Yelp.com or Adwords for local business?

by fabianc

Posted: 16 years ago 14 replies

INTERNET MARKETING

Hey warriors I am currently looking for the best way to advertise my local business through the internet. I only have funds for 1 right now later on once I get rolling I will expand into various different ways. So heres what I found...

I looked at yelp.com ad they can display your ad for $350 bucks a month and it will show 550 times. I have no idea how targeted that is or if its just random but I will be speaking to a sales rep about it tomorrow.

Adwords I have tried in the past by narrowing it down to my local area and I didn't get a single click over a few days. Maybe they have changed their system to work for the local business or maybe I did something wrong.

Also yelp.com offers a PPC type of system but it's at $2 dollars a click which seems rather high to me but maybe their traffic is better than googles since they would be displaying my ads on a web-site that is geared more towards finding local business and google is a worldwide search engine?

Has anyone tried either of the two and had any success with it? I'd love to hear about it if you have. Right now I am leaning more towards yelp.com just because it's seems better suited for the local offline business owners. Any thoughts?

#adwords #business #local #yelpcom

AmyBrown 16 years ago

I recommend a free listing on Yelp and using either Adwords or Facebook ads. Depending on the business type Foursquare is gaining in popularity. It's important to encourage customers to leave reviews. If the Google Maps tag program is available to you in your Google Places account it's a steal for $25/month.
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JayPeete 16 years ago

You should get yourself ranked on the first page of Google for your local keywords. More people click on the organic listings and it won't cost you much and it can be done in as little as 3 days.
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Gary King 16 years ago

You mentioned you tried PPC and received no clicks - did your ad display?

Perhaps you had a low amount of impressions or your ad wasn't written well (no offense).

Bidding on the correct keywords is also critical, so (wild example) if you bid on purple rat hair hats and you are in the car detailing business, well...

FWIW, $350/month is a lot of targeted PPC or other advertising if you are just getting started. What market/niche are you in? Perhaps you can search for those keywords and see who's listed on page 1-2...

Then do a little research to try to outrank those results.

Hope it helps.
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- mycityconnect 16 years ago
  
  Google PPC can provide highly targeted, responsive local traffic. But, in order to compare the traffic quality of Google clicks versus Yelp clicks, you would need to compare (or estimate) your CPL (cost per lead or conversion)
  
  Short hypothetical example a google click at $5 per click that converts at 33% (call, email, sale, whatever you like) results in a lead cost of $15 Perhaps Yelp per click costs ends up being $2.00 and converts at 10%, the lead cost would be $20.
  
  I would bet, all things being equal, a click from a Google search versus a Yelp search would convert higher.
  
  Campaigns can be targeted geographically on a granular basis.
  
  What business are you in? What is your conversion goal? telephone call? email lead? etc.
  
  If you provide some detail, I will give you specific ideas and info. Google PPC for local business is what I do for a living.
  
  Thanks
  
  2 replies
  
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  SeanIM 16 years ago
  
  Here's my advice:
  
  1) Get your business website ranked and listed in the 7-box (local business results) on Google by submitting to maps.google.com
  
  2) Considering including your business website at local.yahoo.com and Bing's Local Search center
  
  3) Add your business to a few other sideways-relevant yellowpage style business directories: eg; insiderpages.com kudzu.com, etc and attempt to get some of your customers to provide reviews directly at maps.google but also through the 2 sites mentioned above
  
  4) If you are willing to spend directly on ads via Adwords or Yelp, etc...make SURE you track your keyword phrases coming in that turn into
  a) leads, and b) money in your pocket....once you identify which keywords are your 'money makers'...then focus all of your organic SEO efforts on those phrases and consider buying ads on those 'golden phrases' over at Yahoo Search Marketing and Bing's PPC joint...etc
  
  Hope this helps.
  
  Sean
  
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  mycityconnect 16 years ago
  
  also, you mention you did not receive any clicks...a few possible reasons and things to check:
  1. make sure you can see your ad when you search (there is also a diagnostic tool for this)..this will ensure there isn't soemthing cuasing your ad not to run.
  2. what was your average position? (if position is on the second page and for a super obscure term, it is possible to get no clicks)
  3. how many impressions were there for the keywords you selected?
  4. how small did you make your geotargeting?
  5. how long did you run the campaign?
  
  if there are no google searches for you business, then Yelp won't Help (pun intended
  
  Thanks
  
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Rus Sells 16 years ago

I believe getting ranked on the first page of Google is better. However this thread is not about that.

Yelp vs Adwords?

In light of recent news about Yelp I would stick with Adwords. Yelp has been accused and is being sued for extorting money out of businesses who have free listings with negative reviews in exchange for taking the negative review off the profile.

These listing are great but what business owners do not realize is that they are putting the control of their reputation in the hands of another business. NOT Good!
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juansaldivar 16 years ago

I think the right answer is test if your marketing budget allows you. Until you test you are going to get your ROI in a scientific way and get more for your buck. My 2 cents.

-Juan
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- fabianc 16 years ago
  
  Hey guys thanks for all the replies and help. I have taken them into consideration and have started to apply them to advertising my business and I have contacted people for more help. I am in the growing niche of pet photography in Los Angeles. I have a rough starting web-site up at fabispetphotos.com. I will be changing it up once I get the ball rolling and letting it evolve.
  
  I have also started off with facebook ppc type of advertsing because I have more control over who actually sees that. I am working on organic free traffic and of course using my facebook account to get the word out and I have a few other people ready to repost as well.
  
  I will most likely just use yelp.com to get a few reviews and hopefully that generates some customers but for now I am focused on free organic traffic through various avenues and facebook ppc advertising. Thanks again everyone!
  
  Thanks
  
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mycityconnect 16 years ago

@Fabian
I just wrote a PM to reposnd and it would not send b/c I have not made 50 posts...sorry.
I can post here if you like, let me know.
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- SeanIM 16 years ago
  
  pet photography in los angeles (my hometown -3rd generation Los Angelsian -- grew up in the S.F. Valley - Encino/Sherm Oaks)
  
  Happy to help a local out... PM me with your contact info and I'll give you 30min of my time on the phone to tell you how to hit the 7-box.
  
  you need to hit this 7-box:
  Google
  
  Let's do this...
  
  S
  
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fabianc

16 years ago

mycityconnect- You can send it to my e-mail fabiancorrado@gmail.com

SeanIM- That'd be great and would really help me out. I can probably do it Saturday afternoon. Let me know. Thanks!

Thanks
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mycityconnect

16 years ago

Originally Posted by fabianc

mycityconnect- You can send it to my e-mail

SeanIM- That'd be great and would really help me out. I can probably do it Saturday afternoon. Let me know. Thanks!

Looks like SeanIM has you covered..he is def. right on getting on the local/map listing...good, free way to start out.

If you need any additional help setting up google PPC, optimizing website, FB Ad info, let me know .,.. Good Luck!!

Thanks
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ttrance 16 years ago

hey mycityconnect I could definetly use some help with an existing client that is not performing and with some upcoming clients I am working on.

UPDATE: Not anymore
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Yelp.com or Adwords for local business?

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