Yelp vs Google

[Chris Romanow]

Hearing alot about Yelp on a recent IATN Poll,

We only had one new customer come in from Yelp this year, seems low to me.

 

Does Yelp work for you,?

[CARMandP]

Doesn't work for me but it doesn't hurt to make sure that your information is up to date and accurate on both sites.

[Brianp]

Hard to say for sure unless you ask were the people are coming from but as stated by someone else that two is better then one.

[Joe Marconi]

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[Alex]

Last year I helped a shop owner research a negative review on Yelp.

 

Yesterday I heard on the radio, a man who moved to NYC used Yelp all day long to find businesses and places to eat.

 

Seems to me that Yelp reviews is growing....along with Foursquare.

 

Reviews are everywhere, Yelp, Google, etc...it's getting more an more important to watch yours.

[Bossman]

Don't do reviews too much but there is one thing I do get kick out of. The people that give poor reviews, if you look at their history, they give almost everybody poor reviews. Some people are never happy.

[Joe Marconi]

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[CARMandP]

I had someone do that to me on google. Reviewed me negative and had never even been here. I noticed this summer though google makes you log into your google + account before you can review so it puts your name up there. Keeps people from anonimously placing reviews.

[Dsl_truck_tech]

Google has worked great for me. I am about 15 miles from an Interstate so when someone with a diesel truck breaks down and they search for diesel or truck repair on google search and I pop up first. Have one or two a month towed in. Can't beat that for free advertising. Thank you Google!

[Autoshop Solutions]

I can understand why anyone might ask the question... Google or Yelp? We are so trained in our marketing decision making that we want to identify what works and stop doing what doesn't. Hopefully this is helpful, but first I have to point out the obvious.

 

Google is a search engine, Yelp is a review site. There could be no greater difference between the two. Let me first address Google.

 

Google is the largest source of traffic for potential new customers. There is no source that comes even close. However, the success of getting traffic from Google is determined by your success in a few areas of internet marketing. First your company has to be found, that means when potential new customers are searching for a new place to take their car in for an oil change, your company has to rank for the keywords that are most popular to drive quality traffic. Second, your website has to be compelling enough to convince the potential customer that your company is the best choice to call. I'm over simplifying here, but to say Google doesn't work in any respect has nothing to do with Google, it means you need to try again with a new strategy.

 

Yelp is a review site. The closer you are to the west coast, the more Yelp may have an impact on your business. Although I strongly believe Yelp is one of the worst companies on the internet today, they have a strong following. There is a mix of regular people using Yelp and a group of people who like to wield the power of the internet and leave bad reviews in their wake. Yelp themselves have been sued (and lost) for blackmailing business owners with bad reviews to drive business to their paid programs. That being said, if your area has a few Yelp users, you may be able to get a few new customers by having a well organized and positive profile for your business on Yelp. Your success on Yelp is predicated on possible traffic and the strength of your profile, so again making any kind of blanket statements on whether Yelp works or doesn't work is not comparable from one business to another.

 

 

more...

 

Google local is tied directly to Google plus. Google local is where you can find Google reviews for your business. Many companies are lucky that they show on the first page of the Google search for popular key words and other companies have to work to move up the ranks. Be assured of one thing, your position is NOT guaranteed. Other companies can move up the list forcing you down the list by having a great web presence, optimizing, etc.

 

It's free to have a Yelp listing, Google on the other hand requires you invest in your online marketing to be successful. Organic results, paid search results (PPC) all depend on the quality of your website and optimization, not to mention about another hundred variables.

 

So Yelp or Google? focus on Google, setup your free profile on Yelp

 

Danny