Welcome to the latest edition of my new weekly blog series, “Free Marketing Ideas”. Each week I will identify and explain a simple marketing idea that you can employ at low or no cost. Last week’s topic was Start a Press List.

This week’s topic: Add Your Business to Yelp

For all the negative press that they get, people still use Yelp. And because people still use Yelp, it’s important for small business owners and marketers not to ignore it.

Go to yelp.com and do a search for your business. You may find that yours is already on there. If it is, you can easily claim ownership of it, and begin using that listing to your advantage. If it’s not there yet, you can create a business account and add it yourself.

When you manage your business listing on Yelp, a couple of opportunities open up for you. First, you can start advertising through Yelp, but that costs money. Second, you can add photos, special offers, and other business information to the listing that you would not otherwise have. You can add a link to your website and the right phone number for customers to contact you. And you can respond to people who review your business on Yelp.

Reviews are good. They make you relevant. People trust other people more than they trust brands or any kind of marketing you might do. So a positive review in a place where others can see it, like Yelp, is a great piece of free marketing.

Once your business is up and active on Yelp, you will show up in local searches that are relevant to what you offer. Your Yelp listing will also help you rank on the first page of Google for local searches. Obviously this is more important for physical store fronts and businesses with an actual location (not online), but it’s helpful for all businesses. So get started now!

Share your thoughts on this idea, and other free marketing ideas in the comments section below and keep the conversation going!