As most military families can attest, one of the most important things to do once you land at your new duty station is to scope out all of the great places to eat and fun things to do. Not only is a great restaurant meal and an entertaining outing a much-needed reprieve from unpacking boxes and organizing kitchen cabinets, but exploring your new territory is also a great way to orient yourself and begin connecting to the area.
Crowd-sourced local business reviews and social networking sites like Yelp can be a life-saver when it comes to figuring out some of the “best of the best” places to visit as well as top-rated service providers. When you don’t yet know anyone in person, pull up your Yelp app and let several thousand of your closest friends guide and recommend you to the services you require.
How Can Yelp Help?
According to YelpPress.com, “With unmatched local business information, photos and review content, Yelp provides a one-stop local platform for consumers to discover, connect and transact with local businesses of all sizes by making it easy to request a quote, join a waitlist, and make a reservation, appointment or purchase.”
Sure, getting a great dinner reservation or finding the best local chips and salsa will set you on a course for family fun, but there are other benefits of using Yelp beyond food delivery or restaurant recommendations.
Yelp is one of the best ways for people to connect with local service providers for all manner of home needs. Looking for a reliable plumber, electrician, general contractor, or lawn care company? Look no further than Yelp. Need a pet-sitter or someone to do your taxes? Yelp is there for you.
What’s even better is in the fifteen-plus years plus that Yelp has been around, they just keep perfecting their user experience. Back in 2019, they upped their game by adding many personalization features to their site and app. The benefit to you, the user, is that the more you use Yelp, the better it gets at predicting your (literal) tastes and preferences. This fine-tuning allows you the opportunity to better connect to places and providers that fit your lifestyle.
Reading personal reviews and seeing photographs continues to be a helpful socially-driven component of Yelp. With these and other continued improvements, Yelp is actually changing the way you do business. Now there are ways you can not only find and connect with providers, but you can also communicate and even transact within the app.
When it comes to finding fun and feeling (finally) settled, sites like Yelp can be a huge help in your quest. Add the app to your homeowner tool kit for all of its useful, consumer-reviewed information. The next time you’re looking for someone to unclog a sink or clean out your gutters, you’re all set. While you’re at it, use Yelp to find yourself a yummy treat, have it Door Dashed to your new house. Kick your feet up and relax. You’re finally home!
