Yelp is home to over 100 million reviews for nearly every type of local business, including property management companies. Professional services are commonly searched for on Yelp, and 90% of Yelp users say positive reviews impact their buying choices. That means there’s a good chance your prospective customers are using Yelp to research businesses like yours. Follow these three tips to optimize your listing so you can get more out of this popular website.
1). Claim your listing
The first step to getting more out of Yelp is claiming your business listing. There’s a good chance a listing has already been created for your business. To find it, go to Yelp and type in your business name in the search bar. After clicking on your profile, look for the blue “Unclaimedlink next the business name. From there, you’ll be asked to create a free business user account so you can properly manage your profile.
Even if you don’t plan to optimize your listing right away, we highly recommend that you claim it as soon as possible. Below is an example of a company that has not yet claimed their profile, and users have been uploading unsavory photos to their listing. As a potential customer or resident, would you actually consider using this property management company if this was the first impression you received?
2). Fill out your listing
After claiming your listing, you can begin filling it out with key information about your company. We highly recommend adding the following information:
- Address: Make sure to use the address of your brick and mortar office, not one of the properties you manage or a P.O. box.
- Phone number: Be sure to use a phone number that someone actively checks voicemails.
- Website: This is a great way to get a quality link back to your website.
- Business category: Be sure to select, Property Management.
- Hours of operation: List the hours you’re open each day of the week.
- Specialties: Think of this as your About Us section and be sure to list the services you provide.
- History: Explain how long have you been in business and how you have your grown over the years.
- Meet the business owner: Tell a little about yourself.
The more information you provide, the better. Residents and customers will be more likely to leave a review, especially a positive review, if the profile is complete.
3). Add photos
Once your profile is complete, it’s time to start adding photos. These photos are a great way to make the communities you manage look enticing to future residents, as well as better promote the services you offer to potential customers. We recommend adding the following types of images:
- Your logo: This will help make your business profile seem more professional and complete. Your logo should also be used as your main profile picture, which will show up next to your listing in Yelp’s search results.
- Your properties: Highlight the properties in your portfolio by taking professional photos of them and adding them to your profile. Don’t forget to include the name of each community within the caption section.
- Your office: Give your business some personality by including photos from around your office. If you have a cool office space, include those photos, as well as photos of your team members.
- Your events: Does your company host fun events within the communities you serve? Be sure to include photos from these events to showcase the value you bring to the neighborhoods your serve.
Bonus: Respond to reviews!
We’ve mentioned the importance of online reviews in previous blog posts, but it’s worth emphasizing again. It’s critical that you take the time to frequently check your Yelp listing and respond to both positive and negative reviews. Yelp is essentially a free consumer research tool where you can quickly see what your customers love and dislike about your business, so you can make necessary adjustments. Also, we recommend actively working to get new reviews from both residents and customers on Yelp.
Speaking of reviews, a great way to get more positive reviews is by making an active effort to improve the resident experience in the communities you manage. For tips on how to do this, download our free six-step guide!
