We’ve all seen these types of search results displayed on Google, those ones with the star ratings.
And one of the biggest mistakes a lot of younger SEO’s can do is disregard these parts of the search results page. Everything displayed in it is important. The Ads on top, the business listings as well as the star ratings on them.
One of the benefits of these Google reviews is that it greatly helps in Local SEO. While in reality, advertising and recommendations from other people still influences the choice of a searcher, they still will end up using the web to decide and make a purchase. Google has been pushing that mobile ease of access for a while now and we can all see it. It even makes it easier for a person to search for a business within that person’s area. And yes, the next level of element that influences the choices of a searcher is the reviews.
In any online purchase situation, we all always read about the reviews and ratings first before buying anything. It can be a cheap product but we still always end up on the review section. Besides checking out the product from the POV of other buyers, it’s also entertaining to read about the opinions of angry customers.
In a 2017 survey, online reviews –reviews in general, are the 5th most important factor in ranking. And it doesn’t seem to have changed since 2017. Because reviews like these that gets displayed on a specific regions still help in local rankings.
But exactly how do these reviews help in ranking?
There are quite a number of things that come together that makes this ball roll. Since we’re talking about local search, an optimized business listing is one of the first factors we’ll need to fix here. Businesses that rank high on local search already has an optimized business listing and that’s why we need to gain access to business listings. Of course though, if a business has no physical address, then we don’t have a choice. But if it has one, it’s one of the first things you’ll need to get the local ranking optimization work perfectly.
This, locally, gives you and your business relevance. Which is in general, one of the most important things in Google’s eyes. And when you’re “relevant” you rank well, and when you rank well, business will run well. If a searcher in your local area, searches for businesses related to yours, you can appear on top.
This then makes you more prominent on search. Imagine how a searcher would feel when they see a search result on the top portion of the page with a star rating? Yes this happens too on schema markup laced pages, but if you can include reviews on your Google business listings, it’ll be a better advantage.
The more the merrier.
Google reviews also can give you more benefits other than ranking. These can also help your searchers learn about new products and more info about them. Yes you can have a set of content already in your site for the product and services and their information, but if more people loved your products and services, it’ll be an added bonus for you. Like a heavenly domino effect of marketing you didn’t spend money on.
Once these online shoppers find your business, the star rating will give the most impact when it comes to click through rates. If you have a competitor that’s got the same style as you but you have significantly higher star ranting, you’ll be able to have more visits than them. It’s more logical, really. Clicking on a business that’s got higher ratings is, in the eyes of a buyer, a better place to spend money on. Why on earth would you spend your hard earned cash on a business that’s got a low rating?
Last and definitely not the least, once a person purchases from you or has visited you, they can leave a review. And all these reviews add up making you more credible. This cycle makes ranking and performing well in local search, work.
So the next time a visitor of yours ends up being a happy one, remind them to leave you a review and a good rating because it’s the small things that count.
