros; however, it’s worth acknowledging the downsides of Yelp for business:

• Negative effect of bad reviews: People tend to only leave reviews when they are either extremely happy or extremely dissatisfied, and negative reviews can hurt your business. What’s more, 52% of shoppers seek out poor reviews specifically. But you may face this whether or not you use Yelp for business, since poor reviews can also be left on Facebook business pages or your Google Business Profile .
• Another platform to manage: While many think they can “set it and forget it” when it comes to business directory listings, you don’t want to do this on Yelp. Instead, you’ll need to invest time maintaining your profile, responding to reviews and inquiries, and keeping it up to date.
• It can get expensive: While paid advertising is optional, Yelp’s pay-per-click (PPC) platform generally has a higher average cost-per-acquisition compared to other PPC advertising platforms like Google Ads or when advertising on Facebook .

Despite Yelp’s potential cons, it proves an effective marketing platform for businesses when used strategically. Cons like bad reviews can even serve as an opportunity to get customer feedback for identifying needed business improvements. Most importantly, for small businesses, Yelp can be used for free as a way to draw in new customers.

Key Yelp Statistics for Business Owners

Yelp is a powerful online marketing platform for businesses of any size, as a staggering 83% of users hire or buy from a business they found on Yelp. These Yelp statistics offer a brief rundown of the other benefits of using Yelp to boost your business local reputation and sales:

• Yelp boosts brand visibility: With over 244 million reviews on Yelp, business owners can use the platform to get their businesses found online more easily. Yelp has high domain authority, so listing on the platform is an excellent way to rank well on Google for search queries a small business might struggle to rank for.
• Yelp users bring in more revenue: Business owners often use Yelp to improve brand awareness with local consumers, and as a result, increase sales. In fact, one of Yelp’s case studies show a local small business getting up to a 200% increase in quality website traffic that led to conversions.
• Using Yelp for business is cost-effective: With 97% of consumers reported to read online reviews of small and local businesses, creating a free business profile on Yelp can improve brand awareness without the need for a large investment in more time-intensive or extensive local search engine optimization (SEO) services .
• Yelp makes it easier for people to find your business: Audience-engaging Yelp features like pay-per-click ads, Yelp deals, certificates, and call-to-action buttons make it easier to attract customers. These features are proven to be effective, with a reported average click rate of 7.10 clicks per visitor.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

How can i acquire & manage yelp reviews.

The easiest and fastest way to get more reviews is by requesting them from your existing network, such as current customers, friends, and family. Whether they are positive or negative, respond to every review. This shows your business is proactive and cares about its customers’ experience and satisfaction. You can also streamline review acquisition with a platform like Podium or monitor your online reputation with a service like BrightLocal .

Is Yelp free for businesses?

Yes, Yelp is free for business use. You can create or claim your Yelp business listing for free, enter your contact details and business description, upload your logo, respond to reviews, manage your page, upload images, and much more, 100% free. Also, adding your business to Yelp or managing your profile doesn’t cost anything.

What’s the difference between Yelp & Google?

Yelp has built-in software that filters reviews based on quality and user activity, while Google gives equal weight to all reviews. This gives both platforms a different advantage: Google’s overall rating can become more accurate as it factors in all reviews, while Yelp can provide a more reliable rating as it omits unrecommended reviews. It is important to utilize both platforms to effectively manage brand reputation.

Bottom Line

To use Yelp effectively, create a comprehensive, search-optimized business profile, pay a small monthly fee for Yelp’s enhanced features, and engage with customers by responding to all reviews quickly. Doing so increases your visibility, in turn growing your customer base and leading to more sales.

Even if you have a complete profile and manage all reviews, it can still be hard for your business to appear in Yelp search results. Try Yelp ads to give your business the boost it needs to gain visibility and attract new customers. Get a free $300 Yelp advertising coupon by signing up today.

About the Author

Find Hazel On LinkedIn

Hazel Emnace

Hazel Emnace is determined to provide all businesses an equal opportunity to thrive in the digital world. Her background of experience includes digital marketing in the USA, Australia, South East Asia, and New Zealand. Driven by a thirst for growth, she enjoys writing helpful articles on marketing strategies and tools. She strengthens her expertise by consistently researching and assessing social media algorithms, AI marketing software, and marketing trends.

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Creating a Yelp Page for your new business

First of all, congratulations! You’re a new business owner! Now it’s time to start thinking about putting your business out there and getting customers. 97% of consumers go online to find a local business , and 86% of consumers read reviews for local businesses, so you’ve come to the right place.

What is Yelp?

Yelp is essentially the modern, online version of the yellow pages. When people are searching for a great local business, Yelp provides nearby recommendations and acts as a local business directory. Yelp offers all businesses the opportunity to attract customers through online word of mouth to reach people who are actively searching and intending to make a purchase. So whenever people are searching for a great local business, Yelp will most likely be a part of the conversation. 

• Who is on Yelp? On average, there are over 35 million unique monthly users on the Yelp mobile app. Yelp users, also known as “Yelpers,” are primarily between 35-54, and nearly half of all Yelp users have an income over $100k a year.* Check out our Fast Facts for more stats about Yelp users.
• What are they looking for? Everything! Yelp is more than just a restaurant review site. Consumers can use Yelp to find almost every type of local business, from restaurants, boutiques, and salons to dentists, mechanics, plumbers, and more.
• How are they using Yelp? Consumers use Yelp via the app, mobile site, and website. They can use Yelp in 32 countries around the world. Since Yelp has such a large network of partners, Yelp data is integrated into searches on Apple products and across a number of other partners.
• When are they using Yelp? When they’re ready to buy! Yelp is at the very end of the decision-making process. 97% of people spend money with a business they find on Yelp.
• Why are they using Yelp? To find the best business to meet their needs. The mission of Yelp is to connect people with great local businesses. Consumers turning to Yelp are looking for a great local business like yours, and they’re looking to buy. That means you’re tapping into an audience passionate about making an educated decision on where to spend their money.

How to create a Yelp Page

The best time to create a Yelp page is when you open for business. Although, you can submit a new page up to a month before your open date . Here are the simple steps:

• Go to www.biz.yelp.com/claim , and type in your business name. If you don’t see your business, click “Add to Yelp for free,” and fill out your business details.
• Create a free business user account by entering an email address and password. You should use an email address you check regularly to stay on top of what’s happening with your page.
• Verify your account by entering your verification code. You’ll get an email or call to the number listed on your page.

Follow the prompts in your account to complete your page, and be sure to avoid these common mistakes . You’ll be notified once your business page is verified which can take a few business days.

Managing your Yelp Page

Managing your Yelp presence is easier than ever with the tools provided to business owners. 

• Add photos and customize your online storefront.
• Track your customer activity. For example, you can see when customers view your Yelp page or take secondary actions like call your business.
• Fill your page with business information such as hours, specialties, and history .
• Download the Yelp for Business app so you can track your traffic.
• Take a minute to respond to your new customers if they write you a review.

*As of March 31, 2020, Yelp Fast Facts

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The information above is provided for educational and informational purposes only. It is not intended to be a substitute for professional advice and may not be suitable for your circumstances. Unless stated otherwise, references to third-party links, services, or products do not constitute endorsement by Yelp.

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Yelp Business Model | How does Yelp make money?

Company: Yelp CEO:  Jeremy Stoppelman Year founded: 2004 Headquarter:  San Francisco, California, USA Number of Employees (Dec 2018):  6030 Public or Private: Public Ticker Symbol: YELP Market Cap (March 2019):  $2.93 Billion Annual Revenue(Dec 2018): $ 942 Million Profit |Net income (Dec 2018): $ 55 Million

Products & Services:  Yelp Deal | Yelp Check-In Offers | Home Services | Beauty & Spa services | Food | Health and Medical | Local Flavor | Mass Media | Reservations & Waitlist | Food Delivery Competitors:  Google Reviews | Trusted Shops | Open Table | Stamped.io | Reevoo | TripAdvisor | Dianping | ANGI Homeservices | Facebook, Twitter, Newspaper, Radio, Yellow pages for advertisment |

Fun Fact: As of Dec 31, 2018, Yelp has a total of 177.4 million reviews of local businesses.

Every small or startup company requires an opportunity that benefits it in the long term. They need to utilize any resources that they have in their arsenal to get more exposure and attract more customers to their businesses online. Yelp as a brand of its own was created to enable people to access more businesses online.

The trust factor has remained a critical component in this endeavor. Normally people tend to be suspicious about any online company that asserts itself as authentic. However, Yelp has been recognized as a verified and accountable entity in which people can place their trust and access good local businesses.

Through its platform, customers can order flowers, book salon appointment, buy event tickets, get food delivered along with reliable customer service. For businesses everywhere, Yelp has become a vital element in their marketing strategy.

Table of Contents

Business Model Canvas of Yelp

1. Customers of Yelp

Yelp has three customer segments local businesses, Users and content contributors

• Location (City or suburb)
• Type of service (home or auto services, dentist, spa, bar)
• Restaurant Cuisine (Italian, Mexican, Thai)
• Price point (inexpensive or highly expensive)
• Hours of operations
• Food Delivery or takeout
• Reservation
• demographics
• spending profile
• Content contributors (Active reviewers) – it’s a vibrant community of active reviewers that are engaged in fun social exchanges.

2. Value Proposition of Yelp

• exposure and visibility to local businesses
• Opportunity to engage with a large audience (Increase traffic)
• Reviews to promote businesses
• Targeted advertisements
• Opportunity to increase their revenue
• Reservation and waitlist management
• Local business data
• Analytical tools to monitor traffic
• Food delivery services
• Gift certificate
• Loyalty program and more
• browse local businesses in an engaging and informative manner
• discover new places
• save time and money
• see pictures and videos
• read reviews and make better choices
• compare prices
• get food delivered
• make reservations and more
• Content Contributors (active reviewers) – Yelp invests heavily in its engaging and fun content that makes it convenient for its users and businesses to interact with each other.  The following are the value proposition for the content contributor: 
• Engage in fun social interaction
• Support the community and local businesses
• Gain recognition – Yelp Elite
• Get invited to special events and more

Want to wait less? Of course you do. With @nowaitapp , we’ve introduced the On My Way feature for you to get on the waitlist – before you arrive at the restaurant. Read more about it on @foodandwine : https://t.co/1tw8zkNNCT . pic.twitter.com/apDa6FrJzd — Yelp (@Yelp) November 10, 2018

3. Customer Relationships of Yelp

• Transparent – Yelp gears to be as transparent as possible, when it comes to its reviews, ratings, tips, and photos, ensuring that it is always easily accessible to its customers online.
• Transactions – yelp allows the user to place food orders directly without leaving the Yelp platform.
• Brand Reputation – Yelp has made considerable efforts in managing their brand Image and building up the trust within the community to retain its customers.
• Engagement – Yelp allows businesses to interact with their customers in a friendly and approachable manner with features like Request A Quote, a direct response to reviews, Yelp reservation, etc.
• Dedicated Sales – Their sales force directly engages with local business for advertisement, marketing, and weekly email campaigns.
• Engaged Community – Yelp has been successful in establishing a flourishing community of users, content contributors and local business that interact with each other through reviews, images, ratings, etc.
• Communication – Yelp’s communication lines allow it to access more potential customers every day thereby expanding its base.

4. Key Partners of Yelp

• Content Contributors (Active reviewers) – Some of Yelp’s key partners include their Content Creators who build on the platform.
• Its partnerships with complimentary local service platforms such as GrubHub help its customers with a more extensive selection of restaurants and delivery options.
• Partnership with DexYp helps to sell advertisements and bundle products.
• Yelp’s partnership with companies such as Sprinklr, Chatmeter, and InMoment provides local business owners with historical data and analytical knowledge.
• Extended Partners – Extended partners involve lobbyists, government agencies, content licensing, electronic payment transaction company such as Visa , web hosting company such as GoDaddy and search engine provider Google .

5. Key Activities of Yelp

• Network Effects – Yelp’s primary activity has been with regards to their management of network effects.
• Customer Experience – It has also invested much of its efforts in improving its customer experience to generate more traffic.
• Ad Selling – Yelp has made it its primary goal to sell as many ads as it can along with the products it sponsors to increase its revenue. Yelp has a huge sales force ( 3850 out of total employees of 6030, Dec 31, 2018) that is dedicated to selling advertisements to local businesses.
• Platform Growth – It intends to grow its platform through new business partnerships, customer acquisitions, and newer products.
• Grow local communities of content contributors and businesses
• Raise brand awareness by hosting fun and engaging events such as outing and parties
• Deploy new features
• Hire and retain talented people
• Secure strategic partners

We’re excited to announce that we’re joining forces with @OpenToAllOfUs on the #OpenToAll campaign, allowing businesses to distinguish themselves as a safe and welcoming place to everyone. pic.twitter.com/6aF8OR2T5p — Yelp (@Yelp) July 31, 2018

6. Key Resources of Yelp

• Employees – Yelp has been praised for its acquisition of skilled employees that have provided it with engaging features, new product development, integration with partner portal and improve upon its platform technology.
• High-Quality Content – Some of Yelp’s more proficient resources are in its high quality and authentic content which allows it to attract more customers.
• Brand Reputation – Its brand alone has been its primary source of revenue allowing it to pursue new business partnerships along the way.
• Engaged Communities – Its vibrant communities of contributors have given it leverage over its competitors.
• Partnerships – Yelp has collaborated and formed multiple partnerships with many business entities like that of Yahoo to enhance its marketing capabilities.

7. Channels of Yelp

• The Self – Serve website or app has been the main channel for Yelp.
• Self-Serve Ads channel– help partner agency to sell and manage ads for small business clients
• Its webpages for the business owner and developers
• Social media pages such as Facebook pages have also enabled it to seek new customers.
• Other channeling efforts have been made through its emails, newsletters, etc.

8. Cost Structure of Yelp

• credit card processing fees
• web hosting fees,
• video production cost for advertising customers
• employee cost and more
• Commission for sales
• Customer acquisition cost
• Branding and advertisement cost
• community management cost and more
• Salaries for engineers and IT personnel
• Consulting cost
• stock-based compensation
• Employee salaries
• Stock-based compensation
• overhead cost
• legal and accounting fees
• office maintenance cost
• Computer equipment
• Software development cost
• Leasehold improvement

9. Revenue Stream of Yelp

The Yelp Revenue Model is comprised of its products from which it made $907 million from ads, $13.6 million from transactions and $21.5 million from other services, as per Yelp’s annual report 2018. 

Let’s look at how does Yelp make money in more detail:

How Does Yelp Make Money?

Yelp makes most of its money through its service programs both self-service and full. Its other money-making strategy is invested in its advertisement and profile enhancement services that benefit businesses greatly.

This category into the following topic:

1. Advertisement

Yelp provides businesses with both paid and free advertising products. It also utilizes its website and mobile app to deliver targeted search advertising to a broader audience.

In 2018 , 97%  of its revenue was generated because of its dependence on its advertisement. All the advertising products sold by their partners and business listings are recognized as Yelp’s advertising revenue.

a. Branded Profile

Businesses purchase a branded profile program to ensures that they are provided with premium features that would enhance their business listings. These features are more applicable to these businesses in the case of choosing their preferred videos  and images  best suited to portray their slideshow feature or simply updating their listing information.

Through these features, businesses can promote transactions of their choice. They can do so with Yelp’s call to Action  feature on their business listing pages. This feature transfers the customer to business websites from the Yelp’s business listing page. Moreover, a business can avail their account support via email or phone.

b. Enhanced Profile

The purpose of this product is to prevent other business ads from appearing on the business listing pages of enhanced profile business customers.

c. Yelp Verified License

It’s a paid upgrade  license that appears as a badge  on Yelp’s business listing page. It is meant for only licensed advertisers specifically for their local or home services category.

The primary purpose of this license is to confirm Yelp’s trade license verification. This also allows businesses to become more distinguishable  in terms of this licensing and attract more customers to their platform.

d. Search and other Ads

Businesses can utilize Yelp’s platform to promote their businesses as a sponsored search result.  They can do this on the listing pages of related business. These ads are sold on the Cost per click basis.

e. Ad Resales

Yelp can also resell some of its advertising products to generate more revenue.  This is done through their partnership with certain agencies like DexYP.

Yelp launched its Yelp Ads Certified Partners Program in 2018 to allow its collaborative agencies to manage and sell ad campaigns at the behalf of their business clients.

2. Transaction revenue

Yelp has devised different tools and features to ensure that the transactions between their consumers and businesses are facilitated appropriately. In 2018, transaction revenue was about 1 %  of Yelp’s total revenue.

a. Yelp Platform

Through partner integrations, the Yelp platform enables its consumers to proceed with their transactions on the Yelp website or app. Consumers can order any products they want ranging from show tickets to flowers.

b. Eat24 and the Grubhub Partnership

Yelp generated substantial revenue from their Yelp Eat24 business. They did this by placing their orders through Yelp Eat24 in which restaurants, owing to their arrangements with respective businesses, are paid a commission percentage fee . Yelp eventually sold Eat24 to Grubhub on October 10, 2017.

Since then it has retained its integration on Yelp’s platform while GrubHub underwent its own integration in Yelp’s platform in mid-2018. It is expected that this partnership will allow its consumers to select from a wide range of restaurants with more convenient delivery options.

c. Yelp Deals

This is a product that has created sizeable revenue for Yelp especially when it allows business owners to promote its products and services through discounted deals on the platform.

Each deal that is sold provides Yelp with additional fees . The revenue share of any deal is then paid to the businesses.

d. Gift Certificates

Business owners can now sell gift certificates at full price to consumers with the usage of Yelp’s Gift Certificates products. The choice of choosing the price point is entirely upon the business ranging from $10 to $500 .

The consumer can then purchase the gift certificated offered in such amounts. Yelp earns its fees  based on these sold amounts. All these payments are processed by Yelp and paid to the businesses.

3. Other Services

Yelp garners much of its revenue from its subscription services as well. The same goes for its non-transaction and non-advertising arrangements. In 2018, other services revenue was about 2 %  of Yelp’s total revenue.

a. Yelp Reservations

Yelp assists different varieties of venues, restaurants, and nightlife to use their Yelp business listings to offer online reservations  to their customers. Yelp provides this product as a monthly subscription service .

b. Yelp Waitlist

The Yelp Waitlist operates as a waitlist management solution that is subscription  based. Its main function is to enable consumers to join waitlists  and check wait times .

Businesses are also enabled on their part to manage their seating efficiently. It is available on both in-store kiosks and Yelp’s business listing pages.

c. Yelp Wi-Fi Marketing

This product gives businesses the ability to make Wifi more accessible to their customers. It also enables these businesses to collect relevant information about their customers ranging from direct contact to social media. 

Businesses are also provided with a leeway to advertise their products on the Wifi login page. This product is offered by Yelp as a monthly subscription service .

d. Yelp Knowledge

Yelp Knowledge program provides business owners with the opportunity to gain insight access to yelp’s content and historical data. For their access to the Yelp Knowledge content, Yelp is charged program fees  by their Yelp Program Partners.

e.  Other Partnerships

Some of Yelp’s more prominent non-advertising partner arrangements involve permitting data providers especially third-party ones to update and manage their business listing information. It also involves content licensing.

Conclusion    

In terms of maintaining business dealing and fostering new corporate partnerships, Yelp has indeed come a long way. Its future as a multinational company looks promising and with enough investment can become a global brand with full access to regions such as Asia and Africa.

Although it has been met with its own fair share of controversies from review manipulation to complicated relations with small businesses, it has managed to overcome them with its impeccable public relations operations and will continue to make progress over time.

Tell us what you think? Did you find this article interesting?                                                     Share your thoughts and experiences in the comments section below.

A management consultant and entrepreneur. S.K. Gupta understands how to create and implement business strategies. He is passionate about analyzing and writing about businesses.

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Yes, very interesting and easy to read.

Wairimu, Glad you liked the article. Thank you for your words of appreciation. Happy reading!

Very useful information.

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We define Adjusted EBITDA as net income (loss), adjusted to exclude: provision for (benefit from) income taxes; other income, net; depreciation and amortization; stock-based compensation expense; and, in certain periods, certain other income and expense items, such as impairment charges and fees related to shareholder activism that we deem not to be indicative of our ongoing operating performance. We define Adjusted EBITDA margin as Adjusted EBITDA divided by net revenue. We define Free cash flow as net cash provided by (used in) operating activities, less cash used for purchases of property, equipment and software.

Adjusted EBITDA and Free cash flow, which are not prepared under any comprehensive set of accounting rules or principles, have limitations as analytical tools and you should not consider them in isolation or as substitutes for analysis of Yelp’s financial results as reported in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States (“GAAP”). In particular, Adjusted EBITDA and Free cash flow should not be viewed as substitutes for, or superior to, net income (loss) or net cash provided by (used in) operating activities prepared in accordance with GAAP as measures of profitability or liquidity. Some of these limitations are:

• although depreciation and amortization are non-cash charges, the assets being depreciated and amortized may have to be replaced in the future, and Adjusted EBITDA does not reflect all cash capital expenditure requirements for such replacements or for new capital expenditure requirements;
• Adjusted EBITDA does not reflect changes in, or cash requirements for, Yelp's working capital needs;
• Adjusted EBITDA does not reflect the impact of the recording or release of valuation allowances or tax payments that may represent a reduction in cash available to Yelp;
• Adjusted EBITDA does not consider the potentially dilutive impact of equity-based compensation;
• Adjusted EBITDA does not take into account any income or costs that management determines are not indicative of ongoing operating performance, such as impairment charges and fees related to shareholder activism;
• Free cash flow does not represent the total residual cash flow available for discretionary purposes because it does not reflect our contractual commitments or obligations; and
• other companies, including those in Yelp’s industry, may calculate Adjusted EBITDA and Free cash flow differently, which reduces their usefulness as comparative measures.

Because of these limitations, you should consider Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA margin and Free cash flow alongside other financial performance measures, including net income (loss), net cash provided by (used in) operating activities and Yelp’s other GAAP results.

The following is a reconciliation of net income (loss) to Adjusted EBITDA, as well as the calculation of net income (loss) margin and Adjusted EBITDA margin, for each of the periods indicated (in thousands, except percentages; unaudited):

The following is a reconciliation of net cash provided by operating activities to Free cash flow for each of the periods indicated (in thousands; unaudited):

Investor Relations Contact: Josh Willis [email protected]

Press Contact: Amber Albrecht [email protected]

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Investments in Services Drove Yelp's First Quarter 2024 Results

Net Revenue increased by 7% year over year to $333 million

Net Income increased from the prior year to $14 million, reflecting a 4% margin

Adjusted EBITDA grew 19% year over year to $64 million

Yelp Inc. (NYSE: YELP), the trusted platform that connects people with great local businesses, today announced its financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2024 in the Q1 2024 Shareholder Letter available on its Investor Relations website at yelp-ir.com .

“In the first quarter, the strength and momentum in our services categories, particularly home services, offset a challenging environment for our restaurant, retail and other categories,” said Jeremy Stoppelman, Yelp’s co-founder and chief executive officer. “Request-a-Quote projects increased approximately 20% year over year, reflecting early positive results from our efforts to acquire services projects through paid search. We continued to execute against our robust product roadmap with the launch of Yelp Assistant, a conversational AI feature that intelligently guides consumers through the process of finding the right service pro for their project. I’m excited about the opportunities ahead to drive profitable growth and shareholder value over the long term.”

“Solid performance in our services categories coupled with our disciplined approach to growth set a strong foundation for the year,” said David Schwarzbach, Yelp’s chief financial officer. “In the first quarter, we recorded a 7% year-over-year increase in net revenue, with net income rising from the prior year to $14 million. Adjusted EBITDA grew by 19% year over year to $64 million, surpassing the high end of our outlook range and representing a 19% margin. Our strategic investments continue to show positive results, which gives us confidence in our outlook for the year.”

Quarterly Conference Call

Yelp will host a live Q&A session today at 2:00 p.m. Pacific Time to discuss the first quarter financial results and outlook for the second quarter and full year 2024. The webcast of the Q&A can be accessed on the Yelp Investor Relations website at yelp-ir.com . A replay of the webcast will be available at the same website.

Yelp Inc. ( yelp.com ) is a community-driven platform that connects people with great local businesses. Millions of people rely on Yelp for useful and trusted local business information, reviews and photos to help inform their spending decisions. As a one-stop local platform, Yelp helps consumers easily discover, connect and transact with businesses across a broad range of categories by making it easy to request a quote for a service, book a table at a restaurant, and more. Yelp was founded in San Francisco in 2004.

Yelp intends to make future announcements of material financial and other information through its Investor Relations website. Yelp will also, from time to time, disclose this information through press releases, filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, conference calls, or webcasts, as required by applicable law.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements relating to, among other things, Yelp’s future performance, including its expected financial results for 2024 and its ability to drive profitable growth and shareholder value over the long term, that are based on its current expectations, forecasts, and assumptions that involve risks and uncertainties.

Yelp’s actual results could differ materially from those predicted or implied and reported results should not be considered as an indication of future performance. Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to:

• macroeconomic uncertainty — including related to inflation, interest rates and supply chain issues, as well as severe weather events — and its effect on consumer behavior, user activity and advertiser spending;
• the prevalence of seasonal respiratory illnesses, impact of fears or actual outbreaks of disease and any resulting changes in consumer behavior, economic conditions or governmental actions;
• Yelp’s ability to maintain and expand its base of advertisers, particularly if advertiser turnover substantially worsens and/or consumer demand significantly degrades;
• Yelp’s ability to drive continued growth through its strategic initiatives;
• Yelp’s ability to continue to operate effectively with a primarily remote work force and attract and retain key talent;
• Yelp’s limited operating history in an evolving industry; and
• Yelp’s ability to generate and maintain sufficient high-quality content from its users.

Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences also include, but are not limited to, those factors that could affect Yelp’s business, operating results and stock price included under the captions “Risk Factors” and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” in Yelp’s most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q at yelp-ir.com or the SEC’s website at sec.gov .

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

This press release and statements made during the above referenced webcast may include information relating to Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA margin and Free cash flow, each of which the Securities and Exchange Commission has defined as a "non-GAAP financial measure."

We define Adjusted EBITDA as net income (loss), adjusted to exclude: provision for (benefit from) income taxes; other income, net; depreciation and amortization; stock-based compensation expense; and, in certain periods, certain other income and expense items, such as impairment charges and fees related to shareholder activism that we deem not to be indicative of our ongoing operating performance. We define Adjusted EBITDA margin as Adjusted EBITDA divided by net revenue. We define Free cash flow as net cash provided by (used in) operating activities, less cash used for purchases of property, equipment and software.

Adjusted EBITDA and Free cash flow, which are not prepared under any comprehensive set of accounting rules or principles, have limitations as analytical tools and you should not consider them in isolation or as substitutes for analysis of Yelp’s financial results as reported in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States (“GAAP”). In particular, Adjusted EBITDA and Free cash flow should not be viewed as substitutes for, or superior to, net income (loss) or net cash provided by (used in) operating activities prepared in accordance with GAAP as measures of profitability or liquidity. Some of these limitations are:

• although depreciation and amortization are non-cash charges, the assets being depreciated and amortized may have to be replaced in the future, and Adjusted EBITDA does not reflect all cash capital expenditure requirements for such replacements or for new capital expenditure requirements;
• Adjusted EBITDA does not reflect changes in, or cash requirements for, Yelp's working capital needs;
• Adjusted EBITDA does not reflect the impact of the recording or release of valuation allowances or tax payments that may represent a reduction in cash available to Yelp;
• Adjusted EBITDA does not consider the potentially dilutive impact of equity-based compensation;
• Adjusted EBITDA does not take into account any income or costs that management determines are not indicative of ongoing operating performance, such as impairment charges and fees related to shareholder activism;
• Free cash flow does not represent the total residual cash flow available for discretionary purposes because it does not reflect our contractual commitments or obligations; and
• other companies, including those in Yelp’s industry, may calculate Adjusted EBITDA and Free cash flow differently, which reduces their usefulness as comparative measures.

Because of these limitations, you should consider Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA margin and Free cash flow alongside other financial performance measures, including net income (loss), net cash provided by (used in) operating activities and Yelp’s other GAAP results.

The following is a reconciliation of net income (loss) to Adjusted EBITDA, as well as the calculation of net income (loss) margin and Adjusted EBITDA margin, for each of the periods indicated (in thousands, except percentages; unaudited):

The following is a reconciliation of net cash provided by operating activities to Free cash flow for each of the periods indicated (in thousands; unaudited):

Investor Relations Contact: Josh Willis [email protected]

Press Contact: Amber Albrecht [email protected]

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240509015458/en/

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Out of the Centre

Savvino-storozhevsky monastery and museum.

Zvenigorod's most famous sight is the Savvino-Storozhevsky Monastery, which was founded in 1398 by the monk Savva from the Troitse-Sergieva Lavra, at the invitation and with the support of Prince Yury Dmitrievich of Zvenigorod. Savva was later canonised as St Sabbas (Savva) of Storozhev. The monastery late flourished under the reign of Tsar Alexis, who chose the monastery as his family church and often went on pilgrimage there and made lots of donations to it. Most of the monastery’s buildings date from this time. The monastery is heavily fortified with thick walls and six towers, the most impressive of which is the Krasny Tower which also serves as the eastern entrance. The monastery was closed in 1918 and only reopened in 1995. In 1998 Patriarch Alexius II took part in a service to return the relics of St Sabbas to the monastery. Today the monastery has the status of a stauropegic monastery, which is second in status to a lavra. In addition to being a working monastery, it also holds the Zvenigorod Historical, Architectural and Art Museum.

Belfry and Neighbouring Churches

Located near the main entrance is the monastery's belfry which is perhaps the calling card of the monastery due to its uniqueness. It was built in the 1650s and the St Sergius of Radonezh’s Church was opened on the middle tier in the mid-17th century, although it was originally dedicated to the Trinity. The belfry's 35-tonne Great Bladgovestny Bell fell in 1941 and was only restored and returned in 2003. Attached to the belfry is a large refectory and the Transfiguration Church, both of which were built on the orders of Tsar Alexis in the 1650s.  

To the left of the belfry is another, smaller, refectory which is attached to the Trinity Gate-Church, which was also constructed in the 1650s on the orders of Tsar Alexis who made it his own family church. The church is elaborately decorated with colourful trims and underneath the archway is a beautiful 19th century fresco.

Nativity of Virgin Mary Cathedral

The Nativity of Virgin Mary Cathedral is the oldest building in the monastery and among the oldest buildings in the Moscow Region. It was built between 1404 and 1405 during the lifetime of St Sabbas and using the funds of Prince Yury of Zvenigorod. The white-stone cathedral is a standard four-pillar design with a single golden dome. After the death of St Sabbas he was interred in the cathedral and a new altar dedicated to him was added.

Under the reign of Tsar Alexis the cathedral was decorated with frescoes by Stepan Ryazanets, some of which remain today. Tsar Alexis also presented the cathedral with a five-tier iconostasis, the top row of icons have been preserved.

Tsaritsa's Chambers

The Nativity of Virgin Mary Cathedral is located between the Tsaritsa's Chambers of the left and the Palace of Tsar Alexis on the right. The Tsaritsa's Chambers were built in the mid-17th century for the wife of Tsar Alexey - Tsaritsa Maria Ilinichna Miloskavskaya. The design of the building is influenced by the ancient Russian architectural style. Is prettier than the Tsar's chambers opposite, being red in colour with elaborately decorated window frames and entrance.

At present the Tsaritsa's Chambers houses the Zvenigorod Historical, Architectural and Art Museum. Among its displays is an accurate recreation of the interior of a noble lady's chambers including furniture, decorations and a decorated tiled oven, and an exhibition on the history of Zvenigorod and the monastery.

Palace of Tsar Alexis

The Palace of Tsar Alexis was built in the 1650s and is now one of the best surviving examples of non-religious architecture of that era. It was built especially for Tsar Alexis who often visited the monastery on religious pilgrimages. Its most striking feature is its pretty row of nine chimney spouts which resemble towers.

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