Yelp Rants and Raves Contractor Construction Company Yelp

Is Yelp an effective lead generation and marketing tool for contractors?

Bruce from Genesis Construction Services IL, LLC weighs in.

Here's what he had to say: waste of money.... 2 reasons. 1) my business doesn't get foot traffic. People don't find contractors to renovate bathrooms there. 2) they charge by the click or phone call. I was charged for hundreds of calls or clicks during the time I had Yelp. I never once got a call and never booked an appointment on-line. I say they are fake. They did not offer any refund and held me to the 90 day contract or pay the fee to get out. I did the math.... they screwed me out of alot of money either way. DO NOT use Yelp."

What do you think about Yelp as a contractor? Do you agree with Bruce's view that Yelp is ineffective?

60 Comments

All Answers (60)

Answers (1-10)

from

Answered on Dec 9th, 2017

Yelp... waste of money

5-15 per click that doesn't usually get a lead

Angies list... waste of money (same owners as home advisor) cost 30-80 per lead

Home advisor? Also waste of money. 30 per lead, drop everything to reply otherwise 3-5 other contractor will get the lead and you will still be charged 30.

Do free google, Angies list, yelp, Craigslist. Do not pay any of these for advertising. The best way is word of mouth and get recognized on Nextdoor Neighbor. Awesome local community app. That's my advise as a garage door repair guy. Throw some words logo Andy number on your vehicle... I am just one. No employees. I like that I only have to manage myself. Quality work will spread like a S.Cali wildfire.

Stephen J Muenstermann from Cloudbusters, Inc.

I fully agree. The internet is like a vacuum for marketing dollars with little or no return. Especially if you are a contracting firm. Even in today's technology market space, for contractors, the best bang for your buck is Face2Face meetings, Networking, and word-of-mouth. Have clients post your praises on sites that you have some level of control. Sites like Facebook, Google+, and other 'free' sites are fine. Besides, online leads are usually aiming you towards someone who has no knowledge of your business and is usually looking to 3-5 others that will bid against your services. I value my deliverables. I refuse to lower my company into bidding wars where I cannot bring value. I get endless calls from Angie's List, Houzz, etc., that tell me how they are going to energize my sales and have received squat to date. And everything I read to date is now reflecting the fact that they care less about your business and will give you exposure only if you feed them serious precious capital. Marketing dollars are precious and marketing is a necessity. However, to date I have not seen any disruptive technology that creates ROI on any claimed site for contractors. With exception to limited, but current social media exposure, and a solid website with updated content.

from

Answered on Dec 8th, 2017

Yelp is a form of blackmail to businesses. If you pay they show your good reviews. If you refuse they post the bad ones outside he filter box. Even if you pay, you should consider what type of business you are and how much you would benefit from them. Some businesses are not geared towards what they can offer of benefit. I recommend ignoring their calls and not responding to them unless you wish to inflame the issues with them. Once they target you it will go down hill.

Pamela Vasquez from So Cal Realtors Platinum

That is not true...I was conned into advertising on Yelp earlier this year as long as they removed a negative review that was not accurate. They agreed and they ended up putting the negative review at the bottom of the page, and all the positive review I received from legitimate customers were put underneath the negative reviews at the bottom of the page with Yelp saying the real reviews were bogus. That company is the biggest ripoff company I have have ever early with. Stay far away from them

from

Answered on Dec 8th, 2017

Yelp has been by far the worst advertising site we have ever worked with. When we received totally unreasonable reviews with proof, they refused to take down the negative comments. In fact Yelp carries far more negative reviews than any other website. We are highly rated on other websites but miserably on Yelp and they refuse to help - whether you are a paying customer or not! We will not use this company again for paid advertising as they refuse to help correct unfair reviews

from

Answered on Dec 8th, 2017

I have always backed away from Yelp as I never thought much of them and I am glad to hear that others have not has a good experience with them.

from

Answered on Dec 9th, 2017

People now research you whether they got a word of mouth referral or they found you online I thnk it's a good free tool to build good online presence you should have great reviews on yelp google my business,Facebook, Angie's list

But Angie’s list and thumbtack might be a better place for a contractor to spend mone

from

Answered on Dec 8th, 2017

yes I agree... 43 years in the construction field and I think its enough to make you laugh if you think your going to be getting a lot of business with yelp.

from

Answered on Dec 8th, 2017

Yelp is a TOTAL waste of time, effort and money. Better to burn the money in the parking lot!

Anyone (paid Yelp staff, competition, or just curious kids) can click on your site and drive up the clicks that you pay for.

Great work and satisfied clients give better results but it does take time.

from

Answered on Dec 9th, 2017

Yelp lied to get me to sign a contract. I figured it out, requested to speak with their legal team using the legal definitions of the fraud they committed with audio proof of the recorded phone call.. They released me from their bogus contract.

from

Answered on Dec 9th, 2017

I don't find it helpful. I have hidden client positive ratings that would have been useful in other locations. I rather send clients to Google or Better Business Bureau instead.