Yelp announces new cost guides, an optimized search experience, and an easier way to review services businesses.
This week, Yelp announced new features including custom search filters, a new review flow, themed ads and Project Cost Guides to help customers find the right services companies. Here’s a breakdown of the new features and what they mean for services brands.
Custom search filters for services.
New search filters enable users to define criteria to find fast-responding businesses (companies that respond within two hours), businesses that provide virtual consultations or businesses that specialize in a specific type of job or repair.
Businesses are selected to appear in themed ads based on their unique offerings and the kinds of jobs they specialize in. There is no additional cost to be included in themed ads and Yelp plans to roll out additional themes over time.
Generating more reviews for services businesses.
When customers submit a project with Yelp’s Request-A-Quote, they will now be prompted to write reviews with a series of questions to initiate the review writing process.
Yelp’s Project Cost Guides provide details on what hiring a professional for a given project might involve, including an estimated cost, based on Yelp’s historical data.
There are cost guides for services in: home services, local services, automotive, event planning & services, pets, professional services, financial services, hotels and leisure, shopping as well as dedicated cost guides for specific services in numerous major cities.
What this means for services brands.
These custom search filters for services deliver more tailored results for the user focused on their specialized needs.
Themed ads provide more visibility for businesses based on their categories. And, businesses featured in “fast responding” themed ads are seeing a nearly 10% decrease in cost per lead, according to data from Yelp’s early experiments.
Yelp’s new review prompt may help local services businesses improve their visibility on Yelp. Reviews are crucial for most local businesses — 87% of consumers look at reviews for automotive businesses, 86% look at them for repairs and 82% check them for plumbing and HVAC, according to a recent study.
These new features are designed to help Yelp compete against Google and other review platforms. If you have questions on how to make your brand more discoverable on Yelp, or in any online directory, please contact us. We are happy to help.
