Attorneys managing their Yelp profile are given a (paid) option to add License Verification for $1/day. Attorneys who pay for this service have a Verified License Badge added to their profile. Yelp claims this results in a 10% increase in calls.
What is license verification?
Wen you log in to biz.yelp.com and edit your profile you will see Yelp’s add-ons. You can advertise, you can pay to have your logo added to your profile. And for $1 a day, you can get a Verified License Badge.
As a Yelper, my personal habit in the app mostly consist of looking for coffee shops and places to eat while traveling. That said, there are indeed some people who use Yelp to look for an attorney. Yes, the vast majority of people are using Google, but there are people who use Yelp for everything.
As seen in the screenshot below, Yelp says that if you confirm your trade license with the applicable government agency, they will display your license more prominently across Yelp.
This feature was rolled out by Yelp on March 5, 2019 and announced by Anish Nahar on Yelp’s blog: https://blog.yelp.com/2019/03/yelp-announces-verified-licenses-bringing-peace-of-mind-to-booking-a-professional.
What is the Verified License Badge?
The badge is an official looking badge created with user trust in mind.
I suspect that some users will be more likely to click on profiles with the badge than without the badge when presented with the option. Yelp agrees. According to Yelp Support, businesses displaying the Verified Badge receive a 10% increase in calls, click & map views.
Since a picture is worth 1,000 words, I’ll replace the remainder of this paragraph with a picture of the beautiful blue badge.
Do Lawyers Need the Badge?
I know what you’re thinking… Shut up Len, tell me if I need the badge or not.
Well, if you get 0 calls from Yelp, you can expect to get 10% more.
However if you’re one of the law firms out there who wants to be everywhere and get all the exposure possible, what’s another $1/day?
If you’re active on Yelp it’s a no-brainer. My vote is yet to the badge.
And BTW, if you are one of those law firms who wants to fill every nook and cranny of the Internet with every bell and whistle possible, we should talk. There’s isn’t anyone out there in the world of attorney marketing who is as curious and driven as myself.
