Yelp Launches an All New Modernized and Enhanced Experience for Business Owners

Today Yelp announced a new way for business owners to understand their performance and manage their presence on Yelp. Yelp for Business is an entirely reimagined platform designed to improve the business owner experience with a fresh new user interface that gives business owners more transparency and insight into their Yelp Business Page. This release is the first step in the company’s plans to completely overhaul the business owner experience in order to increase customization and efficiency on the Yelp platform by the end of 2020.

Updated / new features include:

• Recommendation Cards: This new feature will help business owners with step by step prompts on what they should set up to make their profile as comprehensive as possible.
• Tips: Business owners will find updated “tips” sprinkled throughout the home page that will provide insights to guide them toward the next best steps to reach consumers and enhance their existing profile through ads.
• Content Feed: The new integrated content feed shares relevant information to business owners based on their particular category and industry. At first, business owners will be directed toward COVID-19 related content specifically geared toward helping them get through this time.
• Faster load and response time: The platform has been upgraded with new technology, resulting in an experience that is 30% faster than the previous Business Owner Account.  The new platform leverages GraphQL, a modern architecture that allows clients to fetch their own data efficiently. GraphQL allows us to manage multiple data requests at the same time, creating a more streamlined experience for the user.

The updated business owner platform is a more intuitive experience that gives users a holistic view of their business profile with pageview analytics, leads and ad performance, as well as recommended adjustments to optimize ROI. 

We also announced a number of new features and products to help businesses stay connected with their customers during this period of social-distancing, and adapt to changes caused by COVID-19. The company rolled out a new set of COVID-19 relevant Business Highlights, as well as personalized banners, virtual service offerings and no-contact delivery options, updated hours and new call to action buttons. In addition, we’ve recently made our Connect products free of charge to restaurant and nightlife businesses as a part of our Relief.  Connect, with activation now up more than 200%, is an easy way for business owners to connect with consumers. The updated business owner experience will make these products easy to implement and seamlessly update.  Every business owner will be met with a COVID-19 banner across the top of the page that prompts them to update their profiles by sharing how-to guidance on communication tools. 

With the launch of this new experience, Yelp will be able to deliver new features and products to businesses more quickly, in order to continue to enhance the business owner experience over time.

We are always looking for new ways to elevate the experience for business owners. Delivering on our mission to connect consumers with great local businesses, this new modernized experience provides businesses with a seamless and easy way to connect with their customers, and reach new ones.  Reporting on ad performance is only one step in helping businesses get the most out of Yelp. With the upgraded business owner platform, and new features like recommendations, Yelp now helps guide businesses to optimize their Yelp page and increase ROI. We’re committed to ensuring that business owners are getting the most out of Yelp with as seamless an experience as possible.

We will also be rolling out “Logo” and new ad control features in the coming months.  Logo is a new product that enables business owners to further personalize their profile by adding their business logo to their page. The new ad control features leverage machine learning to give business owners added control over where and who their advertisements reach with enhanced keyword and targeting options. 

The new business owner experience is now currently available to all business owners and can be accessed in their Yelp for Business account.  

Find more on the launch here and look for more information in the coming weeks.