Google Reviews & Ratings can benefit your SEO

You probably don’t need me to tell you the importance of a well-thought-out SEO strategy to thrive in today’s online marketplace. With Google’s direct answers, featured snippets, and suggested video content to contend with, it is more imperative than ever to do everything in your power to implement an effective strategy and keep up with the changing business landscape.

Well, travel videos for your burger company might be off the menu, but there is one crucial thing that isn’t – Google reviews & ratings. Here are ways your SEO strategy can benefit from having many reviews and ratings.

Client feedback = more relevant keywords.

Instead of seeing customer reviews as pieces of feedback, think of them as content because that’s how Google perceives them. Once a client leaves your business or product a review, google gets new content to crawl and index. Be it a positive or negative review, it’s likely to contain search terms relevant to your product, services, location, or brand. This helps Google get a clear picture of what you do, allowing you to better position your brand in the search engine results pages (SERPs).

Eventually, your brand begins to get higher rankings for specific keywords, thanks to the keywords mentioned in the customer reviews and higher CTR due to a more relevant user intent match.

Get the edge on your direct competition.

While your direct competitors focus their SEO efforts on website coding, navigation, and search phrases, tap into Google reviews, and you have a better chance to stay ahead of them. This doesn’t mean these aspects of SEO aren’t necessary, but paying attention to reviews and ratings is an added advantage.

Indeed, collecting authentic customer reviews and installing the right rich snippets on your website will transform your brand’s listings in the search engine results pages. They will appear as Rich Results listings. That means the customer reviews you have collected will be seen as a golden start below your listing.

Consumers love a splash of golden stars. This is why these luxurious-looking icons will grab the attention of potential clients and draw them to your brand. But they will do more than just make your brand stand out – though it is easy to challenge claims made by a marketer, it is incredibly difficult to discredit reviews and ratings awarded by actual consumers.

So, more positive reviews equal more brand trust, which could lead to a higher CTR compared to your competitors. But what does this mean for your SEO? A higher CTR is among Google’s ranking factors. If more people visit your website, you are likely to be perceived as popular by Google. Since this giant search engine likes to offer its users the best possible experience, it is likely to bump up your website’s ranking due to the increased traffic.

Google trusts consumer feedback (reviews & ratings)

Throughout the last decade or more of search engine optimization, one aspect has remained a constant: the crucial role of high-quality links. Well, it’s not links I am talking about here, the basic concept is the same when understanding the role of positive reviews and ratings.

Google algorithm is clever and understands reviews just as potential clients do. Positive reviews and higher ratings signify to Google that your brand, website, products, or services is of high quality and valuable. It is no coincidence that Google often displays businesses with more quality reviews and higher ratings first. In fact, it all comes back to Google’s intention to offer searchers the best possible experience.

Responding to Google review boosts engagements.

Google is often ambiguous when it comes to letting you know the specific ranking factors it uses. But of late, it has publicly encouraged the collection of customer reviews and responding to those pieces of feedback. Indeed, the Google My Business support page encourages you to “interact with your customer by responding to their reviews about your brand or products &services.”

Responding to customer reviews serves several SEO benefits in different. For instance, it gives Google more content (and keywords) to crawl, and you will be seen interacting with your clients, which sends a signal of a regularly updated website. Responding to customer reviews successfully gives you the chance to address negative reviews and probably encourage the client to change their review without being pushy. This will help improve your positioning and improve your CTR – this is one of Google’s necessary ranking signals.

Authentic customer reviews affect bounce rate.

SEO specialists and webmasters already know that bounce rate is one of the top killers of SEO rankings. What if I tell you that 105 percent of website visitors are likely to purchase on your website if it has positive reviews? Generally, reviews improve brand trust and customer knowledge. That means potential customers are likely to spend more time on your website and get convinced to convert. And the result is a low bounce rate and a higher rank on Google.

Reviews complement your local SEO efforts.

It is beyond doubt that customer reviews and ratings impact your business SEO. But for local rankings, reviews become even more crucial. This is majorly to do with the overall layout of local business reviews. They contain less information compared to standard listings with a Meta description. However, customer reviews become an essential indication of quality for potential clients and help distinguish yourself from the competition.

A recent survey revealed that 48 percent of people often visit a company’s site after reading a positive customer review. That means you are likely to see a significant change in traffic (an important ranking factor) if you are getting many positive reviews from customers.

Wrap up

SEO is an ever-evolving process, and you cannot afford to implement a “stationary” SEO strategy. Google reviews and ratings are essential if you intend to stay a step ahead of the competition. Whether you offer products, services, or both, positive reviews will influence how your target audience will interact with your website and listing. Contact Emagine to learn more about how we can help you tap into reviews and ratings to boost your ranking in SERPs.