Whether you're just starting out or you've been operating for years, growing an independent therapy practice beyond the reach of strictly word-of-mouth referrals is uniquely challenging. Also, unlike some businesses, solo practitioners probably can't rely on a huge advertising budget to help boost their online profile. What's more, standard marketing practices that are taken for granted in other industries — such as soliciting reviews and testimonials from customers — or paid advertisements surrounding certain industry subjects or services, can quickly venture into ethically murky territory for mental health professionals.
That's why for many therapists looking to grow their online presence, Yelp can be a great solution. According to Yelp, 96.4% of all searches related to Therapy are unbranded. This means that when someone is searching for a therapist or relationship counselor in Yelp, they don’t already have someone in mind. They are searching for the nearest, most qualified mental health professional with a profile that grabs their attention, whether be it for the great reviews, the photos of the office, the specific services offered or any number of subjective reasons. In related fields such as Psychiatry (100%), Psychology (97.1%) and Life Coach (100%) the numbers tell much the same story. This means that with a little work, some creativity, (and in certain cases some ad dollars) a well-optimized Yelp listing can go a long way for even a new private practice.
To get the ball rolling, all you need is a free profile for your office, and like a modern equivalent of listing your business in the yellow pages, joining Yelp makes it easier for potential clients to find you organically. And, because it's considered an extremely authoritative source, profiles on Yelp often rank highly in relevant search results. This can give your practice a leg up even if your own website isn’t showing up on the first page in Google.
Of course, successful advertising is as much about quality as it is about quantity. While setting up a profile will certainly increase the visibility of your business, it can also attract more promising leads. That's because Yelpers tend to have a higher buying intent than users on other platforms who could be in the research phase or gathering information about prices, services or related searches rather than conducting searches with what marketers like to call “transactional” intent. When someone lands on your Yelp page, it's often because they're actively looking for the services you provide and ready to read reviews from other users and make a decision on who to contact.
Although it offers some powerful features for advanced users and even more sophisticated tracking and reporting capabilities for certified Yelp Advertising Partners, you don't need to be a tech genius or an online marketing whiz to take advantage of Yelp advertising. In fact, your practice may even have a presence on the platform already. Yelp maintains a vast and ever-expanding database of local business listings compiled from public records, user contributions and other sources. The first step is to perform a Yelp search for your business and check for an existing profile. It could be, that one of your clients loved your service so much they proactively left a review for your business on Yelp, thereby triggering the creation of a new, unclaimed profile, which – like it or not – now represents your name and practice. Unfortunately, this process can work both ways and some small businesses are in for a shock when they “google” their name and find a scathing review already posted by an angry former client.
If your business already has a listing, all you'll have to do is claim ownership. Visit the profile page for your practice and locate the "Claim this business" option, which will prompt you to log in or create a free Yelp for Business account. Once you've done so, the final step is to verify ownership. In most cases, that simply means answering a call from Yelp at the number provided for your business and punching in a four-digit pin code to verify the listing. It’s important to note that Yelp accounts come in two different flavors:
The good news is that Yelp will usually tell you which account you need to login from.
In rare instances, you may find that your business has already been claimed by someone else. If you know the current owner, you can request access to make changes on your own. If not, the best course of action is to contact Yelp customer support for help and they will guide you through the steps of reclaiming the profile This is important because a Yelp listing in the wrong hands can lead to incorrect or flat-out spammy information or links and lead potentially clients away and negatively impact your reputation online.
If searching for your practice on Yelp doesn't return any results, you'll need to complete a couple of additional steps. Start by clicking the "Add to Yelp for free" button, which will prompt you to furnish contact details and other information for your business. Once again, you'll be asked to create or log in to your Yelp for Business account. Finally, you'll need to finish the verification process by phone or email. Yelp makes this process easy, but just note that creating or claiming a new business may trigger a call from Yelp’s (at times aggressive) sales team who will be eager to explain the benefits of paid ads through Yelp. Your options here are to hear them out and consider advertising, politely inform them that you intend to take advantage of Yelp’s free features only to get started; or, consider working through a certified Yelp ads agency, which will eliminate sales calls moving forward.
Once your new profile has been successfully verified and approved, you can begin adding additional content and images. The more information you provide, the easier it will be for prospective clients to find your page. Adding various photos taken in and around your practice can also make your page more attractive and welcoming to visitors. You want to show the warmth and comfort of your office as this is where clients will be spending much of their time. Showcase any unique features, awards, associates or amenities that would appeal to a potential guest.
There are several online guides and tutorials you can follow to fully optimize your profile but for most therapists, simply walking through the various fields and settings in the Yelp business dashboard will prove fairly easy and straightforward. We recommend filling out as many sections as possible: and as accurately as possible because the more robust and complete your profile is, the more likely Yelp is to promote it in their listings and for consumers to find the information they’re looking for.
In addition to photos and a business description, some basic information you should be ready to provide are:
As mentioned, we recommend providing answers to as many of these questions as possible and uploading at least 5-10 photos to the profile with accurate captions. But the most important part of this process (outside of the basic business info such as address, business name and contact info) will be making sure to select the proper categories and service. For most therapists, you will select “Health & Medical Counseling & Mental Health” but as of the time of this writing there are many services that can be selected as well. Be sure to select all that apply:
At this point save your changes and your profile should be well-optimized and categorized. Stay on top of things even further by downloading the "Yelp for Business" app (Android or IOS) and stay logged in using your business owner credentials. Make sure notifications are turned on so you don't miss any important customer enquiries or incoming reviews which need attention. Often with Yelp, timing is everything so you don't want to leave people hanging and the quicker you're able to get back to a potential client, the less likely they are to look elsewhere.
At this point, you may be wondering why you’re going through all this work while you have little to no online reviews. Isn’t Yelp all about reviews? In a way yes, and there will certainly be some potential patients searching for a new therapist based on reviews alone. But others will simply be searching for the most qualified professional in their area that specialize in the issues that might be uniquely affecting them, or have openings that better fit their schedule. It's best to think of Yelp as an online business directory and not just a place to read reviews. And as your private practice gains exposure and more clients come from Yelp, the reviews will naturally follow. For therapists looking to be more pro-active in encouraging user reviews, we have published a short guide for How Therapists Can Generate Online Reviews.
As you might guess, Yelp offers a variety of additional, paid features such as profile enhancements and pay-per-click "sponsored" ads for those looking to go beyond just the free profile listing. Make no mistake, a free, well-optimized, well-maintained Yelp profile with great photos, reviews and accurate business information can go a long way to generating new patient leads with little effort and for many private practices the story ends here. But for those looking to take the next step, or invest in profile enhancements to stand out from the crowd, we'll next be taking a look at "Yelp Advertising for Therapists and Counselors".
