Including customer reviews on your website improves your site’s search engine optimization (SEO) and shows you are trustworthy to potential clients. Business owners often ask, does responding to reviews help SEO? The answer is yes! Google has, on numerous occasions, confirmed that responding to customer reviews promptly results in your website being ranked as more reliable and relevant by Google’s search algorithm.
Another common question is, can I use Yelp reviews on my website? The answer again is yes, reviews are the foundation of reputation marketing. However, you must adhere to certain conditions in order to do so, which we will discuss below.
Are Yelp Reviews Important?
Yelp reviews have a major impact. They can drive more potential customers to your business as well as help you understand the areas you need to improve. Nearly 50 percent of customers today will check Yelp reviews before they make a purchase. Recent studies by Yelp have shown that every new star rating you receive can increase your revenue by up to 9 percent.
If your business’s star rating moves from 3 to 5 on Yelp, it will get at least 25 percent more clicks from Google’s search results. A 5-star rating will earn you 39 percent more clicks on average. These statistics show how important Yelp reviews are to your business. And you can benefit from reviews even more by including them on your site. Tools, like a reviews widget, can help you collect reviews to add to your site and increase clicks.
How to Embed Yelp Reviews on Your Site
Before embedding Yelp reviews on your website, it is key that you identify where to put reviews on your site for maximum impact. There are many places on your website where you can highlight reviews: the homepage, contact page, sidebar, blog posts, etc. It is best to choose the page that receives the largest number of visitors. This way, you can expect the reviews to have the maximum effect on your website and business. Once you’ve identified where the reviews will go, follow this guide to embed them on your site.
Find Reviews On Yelp
There are currently millions of reviews on the main Yelp site. You’ll need time to identify and filter your reviews. Fortunately, Yelp has updated its site to allow you to find specific reviews quickly. Previously, you had to scroll through countless reviews in hope of finding the one you are looking for. With the latest update, you need only type the name of your business or a phrase associated with your business into the search bar to get the top reviews that contain the key words.
Click Embed
Once you find the review you are looking for, hover over it to see the review options. Several options will appear, including ‘Embed Review.’ Click here to start the embedding process.
Copy and Paste
After you’ve clicked ‘Embed Review,’ highlight and copy the embedding code. Then, paste the code into your site where you want the review to go.
This simple process will spare you the hassle of posting screenshots of your Yelp reviews or copy-pasting the reviews in their text form into your site. Embedding means that the reviews will automatically appear on your site in their natural form. Keep in mind the fact that you can only get the ‘Embed Review’ option when you view a business page directly on Yelp.com. The Yelp app, Yelp for Business Website, and Yelp for Business App don’t have this option.
Conditions for Using Yelp Reviews on Your Website
While Yelp allows you to use its reviews on your website, there are a few important conditions to keep in mind. First, you must ask reviewers for permission to use their reviews on your site. You can reach out to them via private message on Yelp using your Business Account. Second, you should use the reviews as verbatim quotes without quoting them out of context. Therefore, if a review has colorful language that you aren’t comfortable with, choose another one instead of trying to edit it.
Attribute reviews to Yelp using the official Yelp logo. Never alter the Yelp logo or imply that Yelp or the reviewers are associated with your business. Don’t forget to attribute each review to its reviewer as well and include the date it was written. Additionally, don’t alter star ratings. Because star ratings can change over time, be sure to include the date each rating was made.
Yelp is a popular platform for consumer reviews that you can use to push your website forward. Embedding Yelp reviews on your site is a great way to build social proof and grow your business.
