A natural phenomenon in the United States, Yelp brings together more than 100 million reviews of restaurants, cafes, and businesses worldwide. Its application is complete with an efficient and up-to-date interface and offers sound advice thanks to its active community. However, its users criticize it for numerous display bugs, a random French translation, and a booking page that is far too inconsistent.
Founded in July 2004, communities worldwide have since been established, making Yelp the leading local guide by word of mouth. It is assessed that Yelp has around 139 million exclusive users every month. Despite being founded more than ten years ago (an eternity on the Net!), it maintains significant popularity ratings compared to Foursquare. Yelp and Foursquare may look alike in principle. Both are social networks (Foursquare is no longer) based on the value of relocating users on a site (doing a check-in). However, the first goes beyond conquering places, becoming an important place, and collecting badges. Yelp allows you to check-in and recommend trendy places and, above all, develops the feeling of belonging through communities established by cities and countries. The so-called yelpers are the users of this service who comment, rate, interact promoted by the managers of each town.
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Why Use Yelp?
It is an application that allows you to find a business or service in the area in a few seconds. Its website was launched in October 2004, at the instigation of two ex-employees of PayPal. What was originally to become an email-based referral network quickly became a platform for mutual help to leave opinions and good addresses. Its use also requires creating a personal account using a Google ID, Facebook, or an e-mail address.
What’s New For Yelp?
The firm recently unveiled exciting data on the habits of its users and the significant trends of the moment. Thus, “Open now” is the platform’s most popular search filter and perfectly illustrates the need for immediate user support. The “Reservations,” “Accepts credit cards,” “Offers take-out, “and “Offers delivery” filters follow suit. To align with the current context, Yelp also offers a filter to display establishments whose staff is 100% vaccinated. Yelp also revealed the major gourmet trends for 2022. The Croffle (a cross between the croissant and the waffle), brioche-type egg slices of bread, the malasada (a dessert of Portuguese origin), or the cone-shaped pizza. On the industry side, she says restaurants that allow pets and cafes that provide a welcoming space to work are on the rise. In parallel, the company continues to develop its professional features of the “Yelp for business “program to help companies establish their page on the application, create more relevant advertisements and optimize their engagement with customers.
What Are The Features Of Yelp?
Search for establishments by filters, and As practical on vacation as it is for discovering cool places around your home, Yelp has a modern and easy-to-use interface. Its “Search” tab, which also acts as a home page, allows you to find restaurants, cafes, hair salons, and delivery or take-out services in one click. By clicking on one of the proposed icons, the user has multiple filters to refine his results. For example, they can sort establishments by rating, distance, or price in the restaurant section and select the best-suited group or family meals.
Comments, Check-In, And Community Life
It is also worth noting that each establishment present on Yelp has its file with its opening hours, its address (with a Google Maps plan and itinerary in support), its telephone number, a link to its website, and its menu. The whole point of Yelp, however, lies in its community tools. Indeed, the application allows everyone to leave their opinion and note on the establishments tested, post photos and videos, add tips, or report their visit by doing a “check-in.” The most frequent users can collect votes for their reviews and join the elite Yelp brigade, a community of influencers who share their experiences and obtain exclusive advantages such as invitations to events, tastings of atypical cocktails, etc.
Profile Customization
The application also offers many customization options through its “Me” tab. The latter is helpful in tracking activity reservations and indicating dietary restrictions and preferences (vegetarian, vegan, kosher, halal, gluten-free, etc.). This page also allows you to write opinions on the services and restaurants around you, add relatives via Facebook, and take a few simple steps to become an “expert” (voting, leaving comments or photos of dishes, etc.). Finally, via the last tab called “More,” it is also to find a large part of the functionalities, including adjusting parameters and notifications, access to the calendar of events, and the chat service with businesses.
What Are The Best Alternatives To Yelp?
TripAdvisor
Renowned for its owl-headed logo, TripAdvisor is a solid database of ratings of hotels, restaurants, and places of interest left by locals and tourists from around the world. This website, coupled with a web application, also provides travel advice, a very active community always ready to give good advice and comparison for booking accommodation and plane tickets.
Foursquare
Foursquare is an Android and iOS application allowing you to discover good addresses (restaurants, cafes, bars, and activities) in several cities worldwide? Its various filters and social features make it an excellent assistant to get out of the routine or explore new places on vacation. It is a reference in its field, even if its catalog of establishments is incomplete or sometimes incorrect.
Google Maps
Finally, who does not know the most popular of Google services? Maps stand out as an excellent competitor to Yelp by allowing you to search for services and restaurants, leave comments and photos, add establishments to your favorites, find your way, and explore the area virtually via Street View. If it’s not already the case, this little gem fully deserves its place on your phone. If you want to list your business on Yelp, then contact JDM Web Technologies experts.
