As a marketing company we know the power of reviews to improve SEO, improve sales and build trust.   That said focus on creating a complete and robust profile and then develop a sales process that asks for client feedback/ reviews & pictures.  You also need to respond back to every review.   It is a waste of money to advertise on yelp unless you have built a good reputation and profile first.   

I enjoy Yelp, and I have become a member of the Yelp Elite. I always try to write meaningful reviews. Very few of my reviews are negative, but if/when I feel a business needs to be called out, I do it. Mostly, my aim is to boost businesses everywhere, and to be positive in that endeavor. I find about 6,000-7,000 visit my reviews and photos per month, and I do review businesses when I am traveling out of town (I am based in Central Texas). As many people do consult Yelp while traveling, I feel businesses can hardly ignore Yelp today. Yes, sometimes people leave negative notes, but responding to those thoughtfully can be effective for a business and its reputation. I have also put a review on Yelp for a business (on their behalf), one not listed on the platform yet, and given it a glowing review to help jumpstart their presence on Yelp.

If you're looking for an amazing Trust and Estates Attorney, I highly recommend Stephen Weiner.

Stephen gave me helpful advice concerning the probate of an estate and how a trust would be administered. He was timely in responding to me. He listened carefully and patiently, asked good questions, and made suggestions that made sense. He is highly knowledgeable and I would not hesitate to recommend him. Stephen practices in New York State, so if you need help with estate planning in New York, he's your man.

I was roped into a Yelp Advertising plan which was supposedly going to get me tons of new dog walking clients. I notified my clients that I created a profile and they collectively wrote about 17 reviews. All 5-star.  Despite carefully selecting my service area, all my leads were from out of state. After wasting hundreds of dollars that I didn't have, I terminated my ad campaign. Suddenly ALL of my 5-star reviews disappeared. Yelp left me with one measly review. That's extortion. I gave up. I was called over and over again  by their sales team, and each time I told them I refuse to do business with a company who uses extortion. They actually notified me that Yelp does not use extortion and that I could find more details at yelp.com/extortion    ...... I'm no marketing expert, but if you need to have a section of your website dedicated to combatting regular extortion allegations, there's something wrong with your business model...

I had a previous bad experience with unexpected charges and
canceled, paid the charges (I figured I must have made an error that
resulted in them). Along comes this new rep that apologizes that the
previous rep had set up my campaign wrong. He'd fix that and give me a $300 credit. I was VERY clear that I wouldn't try them again unless there would be NO charge. He promised to call me in a month before the credit was used up so I could decide whether to continue or not. Next thing I know, I'm getting billed. The person handling the billing NOW says that the rep told me the $300 was for "bonus ads", not a full credit. Says she listened to the recorded call and he never stated it was a credit or that I wouldn't be charged. Said I received a "welcome" email with the charges I would pay clearly listed. (Yes, but since I wasclear that I didn't want ts would be applied to the credit he offered.)
I asked for a copy of the recorded call and was told I couldn't have
one. Several attempts at reason later, the billing person is saying I
still owe the money.

Be careful when you receive credit for Free advertising. They will trick you and you will end up paying extra. Customer service is very sweet until they get your CC and they rip you off at the end. In my book they are just a bunch of slime thief. I also like to mention that they like to remove the reviews you received from your page. We all know how hard it is to get a good review and how important is to have a review. I will never use their services again. 

I personally do not like anything about Yelp.  It's another platform that allows people to have way too much control to 'rate' businesses without proving they were a true customer or client at all.  Small businesses often do not have the capability to wash over false negative reviews, and Yelp is unresponsive when you present them with information regarding a false review.