In this 5-minute read:
- Claim and update your profile
- Add photos of your shop
- Get and respond to reviews
- Offer deals and promotions
- Advertise on Yelp
- Promote your Yelp listing off Yelp
Yelp is a powerful tool that all service businesses like your auto shop should utilize. Most customers read reviews before taking their car in to get serviced, and more than 10 million users are searching for auto-related services on Yelp every month.
Attract new customers and keep them loyal with reputation management software. Learn more, plus get free reputation monitoring and customer insights when you sign up for Womply Free!
Promote your auto shop on Yelp to rank better and get your business in front of those customers that are doing their research. We’ve got a good list of methods to help you out.
Create and claim your Yelp business listing
First, you need to make sure you have a verified Yelp business listing. There may be an unofficial Yelp listing for your auto shop out there that you haven’t claimed yet, or there might not be one at all.
Find out if you have a listing by doing a quick search for your business on Yelp, and claim your listing if there is. If there isn’t, then you’ll need to create your Yelp listing.
Quick guide: How to claim your Yelp business listing
Update your profile
Once you have access to edit your Yelp business listing, it’s time to add as much relevant information as possible. Customers aren’t just searching for reviews on Yelp, they want to learn more about your auto shop and why they should choose you.
Start by adding all of the following information:
- Business name
- Address
- Phone number
- Hours
- Website
- Services and prices
- Payments accepted
- Wifi-availability
- Parking options
- Photos
The more information you can provide, the better opportunity you have to convert customers that come across your Yelp listing.
Post photos of your shop
With such small attention spans, people benefit greatly from visuals. Provide several photos of your auto shop and different jobs that you’ve done.
Let your photos on Yelp tell your story and show customers the type of service they will be getting when they come to you. Before-and-after photos of a car repair, friendly-looking employees, and candids of employees working are all great for this.
Be sure to post photos of your location and shop so customers can easily find you. Also, include your logo to help reinforce your brand.
Get more reviews and respond to them
This is a big one! Most commonly known for honest customer reviews, Yelp is definitely a place that you want to encourage and monitor customer reviews.
And the freshness of your Yelp reviews is important too. You don’t want to just get a new review every six months. If someone comes across your listing and only sees old reviews, how are they to know if you still provide the great service that you did last year? Make sure to always encourage more Yelp reviews for your auto shop.
That being said, Yelp is particular about how you can acquire customer reviews.
How to get reviews on Yelp
Yelp is against businesses asking for reviews on their platform. It’s important to Yelp that customer reviews are as natural and honest as possible, so they highly discourage soliciting reviews. Be sure to read their policies on this when you set up your profile.
So, how can you get Yelp reviews without asking for them? That’s a great question!
We’ve been saying “encourage” customers for a reason. Find strategic places that you can put official Yelp signage around your auto shop. Place “Rate us on Yelp” or “We’re on Yelp” stickers and signs on your front window, in your lobby, and at the checkout register.
This will show customers that you are on Yelp and plant the thought in their mind to leave you a review.
Respond to review
When you do get a new review, whether good or bad, you should respond to it promptly. You can receive email notifications to let you know when a new Yelp review comes in so that you can stay on top of this.
For more insights, check out our guide: How to respond to reviews
Offer deals and promotions on Yelp
Car repairs can get expensive, and who doesn’t want to save a little bit of money? Appeal to the bargain shopper in all of us by offering deals and promotions on your Yelp profile. Holiday promotions, back to school specials, and other cool offers are the perfect types of discounts to share here.
If you want to take this a step further, Yelp has an additional service called Yelp Deals that allows you to create discounts and gift certificates that are only available on Yelp. Customers can purchase prepaid vouchers for your deals, and when they do, Yelp will give your portion of the revenue to you.
Advertise your auto shop on Yelp
Yelp has a pretty neat advertising platform that could benefit your auto shop. Advertising your auto shop on Yelp will put your listing in front of more customers who are searching for local auto-related services.
There are three main benefits of Yelp’s advertising capabilities:
- Target specific audiences
With audience targeting, you can put your listing in front of people who are searching for your services in locations near you.
- Premium placing
Paying for an advertisement on Yelp puts you at the top of the search results. They’ll even place you on competitor pages to capture more opportunities.
- Multiple platforms
Yelp knows that users aren’t just searching for services on their desktop computer. They are using cell phones and other smart devices. Yelp optimizes your ads for desktop browsers, mobile browser, and their mobile app.
Learn more about Yelp Advertising.
Promote your Yelp profile outside of Yelp
This last strategy is to let customers know that you are on Yelp. Maybe they didn’t start their search on Yelp, or maybe you’re trying to encourage more reviews. Either way, these are some great steps to promote your Yelp profile outside of Yelp.
- Put up an official Yelp badge on your auto shop’s website, and link it to your Yelp listing. This can be in the footer of your website, out and proud on your home page, or on the contact page.
- Place “We’re on Yelp” signs throughout your shop.
- Invite your customers to “check-in” on Yelp’s mobile app when they arrive for their appointment.
Take advantage of this free platform to promote your auto shop and get found by more customers. If managing your Yelp listing and online reviews seems overwhelming to you, it doesn’t have to be! Solutions like Womply’s reputation management software can make this simple by automating the process for you. Learn more, plus get free reputation monitoring and customer insights when you sign up for Womply Free!