Service
Yelp marketing, on a site that dislikes being marketed to.
Yelp tells businesses not to ask for reviews, sets aside the ones its software doubts, and says ad money won't change what remains. So the honest work is everything else: a profile that looks tended, answers that read well, and replies that go out before the customer tries the next name.
You can't ask, so stop asking.
On most platforms the advice is to ask every customer for a review. On Yelp that advice can backfire. Yelp's own guidance tells businesses not to ask anyone for a review, and says its software may not recommend reviews that look prompted. Reviews it doesn't recommend sit behind a separate link and don't count toward your star rating or review count. We'd expect a sudden burst from first-time reviewers to do poorly there.
So we don't run review campaigns on Yelp. We don't buy reviews, write them, or pay for them with a discount, and we'd walk away from anyone who asked. We read Yelp's current guidelines before we suggest anything, since they are Yelp's to change. Your ask belongs on Google, which lets you ask customers for reviews as long as you offer nothing in return, and a branded review page or a tended Google Business Profile gives it somewhere to go.
What the profile can say for itself.
You control more than you'd think. Yelp's business tools let you edit your categories, hours, photos, specialties and history, plus a service area and services list where your category has them. Yelp's moderators can still reject an edit. Ours is a dull list, and we go through all of it, because a wrong category or a stale hour costs you with no one to tell you so.
Photos carry the most weight, in our opinion. A dining room at night, a clean bay with a car on the lift, a before and after from last Tuesday. Our piece on customers who have never seen you work is about pools, and the point travels. The specialties section we write in plain sentences, naming the jobs you want more of.
Our read is that Yelp matters more in some businesses than others: restaurants, auto shops, salons and home repair come to mind. If your customers never mention it, we'll say so and save you the fee.
Answer in public. Answer fast in private.
A one-star review gets two readers: the person who wrote it, and everyone deciding about you next month. We write the reply for the second group. It is short and calm, with the facts and an offer to fix what can be fixed. We help you report a review that truly breaks Yelp's rules, and Yelp's moderators decide what happens. Be careful of anyone who sells removal. Our piece on auto repair customers who arrive expecting the worst looks at that same suspicion.
Then there are the private messages. Someone asks for a quote through Yelp, and the crew is on a roof. Yelp shows your response time and response rate for messages. We built LeadBolt for that kind of gap: software that answers Yelp, Google, Meta, Angi, website and phone leads from one inbox. Simpler setups fall under AI automation, and sometimes all it takes is a phone alert and an agreed rule about who replies.
Where the reader goes next.
A careful reader doesn't stop at Yelp, in our experience. They check Google, then your website, and the name, address, phone and hours should match in all three. Part of that is local search work. Your site can state those details in markup that machines read, and in our Phoenix-area sample of 487 business sites, 49% of homepages carried local business markup.
The page they land on has to offer a way forward. In the same sample, 71 homepages offered no way in that our test could find, and on 49%, a phone link was the only way. It would be a pity to win over a skeptic on Yelp and lose them on your own site.
Ads, the bill, and what we won't promise.
We'd expect Yelp to offer to sell you ads. They are optional, and the business page itself is free. Profile work doesn't need them, and Yelp says its software treats reviews of advertisers and non-advertisers the same. If we think a test makes sense for your market, we'll say why, and any ad spend is paid to Yelp directly.
We price Yelp work as local marketing, which starts from $575 a month, depending on complexity and setup. It often gets combined with brand management and Google profile work, and the pricing page has the published numbers. We can't promise you a star rating. Customers write those, and Yelp decides which ones count.
How it works
How we tend a Yelp page.
Read it as a customer
We open your page on a phone and compare it to the businesses you lose to. Then we read your reviews, including the ones Yelp isn't currently recommending.
Fix facts and photos
Categories, hours, service area, services and specialties get corrected where your category offers them. We gather real photos from you and put the strongest ones where people look first.
Set the reply rules
We agree on who answers messages, how fast, and what a reply to a bad review sounds like. Then we draft replies for you to approve until the tone is settled.
Keep it tended
New photos, updated details, replies to new reviews, and a report on what Yelp's own dashboard shows. We check the guidelines again when anything changes.
First class all the way!
From the prompt communication, being available seven days a week, to the nuts and bolts of getting our project completed on time and on budget — I highly recommend!
They made the technical side feel clear.
We talked about goals first — then platforms, content, search, and automation.
Price it in a minute
Yelp: see where your number starts.
A few taps and a starting price shows on screen. Send the link to your page if you have one. The developer follows up by phone, text or email, your pick, and will tell you if Yelp isn't worth your money.
- Every price published on the pricing page
- 0% financing with 25% down. Financed projects are hosted on the DataCram platform for the length of the plan. Shopify stores can't be financed.
- One developer from first call to launch
What do you want help with?
Where should we focus? (pick any)
Locations
Rather talk? (480) 525-7582. 0% financing on any project, 25% down. See all pricing
Yelp Marketing: questions we hear a lot.
Does this mean buying Yelp ads?
No. Photos, categories, copy and replies don't require advertising. If you decide to run ads, the spend goes to Yelp directly, and Yelp says there's no connection between advertising and how its software treats your reviews. We'll give you a plain opinion on whether they suit your market.
Can you get a bad review taken down?
Not on request, and be careful of anyone who says they can. Yelp's moderators decide under its own content guidelines. We can help you flag a review that really breaks those rules, and we can write a calm public reply, which is the part we'd expect future customers to read.
Can I just ask customers for Yelp reviews?
Yelp's guidance says not to, and it differs from Google's here. Read it at the source, because the wording is Yelp's and it can change. We don't offer incentives and we don't post on anyone's behalf. Asking for Google reviews is another matter, with its own rules.
Why are some of my real reviews hidden?
Yelp's recommendation software sets some reviews aside and lists them separately as not recommended. Those don't count toward your rating or review count. We can't move them, and neither can you. Yelp says its own employees can't override the software, and that a review can move over time as the software learns more. It also says recommended reviews typically come from active Yelp members, and that part isn't in anyone's control.
What does Yelp work cost?
It is part of our local marketing, which starts from $575 a month, depending on complexity and setup. Most owners would do well to pair it with SEO or Google profile work, so the bill covers more than one page. See pricing.
When will the profile look better?
The parts you control can change quickly: photos, details and copy. Reviews come when customers choose to write them, so that side moves at its own pace. We won't give you a date for a rating, because it isn't ours to set.
Does Yelp matter if Google already has my reviews?
It depends on your trade. A restaurant can't skip it, in our view. Some trades barely hear about it. Ask your last twenty customers how they found you, and if nobody says Yelp, keep the facts correct and spend your money elsewhere.
Send us the link to your Yelp page.
We'll read it the way a skeptical customer would and tell you what we'd change, what we'd leave alone, and what it costs.