Understanding Your Business’ Yelp Metrics

Yelp for Business Owners gives you a direct view into who’s looking at your Yelp page and what they’re doing once they get there. But it can also be a little confusing to understand. There are tons of graphs, a lot of numbers, and quite a few terms that might feel unfamiliar. This guide will help you understand what those Yelp metrics mean.

Wondering what the differences between user views and customer leads are? Curious how to use the revenue estimator? Want to know how much money you’re actually earning from Yelp users? We’ll break everything down to help you get the most from your Yelp page.

Where to find your Yelp metrics

The first page you’ll see when you log into your Yelp for Business Owners page is the Activity section. This page shows you how many people have visited your Yelp page and what they clicked on once they got there. As a business owner, this is the best way to know if all those keywords, photos, and categories you’ve listed are helping people find you.

1. User Views: The total number of people who clicked through your page during a specific time period.

2. Period: This is the time period being measured. You can choose to view the past 30 days, 12 months, or 24 months.

3. Activity Feed: This tells you what people are doing once they get to your Yelp page—things like calling you, clicking on your website, checking in, etc. You may also see demographic information about these people, depending on whether they choose to make that information visible.

But are my page views converting?

Now, just because someone clicked on your Yelp page doesn’t tell you whether or not they spent any money or visited your business. That’s where the “Customer Leads” tab comes in. A customer lead is someone who is much more likely to be a new customer or become one soon. We know that because these are the people who’ve done more than just visit your Yelp page.

Check-ins: For brick and mortar businesses, this is the number of people who clicked the “Check-in” button on your Yelp mobile page. People “Check-in” for a variety of reasons (to collect a deal you’re offering, to show they like your business, etc) and it’s a great way to know people from Yelp were physically at your business.

Directions & Map Views: This shows you how many people looked at your location on a map and/or got directions to your business. Getting directions is a great indicator that someone from Yelp visited your business or plans to soon.

Yelp Deals: How many Yelp users purchased a Yelp deal you created. Obviously if they purchased a deal, you know for sure they spent money with you.

Mobile Calls: This is how many people called your business through Yelp’s mobile app. It’s a solid indicator someone is interested in becoming a customer.

Clicks to Your Website: How many people clicked through from your Yelp page to your website. This is also a good indicator of interest in your business.

Uploaded Photos: Photos that have been uploaded of what your business looks like, favorite dish, or specialty that you provide. Another solid indicator you’ve gained new customers.

Bookmarks: Users may bookmark your business so they can remember one of their favorite places, or because they plan on visiting in the near future. This is also a good sign that your Yelp leads are growing.

Messages: Shows you how many people on Yelp sent you a private message. This also ties in with Request A Quote for those home service type of businesses. Another great indicator that someone wants to know more about your business and become a customer.

While all of these are great signs that you’re getting new leads from Yelp, the most reliable customer leads are: Check-ins, Yelp Deals purchased, Uploaded Photos, and Directions/Map Views. That’s because each of these indicates someone was physically at your business or plan to be visit soon.

But are my page views converting?

Great question. The “Revenue Estimate” tab can help with that. While this is only an estimate (hence the name), using this feature lets you calculate how much revenue is coming from your Yelp traffic.

1. Average Customer Spend: You’ll start by entering the average amount of money a customer spends during a single visit/interaction with your company.

2. Visits Per Customer: Next you’ll enter the number of times most customers come to your business during a specific period of time. Be sure to double-check that the time period you’ve selected in the business owners account (30 days, 12 months, or 24 months) is the same as the one you’re calculating for.

3. Lead Conversion Rate: Finally, you’ll need to provide a guess as to how many of your leads are actually spending money with you. This is only an estimate, but the best way to figure it out is to add together: Check-ins, Online Orders/Deals Sold, Bookmarks, a small portion of Mobile Calls, and Directions/Map Views you had during the selected time period. Then, divide that by your total number of leads.

For example: Out of the 54 customer leads that month, 14 were mapped directions, 3 were bookmarks, and we’ll add in a few of the mobile calls, 5. So we will add that up which equals 22, then divide 22 by 54 to get .40740 (move the decimal 2 places to the right) which gives us around 40-41% of leads converted. Take a look below on how that gets calculated.

4. Calculate: Once you’ve entered the information, simply click ‘calculate’. This will give you an estimate on how much money you are potentially getting from Yelp customers.

Want to see an example? Let’s imagine what this would look like for a barbershop.

In this example, we entered $25 for the average customer haircut cost. We estimated that people get about one haircut a month (visits per customer), and previously figured about 40% of our Yelp leads converted. That means over a 30 day period, $540 in revenue likely came from Yelp customers finding you on Yelp for free!

You can now consider yourself an unofficial expert on all things Yelp for Business Owners. More importantly, you’ll be able to get a better understanding of how Yelp can help you grow your business and bring in new customers. For tips on improving your page and growing even more, check out our business owner blog. If you haven’t already, make sure to also claim your free Yelp business page by visiting biz.yelp.com