{"id":1063,"date":"2014-10-15T09:00:26","date_gmt":"2014-10-15T09:00:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.advicelocal.com\/?p=1063"},"modified":"2014-10-15T09:00:26","modified_gmt":"2014-10-15T09:00:26","slug":"why-yelp-reviews-are-so-important-to-your-business","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.advicelocal.com\/blog\/why-yelp-reviews-are-so-important-to-your-business\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Yelp Reviews Are So Important to Your Business"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/beta.advicelocal.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Yelp-reviews.jpg\" alt=\"Yelp reviews\" width=\"256\" height=\"256\" \/>Whether you are a small locally owned business with one location or a local arm of a larger business, you have likely heard people talk about why Yelp reviews are so important to your business. Depending upon whether you personally use Yelp or not, you may or may not be so convinced about this. Well, it\u2019s time to set the record straight. <a title=\"The Most Important Free Search Engine Listings and Directories\" href=\"https:\/\/beta.advicelocal.com\/blog\/blog\/most-important-free-search-engine-listings-directories\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Yelp reviews matter<\/a>. It\u2019s that simple.<\/p>\n<h2>The New Word of Mouth<\/h2>\n<p>Whether you are in your 20&#8217;s or your 60&#8217;s, you know that word of mouth can have a big impact on a local business \u2014 for better or worse. Referrals are prized possessions and offer fabulous ROI when compared to business that took far more dollars or effort to cultivate from the get-go.<\/p>\n<p>In today\u2019s world, online reviews are the most powerful form of word-of-mouth advertising available. Recent research corroborates their power by noting that as many as 78 percent of consumers consult online reviews to find local businesses and even before making final buying choices.<\/p>\n<p>As for Yelp specifically, just this summer, it was rated the most trusted and <a title=\"Reviews: The Double-Edged Sword\" href=\"https:\/\/beta.advicelocal.com\/blog\/blog\/reviews-the-double-edged-sword\/\">most often used online review site<\/a> of all. Hopefully you are starting to believe in the value of getting your business on Yelp.<\/p>\n<h2>The Right Kind of Links<\/h2>\n<p>Yes, you read it right\u2014links. Every Yelp review is a link for your business and can do wonders for your <a title=\"Why Local SEO Matters\" href=\"https:\/\/beta.advicelocal.com\/blog\/blog\/why-local-seo-matters\/\">local SEO<\/a>. But, before you rush out and develop great incentive programs to garner more Yelp reviews, wait.<\/p>\n<p>In the post-Penguin era, links must be natural and that includes review links. Yelp reviews that are posted in response to your special offer are not truly natural and therefore are not as likely to help your link strategy. In fact, they could hurt it.<\/p>\n<h2>Yes, Yelp Helps<\/h2>\n<p>If you are a local business, not only is being on Yelp helpful, but not being on Yelp is hurtful. Now is the time to make sure your Yelp listing is complete and accurate so that you can reap the rewards this valuable site has to offer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Whether you are a small locally owned business with one location or a local arm of a larger business, you [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":1064,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1063","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-listing-management"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Why Yelp Reviews Are So Important to Your Business | Advice Local<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Local businesses should learn the various ways Yelp reviews can help them and how to get a business on Yelp and be found by customers.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.advicelocal.com\/blog\/why-yelp-reviews-are-so-important-to-your-business\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Why Yelp Reviews Are So Important to Your Business | Advice Local\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Local businesses should learn the various ways Yelp reviews can help them and how to get a business on Yelp and be found by customers.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.advicelocal.com\/blog\/why-yelp-reviews-are-so-important-to-your-business\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Advice Local\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/advicelocallistings\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-10-15T09:00:26+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Justin Liles\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.localsitesubmit.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Yelp-reviews.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@advice_local\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@advice_local\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Justin Liles\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.advicelocal.com\\\/blog\\\/why-yelp-reviews-are-so-important-to-your-business\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.advicelocal.com\\\/blog\\\/why-yelp-reviews-are-so-important-to-your-business\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Justin Liles\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.advicelocal.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/c2453c4dec14d2c78697faa0a54d4e47\"},\"headline\":\"Why Yelp Reviews Are So Important to Your Business\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-10-15T09:00:26+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.advicelocal.com\\\/blog\\\/why-yelp-reviews-are-so-important-to-your-business\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":355,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.advicelocal.com\\\/blog\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.advicelocal.com\\\/blog\\\/why-yelp-reviews-are-so-important-to-your-business\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"\",\"articleSection\":[\"Listing Management\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.advicelocal.com\\\/blog\\\/why-yelp-reviews-are-so-important-to-your-business\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.advicelocal.com\\\/blog\\\/why-yelp-reviews-are-so-important-to-your-business\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.advicelocal.com\\\/blog\\\/why-yelp-reviews-are-so-important-to-your-business\\\/\",\"name\":\"Why Yelp Reviews Are So Important to Your Business | Advice Local\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.advicelocal.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.advicelocal.com\\\/blog\\\/why-yelp-reviews-are-so-important-to-your-business\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.advicelocal.com\\\/blog\\\/why-yelp-reviews-are-so-important-to-your-business\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-10-15T09:00:26+00:00\",\"description\":\"Local businesses should learn the various ways Yelp reviews can help them and how to get a business on Yelp and be found by customers.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.advicelocal.com\\\/blog\\\/why-yelp-reviews-are-so-important-to-your-business\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.advicelocal.com\\\/blog\\\/why-yelp-reviews-are-so-important-to-your-business\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.advicelocal.com\\\/blog\\\/why-yelp-reviews-are-so-important-to-your-business\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"\",\"contentUrl\":\"\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.advicelocal.com\\\/blog\\\/why-yelp-reviews-are-so-important-to-your-business\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.advicelocal.com\\\/blog\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Why Yelp Reviews Are So Important to Your Business\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.advicelocal.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.advicelocal.com\\\/blog\\\/\",\"name\":\"Advice Local\",\"description\":\"Local Digital Marketing Software Solutions and Services\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.advicelocal.com\\\/blog\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.advicelocal.com\\\/blog\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.advicelocal.com\\\/blog\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Advice Local\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.advicelocal.com\\\/blog\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.advicelocal.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.advicelocal.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/04\\\/logo.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.advicelocal.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/04\\\/logo.png\",\"width\":265,\"height\":55,\"caption\":\"Advice Local\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.advicelocal.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/advicelocallistings\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/advice_local\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.instagram.com\\\/advice_local\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.advicelocal.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/c2453c4dec14d2c78697faa0a54d4e47\",\"name\":\"Justin Liles\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Justin Liles\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.advicelocal.com\\\/blog\\\/author\\\/justin-liles\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Why Yelp Reviews Are So Important to Your Business | Advice Local","description":"Local businesses should learn the various ways Yelp reviews can help them and how to get a business on Yelp and be found by customers.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.advicelocal.com\/blog\/why-yelp-reviews-are-so-important-to-your-business\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Why Yelp Reviews Are So Important to Your Business | Advice Local","og_description":"Local businesses should learn the various ways Yelp reviews can help them and how to get a business on Yelp and be found by customers.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.advicelocal.com\/blog\/why-yelp-reviews-are-so-important-to-your-business\/","og_site_name":"Advice Local","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/advicelocallistings\/","article_published_time":"2014-10-15T09:00:26+00:00","author":"Justin Liles","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_image":"http:\/\/www.localsitesubmit.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Yelp-reviews.jpg","twitter_creator":"@advice_local","twitter_site":"@advice_local","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Justin Liles","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.advicelocal.com\/blog\/why-yelp-reviews-are-so-important-to-your-business\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.advicelocal.com\/blog\/why-yelp-reviews-are-so-important-to-your-business\/"},"author":{"name":"Justin Liles","@id":"https:\/\/www.advicelocal.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/c2453c4dec14d2c78697faa0a54d4e47"},"headline":"Why Yelp Reviews Are So Important to Your Business","datePublished":"2014-10-15T09:00:26+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.advicelocal.com\/blog\/why-yelp-reviews-are-so-important-to-your-business\/"},"wordCount":355,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.advicelocal.com\/blog\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.advicelocal.com\/blog\/why-yelp-reviews-are-so-important-to-your-business\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"","articleSection":["Listing Management"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.advicelocal.com\/blog\/why-yelp-reviews-are-so-important-to-your-business\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.advicelocal.com\/blog\/why-yelp-reviews-are-so-important-to-your-business\/","url":"https:\/\/www.advicelocal.com\/blog\/why-yelp-reviews-are-so-important-to-your-business\/","name":"Why Yelp Reviews Are So Important to Your Business | Advice Local","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.advicelocal.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.advicelocal.com\/blog\/why-yelp-reviews-are-so-important-to-your-business\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.advicelocal.com\/blog\/why-yelp-reviews-are-so-important-to-your-business\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"","datePublished":"2014-10-15T09:00:26+00:00","description":"Local businesses should learn the various ways Yelp reviews can help them and how to get a business on Yelp and be found by customers.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.advicelocal.com\/blog\/why-yelp-reviews-are-so-important-to-your-business\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.advicelocal.com\/blog\/why-yelp-reviews-are-so-important-to-your-business\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.advicelocal.com\/blog\/why-yelp-reviews-are-so-important-to-your-business\/#primaryimage","url":"","contentUrl":""},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.advicelocal.com\/blog\/why-yelp-reviews-are-so-important-to-your-business\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.advicelocal.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Why Yelp Reviews Are So Important to Your Business"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.advicelocal.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.advicelocal.com\/blog\/","name":"Advice Local","description":"Local Digital Marketing Software Solutions and Services","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.advicelocal.com\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.advicelocal.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.advicelocal.com\/blog\/#organization","name":"Advice Local","url":"https:\/\/www.advicelocal.com\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.advicelocal.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.advicelocal.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/logo.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.advicelocal.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/logo.png","width":265,"height":55,"caption":"Advice Local"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.advicelocal.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/advicelocallistings\/","https:\/\/x.com\/advice_local","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/advice_local"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.advicelocal.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/c2453c4dec14d2c78697faa0a54d4e47","name":"Justin Liles","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Justin Liles"},"url":"https:\/\/www.advicelocal.com\/blog\/author\/justin-liles\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.advicelocal.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1063","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.advicelocal.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.advicelocal.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.advicelocal.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.advicelocal.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1063"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.advicelocal.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1063\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.advicelocal.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1063"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.advicelocal.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1063"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.advicelocal.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1063"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}