Scoring Good Reviews: Yelp vs. Google Places

August 26, 2010

Tags: google, google places, reviews, seo, yelp

Are reviews in one or the other enough? I say no and its important to get reviews in multiple places – in particular Google Places. Here’s why:

Google is an established giant on the internet. They’re not going any where and they define web search. If you are not listed or don’t have a good ranking in Google places, anyone who searches for your services via the web will not find you.
Google recently started omitting inclusion of Yelp reviews into Google Places. So if you have reviews on Yelp, they won’t translate into Google search results for you. So, not only do you want a Google Places listing, but you also want your customers to give you reviews for your Google listing.
Yelp is not an internet giant. They are a start-up firm founded on venture capital funding and looking for a buyer, i.e. they’re not a done deal.

I highly recommend taking the few minutes to create the Google Places listing. And ask some of your customers to review your listing. Copy the link to your place and email it to them. Tell them you’re asking for help to grow your business and, if you have a moment, would you mind reviewing your listing? Thanks so much.

Or something to that effect. If you’re not sure how to create this listing, sign up for my free e-book. It is free – for now – and available – for now.

Good luck!