What is Yelp, and How Does It Work?

When you visit a new restaurant and have a good experience, you will most likely not keep it to yourself. When people enjoy a great meal, exceptional service, or a good atmosphere, they tell other people about it.

Most of us are continuously looking to find new spots to hang out. The same applies to other businesses and services. Drivers recommend a good option to people who are looking for affordable mechanics, while someone looking for a doctor may ask for recommendations.

However, it can work the opposite way too. If you go to a new restaurant and are not satisfied when you come out, you will want to let others know about it too. Instead of letting others go through the trouble you did, you'd recommend that they not go there and maybe suggest some other place to them.

Businesses live and die through this sort of communication. In this new era, the internet has made it even easier for the word to spread quickly about specific products and services. One of the most popular websites that focus on business reviews and sharing information is Yelp.com.

If you have ever looked up restaurant reviews on the internet, you have most likely visited Yelp. This is people's go-to when they are looking for a place to eat. However, it is more than just that. Yelp was founded in 2004. It is a popular online directory to search for local businesses like bars, restaurants, cafes, hairdressers, spas, and gas stations.

You can look for Yelp through its website or with the official apps for android and iOS. Yelp's Listings are sorted by business type, and results are filtered by location, price, and features like outdoor seating, delivery, or the ability for reservations.

Yelp has a powerful social engagement and encourages its users to leave reviews, ratings, and photos of their experience at the businesses they have visited. Each Yelp account has a friends list in which you can add people from Facebook or your device's address book. The reviews that are posted on Yelp can be views by other users too. Popular reviewers are given the opportunity to be promoted to Yelp Elite Status.[1]

Benefits of Yelp

The major benefit of Yelp is the ease of communication that the users experience. The site acts as the digital version of word-of-mouth. Also, with Yelp communities growing in most American cities, it is easier to find places to go to and see what others think about that place.

However, Yelp is not only about reviews. You can also find events, reminders, and special offers from the site. This allows you to send messages to users and even "Follow" them, which will enable you to view their posts before anyone else when you are searching for a business.

If you want to post personal reviews on Facebook, you can import them directly from your Facebook profile. All you have to do is log in and click on the Settings link below the status update field. You can then select the "automatically import activity" to upload your most recent content and inform your audience about your taste.[2]

[1] Lifewire (2020). What is Yelp and How Does It Work? Retrieved from https://www.lifewire.com/what-is-yelp-4685842 [2] How Stuff Works (2020). How Yelp Works. Retrieved from https://computer.howstuffworks.com/internet/social-networking/networks/yelp.htm