Google reviews is a great marketing tool that allows businesses to collect reviews that show up next to your business profile in Google’s search results and maps. To use Google reviews, you must have a Google Merchant account.
How does Google Reviews Help SEO & Rankings?
Google Reviews can help improve search rankings and overall SEO efforts. Reviews are a strong signal of authority, authenticity and trustworthiness.
Reviews tell Google what your site is about
The more content that Google has to read, the more it will understand what your business is about. Reviews will give Google lots of fresh content and keywords to add to its understanding of your business and you will be more likely to appear in search results for relevant keyword queries.
Good reviews increase click through rates
People like and trust reviews. Out of a list of similar businesses, a user will be more likely to click on the website that has more reviews and higher star ratings than one that doesn’t have any. This is likely to indirectly affect SEO as one of the SEO ranking factors is click through rate. If more people are clicking on your site because of good reviews, then Google will give your site more authority and can boost your rankings.
Local SEO
Google reviews have a positive impact on Google’s local search. The more reviews and positive ratings a business has, the more likely Google will improve their business’s local search ranking. Local search results have greater visibility compared to standard search results, therefore it is important to use Google reviews to make sure your business is appearing when a user searches with your business’s location.
According to Moz, the review signals of quantity, velocity and diversity account for 15.44% of localised ranking factors.
Final Thoughts
Google reviews build trust and credibility with potential clients which is a vital part in influencing their decision making process.High quality reviews increase business exposure and therefore the chances of a user clicking through to your website. They are especially beneficial for local SEO, so don’t be shy to ask clients to leave a business review.
