Become an Elite Member of Yelp
Becoming Elite on Yelp means that you get to be a taste maker, at least on one corner of the web. To start down the path towards Elite-hood, you need to be an active member of the Yelp community. Follow this guide to get into those Elite parties!
Steps
- Create an accurate profile. Elite Yelpers need to have a profile with their real name as well as a clear picture. Make sure that the photo is of you.
- Elite Yelpers must be of legal drinking age in their city.
- Elite members cannot be affiliated with any local businesses, in order to promote fair reviews.
- Write helpful reviews. The most important step to becoming an Elite Yelper is to write as many useful and unbiased reviews as possible. Make sure that your reviews are comprehensive but easy to read, and that they don’t contain very many glaring errors.
- Upload pictures of your food or of the service you are reviewing.
- Add tips to existing posts to help broaden the amount of information available
- Don’t play favorites with certain establishments. Try to write fairly about every place you go to.
- Write a lot of reviews. The more you contribute the more valuable you will appear to the Community Managers. Try to write a review for every place you visit. Elite Yelpers are considered diplomats to their city’s culture, so stay on top of what’s hot and write reviews on it.
- Let your personality show. Avoid writing like a robot. Yelp Community Managers look for members who are engaging and relatable, so spice up your reviews by writing in a conversational tone and allow your inner wittiness to shine through.
- Interact with other Yelpers. Vote on reviews, leave comments and interact with the community as much as possible. Keep your comments civil and well thought out. Compliment other users on particularly good reviews.
- Take some time each week to welcome new members to Yelp. Community Managers look highly upon people who work to foster the Yelp community.
- Interact with your Community manager. The Community Managers are not the ones in charge of determining who will be Elite for the year, but they have input and influence. Comment on their reviews and chat them up so that your name stands out when it comes time to make the decisions.
- Get nominated or nominate yourself. Other Yelp members can nominate you, or you can nominate yourself by following the link on the Elite page.
- Enter your city. If your city or town is not listed, you can still become a National Elite member.
- Enter your name. Yelp needs to know your real name before you can apply to be an Elite Yelp member.
- Enter your Yelp profile URL. This will allow the Community managers to quickly see your profile and check your reviews and contributions.
- Tell Yelp why you deserve to be Elite. In the box labeled “Tell us why”, write a few sentences about why you should be considered for Elite status. Get creative and fun to help set yourself apart from all of the other entries.
Tips
- Yelp Elite members are chosen every year, so if you want to continue to have access to Elite privileges, you will need to make sure that your Yelp activity remains constant. Write reviews throughout the year, and participate as much as possible. Once you attain Elite status, don't rest on your laurels! You will need to reapply every year, in order to be considered for another year of Elite status.
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