Should I Advertise on Yelp? | Marketing Q&A

I get this question a lot—usually right after someone gets a call or email from Yelp’s sales team. They are relentless (which they should be, that’s their job.)

They make it sound like a smart, affordable move for getting more local leads. Of course, that’s also their job.

But before you sign up, let’s break it down.

None of my clients have been happy with Yelp ads.

Let’s start with the part they don’t tell you upfront. To get the full benefit of Yelp’s ad platform, you’re nudged (heavily) into upgrading to a “Business Page Upgrade” first. 

That page upgrade runs around $200/month—and no, they won’t tell you the exact price until you start the process (but in general Yelp’s documentation says it starts at $12/day).

Technically, you can run ads without this Yelp page upgrade, but most of the features you’d want when you’re running ads—like removing competitor ads from your profile—require that upgrade.

Then comes the ad spend itself. They require a minimum of $5/day to even begin. (Some of my clients target only certain days of the month on Google, which makes their daily spend less than that since some days are zero).

Yelp ads typically don’t even start to get traction unless you’re spending at least $12–15/day. That’s another $350–$450/month just to run ads that might not convert (always the risk).

And here’s the real kicker: even with all that spend, Yelp may not be where your ideal clients are looking first. Think about what you search Yelp for … restaurants? Even then, Yelp may not be the most effective spot to advertise.

The only time it might make sense to advertise on Yelp is when Yelp is already the first organic result when search for your industry in your city. For my clients, this isn’t the case.

That’s a big deal—because unless people are actively searching within Yelp (which fewer and fewer are doing), your return on investment drops dramatically.

For clients who already rank well on Yelp organically, and are in an industry where Yelp still dominates local searches (like restaurants in some cities), it might be worth testing.

But for most of my clients? It’s not the best use of budget.

You’re better off investing that $500–$700/month into strategies that actually scale with your business: content that builds authority, SEO that boosts visibility across platforms, and ads where you can control the funnel and follow up with leads directly.

Seriously, for that kind of monthly spend, we can build you a custom package that covers content, SEO, and ads—and actually puts them to work for lead generation.

Because let’s be honest: the best marketing isn’t built on pushy cold calls (*cough* Yelp *cough*)—it’s built on results.

-Vicky