Yello for Yelp.com Professional Edition: A Complete Setup Guide
Overview
Yello for Yelp.com Professional Edition integrates Yello’s customer-engagement tools with Yelp’s business platform to help businesses gather reviews, manage customer outreach, and streamline local marketing. This guide walks through planning, account requirements, installation, configuration, and optimization so you can launch quickly and measure impact.
Before you start — prerequisites
- Business listing: Active Yelp.com business page with owner access.
- Yello account: Professional Edition subscription (admin access).
- Assets: Business logo, contact email, phone number, reply templates, and a short privacy/opt-in statement for outreach.
- Team roles: Assign an admin (full access) and at least one reviewer/agent to monitor responses.
Step 1 — Map objectives and KPIs
- Primary goals: e.g., increase Yelp review volume, improve average rating, reduce response time.
- KPIs to track: Review count, average star rating, response rate/time, conversion from outreach to review, referral traffic from Yelp.
- Baseline: Export current Yelp analytics for comparison (30–90 days).
Step 2 — Connect Yello to your Yelp.com listing
- Log into Yello (Professional Edition) as admin.
- Navigate to Integrations > Yelp.com.
- Click “Connect Yelp” and sign in with your Yelp business owner account.
- Grant permissions requested (manage listing, read analytics, respond to reviews).
- Confirm the correct Yelp listing if multiple locations exist.
Step 3 — Configure review-request workflows
- Choose trigger points: Post-service SMS/email, completed booking, or POS receipt.
- Design message sequence: Typical sequence — immediate thank-you message, follow-up review request after 3–5 days, reminder at 10–14 days if no response.
- Templates: Craft concise, polite messages with a direct Yelp review link. Include business name, staff mention (optional), and a short CTA (e.g., “Share your experience on Yelp”).
- Opt-in compliance: Ensure messages include opt-out instructions and match your privacy/consent practices.
Example SMS template: “Thanks for visiting [Business Name]! We’d love your feedback—share a quick review on Yelp: [short link] Reply STOP to opt out.”
Step 4 — Set up automated response routing
- Assign reviewers: Route inbound review notifications and replies to staff members.
- Escalation rules: Flag negative reviews (≤3 stars) to a manager for priority response within 24 hours.
- Tagging: Use tags for review type (product, service, staff) to analyze trends.
Step 5 — Customize on-page widgets and CTAs
- Add Yelp badge: Use Yello to generate a Yelp review widget or badge for your website and email signatures.
- Landing pages: Create a dedicated review landing page with direct Yelp CTA and brief steps to leave a review.
- QR codes: Generate QR codes linking to your Yelp review page for in-store displays and receipts.
Step 6 — Train staff and document SOPs
- Response templates: Prepare approved replies for positive reviews, neutral comments, and negative feedback.
- SOP: Document response timing, tone guidelines, escalation paths, and