Can Reviews Affect Your SEO Rankings?

By
Daniel Morel
-
144
52

You already know that local SEO is the name of the game. It’s essential to send Google signals – through keyword use and other SEO techniques – that your business is local, as well as it who it serves and where it is.

What you might not know is this:

Your online reviews play a direct role in your business making the cut to appear in the Google local three-pack.

In case you don’t know, that’s the collection of businesses that appear at the top of Google’s SERP when someone searches a keyword. It turns out that one of the keys to landing a coveted spot in the three-pack is getting good reviews. Here’s what you need to know.

The Proof That Reviews Matter

How can we tell that reviews make a difference in SEO? Google’s algorithm is proprietary and the known ranking factors (keywords, links, and Google Rankbrain, to name a few) don’t include reviews.

Local SEO experts have been saying this for a years, but it’s actually fairly easy to see that reviews are important. Google any local business category and you will get a list of results with a three-pack at the top. When you look at the businesses that made it into the three-pack, you’ll most likely see the following:

  • Star ratings pulled directly from online reviews of the business
  • Keywords in those reviews

For example, if you searched for the keyword “Spokane hair salon,” you would see reviews that related to that keyword. That’s all the proof we need to know that reviews make a difference in determining which businesses appear at the top of the SERP.

It’s also worth noting that the Local SEO Guide found that local reviews were the second most influential factor in determining search rank in their 2017 Local SEO Ranking Factors study. The influence in this study did appear to be limited to reviews that specifically included the keyword searched, but customers are likely to use the most commonly searched terms naturally.

In addition, LSI keywords that are related to the search term may also play a role. Try Googling your top keyword and looking at what’s highlighted in the reviews in the three-pack. You may notice that reviews that use semantically-related words show up even if they don’t use the precise term you searched.

The Reasons Google Likes Reviews for SEO

There are some concrete reasons that Google thinks reviews matter. They’re directly related to the ways that Google’s algorithm has evolved. In the early days of the internet, it was possible to get a page to rank highly on any search engine by simply stuffing it with keywords.

That changed because it omitted any concern for the experience of a user who clicked through to a site. After all, if you could click on a site because it ranked for a keyword only to find that it was useless to your needs, you wouldn’t revisit it – and you might resent the search engine that directed you to it in the first place.

With that in mind, here are the top three reasons that Google likes reviews for SEO.

  1. It trusts outside sources more than it trusts you (at least when it comes to the relevance of your site.) This first reason is related to the ongoing importance that Google places on authority backlinks. It stands to reason that it would accept mentions and references from other sources as proof that your site is relevant to certain keywords and topics.
  2. Google uses written content as a way of determining authenticity. When customers write reviews, they describe your business. They may even include information that’s not on your website. Even if you don’t list reviews on your site, these things can help flesh out the information on your site and give Google more context for its interpretation of your site.
  3. Click-through rates also influence Google’s ranking algorithm. That might seem obvious, but what you need to know is that a business with lots of good reviews is, inevitably, going to get more clicks and traffic than a business with a few mediocre reviews. It’s in your best interest to encourage reviews if you want to boost your Google rank.

These three things explain why reviews matter to Google. The key takeaways here is that Google takes outside resources into account to help it determine the authenticity and usefulness of your website. Users “vote” for your site by writing reviews and describing your site. Just as web users trust peer reviews to help them make buying decisions, Google trusts them to help it make recommendations of which sites are most likely to be useful for the keyword searched.

How to Make the Most of Your Reviews

Here are some quick tips to help you make the most of your reviews:

  1. Claim your listings on all relevant review sites. This includes Yelp and Google My Business, as well as local review sites. You want to make sure that you use keywords in your listing, link to your site, and include relevant information that will help people find you.
  2. Link to your review pages directly from your website so customers can leave reviews if they want to.
  3. Put a reminder about reviews on your receipts or comment cards. Remember that dissatisfied customers are often motivated to leave reviews, but happy customers will do so if you make it easy for them.
  4. Send a note to your email list with a link to your review sites and ask them to leave a review.
  5. Reply promptly to negative reviews to try to resolve them and get the reviewer to update their review.

These things will help you dial up the impact of your reviews and help you get into the coveted local three-pack for your most important keywords.

Reviews matter…

You know that, and now you can do something about it. Organic traffic is increasingly difficult to come by but encouraging and highlighting your reviews can help you get the biggest possible bang for your marketing bucks.

Get More 5 Star Reviews for FREE – Visit https://dojorep.com to learn more.

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR

144 COMMENTS

  1. There are some attention-grabbing cut-off dates in this article however I don’t know if I see all of them heart to heart. There may be some validity however I will take maintain opinion until I look into it further. Good article , thanks and we would like extra! Added to FeedBurner as well

  2. Today, I went to the beach front with my children. I found a sea shell and gave it to my 4 year old daughter and said “You can hear the ocean if you put this to your ear.” She put the shell to her ear and screamed. There was a hermit crab inside and it pinched her ear. She never wants to go back! LoL I know this is totally off topic but I had to tell someone!

  3. I really like your blog.. very nice colors & theme. Did you design this website yourself or did you hire someone to do it for you? Plz answer back as I’m looking to construct my own blog and would like to know where u got this from. many thanks

  9. Throughout the awesome pattern of things you get a B+ with regard to effort. Where you actually misplaced me personally was first on all the details. As as the maxim goes, details make or break the argument.. And it couldn’t be more accurate at this point. Having said that, allow me inform you what exactly did do the job. Your authoring is highly engaging and that is most likely the reason why I am taking the effort in order to comment. I do not make it a regular habit of doing that. Second, whilst I can certainly see a leaps in reason you come up with, I am not certain of just how you appear to connect the points which in turn make the actual conclusion. For right now I will, no doubt yield to your position however hope in the near future you actually link your facts much better.

  11. Hiya! I know this is kinda off topic but I’d figured I’d ask. Would you be interested in exchanging links or maybe guest authoring a blog post or vice-versa? My website goes over a lot of the same topics as yours and I think we could greatly benefit from each other. If you’re interested feel free to send me an e-mail. I look forward to hearing from you! Superb blog by the way!

  15. There are some interesting points in time on this article however I don’t know if I see all of them middle to heart. There may be some validity but I will take maintain opinion till I look into it further. Good article , thanks and we would like more! Added to FeedBurner as effectively

  18. Hiya, I am really glad I’ve found this info. Today bloggers publish just about gossips and net and this is actually irritating. A good blog with exciting content, that is what I need. Thank you for keeping this web-site, I will be visiting it. Do you do newsletters? Can’t find it.

  20. I’ve been surfing online greater than three hours as of late, yet I by no means found any fascinating article like yours. It is beautiful price enough for me. In my view, if all web owners and bloggers made just right content as you probably did, the web can be much more useful than ever before.

  22. There are some fascinating points in time in this article but I don’t know if I see all of them center to heart. There may be some validity but I will take maintain opinion until I look into it further. Good article , thanks and we would like extra! Added to FeedBurner as well

  24. Thank you, I’ve just been searching for info about this topic for ages and yours is the best I have discovered till now. But, what about the bottom line? Are you sure about the source?

  28. Thank you for sharing excellent informations. Your web-site is very cool. I am impressed by the details that you have on this site. It reveals how nicely you perceive this subject. Bookmarked this website page, will come back for extra articles. You, my friend, ROCK! I found just the info I already searched everywhere and simply couldn’t come across. What a great web site.

  30. Admiring the commitment you put into your site and detailed information you offer. It’s good to come across a blog every once in a while that isn’t the same outdated rehashed information. Great read! I’ve bookmarked your site and I’m including your RSS feeds to my Google account.

  31. Excellent beat ! I would like to apprentice while you amend your web site, how could i subscribe for a blog web site? The account helped me a acceptable deal. I had been tiny bit acquainted of this your broadcast offered bright clear idea

  33. Greetings from Los angeles! I’m bored to tears at work so I decided to browse your website on my iphone during lunch break. I enjoy the knowledge you provide here and can’t wait to take a look when I get home. I’m surprised at how quick your blog loaded on my phone .. I’m not even using WIFI, just 3G .. Anyhow, wonderful site!

  34. I loved as much as you’ll receive carried out right here. The sketch is attractive, your authored material stylish. nonetheless, you command get got an impatience over that you wish be delivering the following. unwell unquestionably come more formerly again since exactly the same nearly very often inside case you shield this increase.

  35. Hiya, I’m really glad I have found this information. Nowadays bloggers publish just about gossips and web and this is actually annoying. A good site with exciting content, that is what I need. Thanks for keeping this web site, I will be visiting it. Do you do newsletters? Can’t find it.

  38. I discovered your weblog website on google and verify a number of of your early posts. Continue to maintain up the excellent operate. I just extra up your RSS feed to my MSN Information Reader. In search of ahead to studying more from you in a while!…

  39. Thanks for the sensible critique. Me and my neighbor were just preparing to do a little research about this. We got a grab a book from our local library but I think I learned more clear from this post. I am very glad to see such fantastic info being shared freely out there.

  42. Hello, Neat post. There is a problem along with your web site in web explorer, may check this… IE nonetheless is the market leader and a big component to people will omit your fantastic writing because of this problem.

  47. I’ve been surfing online more than 4 hours today, yet I never found any interesting article like yours. It’s pretty worth enough for me. In my view, if all webmasters and bloggers made good content as you did, the net will be much more useful than ever before.

  64. We are a group of volunteers and starting a new scheme in our community. Your web site provided us with valuable information to work on. You’ve done an impressive job and our entire community will be grateful to you.

  68. I needed to put you that very small observation to help give thanks again for all the pleasing secrets you’ve documented at this time. It has been really pretty open-handed with you to allow extensively what exactly a lot of people might have marketed as an ebook to end up making some profit on their own, most importantly considering the fact that you could have tried it if you ever considered necessary. The guidelines likewise served to provide a easy way to understand that other people have a similar dream like my personal own to learn way more in terms of this issue. Certainly there are a lot more pleasurable times up front for many who read through your website.

  74. I just wanted to type a quick remark so as to say thanks to you for these amazing hints you are giving on this website. My incredibly long internet investigation has at the end been recognized with wonderful know-how to talk about with my contacts. I ‘d declare that we site visitors actually are truly blessed to be in a magnificent network with very many outstanding people with interesting opinions. I feel truly lucky to have encountered your website and look forward to tons of more enjoyable times reading here. Thank you once more for all the details.

  78. Youre so cool! I dont suppose Ive read something like this before. So good to seek out someone with some unique ideas on this subject. realy thanks for starting this up. this web site is something that’s wanted on the net, someone with a bit of originality. useful job for bringing something new to the internet!

  85. Hmm is anyone else experiencing problems with the images on this blog loading? I’m trying to figure out if its a problem on my end or if it’s the blog. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

  86. Do you mind if I quote a couple of your articles as long as I provide credit and sources back to your weblog? My blog site is in the exact same area of interest as yours and my users would certainly benefit from a lot of the information you provide here. Please let me know if this ok with you. Many thanks!

  89. With havin so much content do you ever run into any issues of plagorism or copyright infringement? My blog has a lot of exclusive content I’ve either authored myself or outsourced but it seems a lot of it is popping it up all over the web without my authorization. Do you know any solutions to help prevent content from being stolen? I’d definitely appreciate it.

  95. When I initially commented I clicked the “Notify me when new comments are added” checkbox and now each time a comment is added I get several e-mails with the same comment. Is there any way you can remove me from that service? Appreciate it!

  96. Can I simply say what a relief to search out somebody who actually is aware of what theyre talking about on the internet. You definitely know how you can deliver a difficulty to mild and make it important. Extra people need to learn this and perceive this side of the story. I cant imagine youre no more standard since you positively have the gift.

  99. Hey! Quick question that’s entirely off topic. Do you know how to make your site mobile friendly? My web site looks weird when browsing from my iphone. I’m trying to find a theme or plugin that might be able to correct this problem. If you have any recommendations, please share. Appreciate it!

  101. Wonderful blog! I found it while browsing oon Yahoo News.Do you have any suggestions onn how too get listed in Yahoo News?I’ve bren trying for a while but I never seem toget there! Many thanks

  104. The other day, while I was at work, my sister stole my iphone and tested to see if it can survive a twenty five foot drop, just so she can be a youtube sensation. My apple ipad is now broken and she has 83 views. I know this is completely off topic but I had to share it with someone!

  109. I’m impressed, I have to admit. Genuinely rarely should i encounter a weblog that’s both educative and entertaining, and let me tell you, you may have hit the nail about the head. Your idea is outstanding; the problem is an element that insufficient persons are speaking intelligently about. I am delighted we came across this during my look for something with this.

  110. Hello! Quick question that’s entirely off topic. Do you know how to make your site mobile friendly? My site looks weird when viewing from my iphone 4. I’m trying to find a template or plugin that might be able to fix this issue. If you have any suggestions, please share. Cheers!

  113. Thank you for the sensible critique. Me and my neighbor were just preparing to do some research on this. We got a grab a book from our area library but I think I learned more from this post. I am very glad to see such fantastic information being shared freely out there.

  114. Attractive section of content. I just stumbled upon your site and in accession capital to assert that I get actually enjoyed account your blog posts. Any way I’ll be subscribing to your feeds and even I achievement you access consistently quickly.

  120. That is really attention-grabbing, You’re an excessively professional blogger. I’ve joined your feed and look forward to in search of extra of your fantastic post. Additionally, I have shared your web site in my social networks!

  123. I’m really enjoying the design and layout of your website. It’s a very easy on the eyes which makes it much more pleasant for me to come here and visit more often. Did you hire out a developer to create your theme? Excellent work!

  127. lckgsxi New Yeezy,Are you searching for top class Escort service in Noida and want to enjoy with them, hire sexy girls from top Greater Noida escort service and enjoy full night.

  132. Howdy! I could have sworn I’ve been to this site before but after browsing through some of the posts I realized it’s new to me.
    Anyhow, I’m definitely pleased I came across it and I’ll be bookmarking
    it and checking back frequently!

  133. We are a group of volunteers and opening a new scheme in our
    community. Your website provided us with valuable information to work on. You have done an impressive job and our
    entire community will be thankful to you.

  135. Hey there would you mind letting me know which web host you’re utilizing?
    I’ve loaded your blog in 3 completely different browsers and I must say this blog loads a lot quicker then most.

    Can you recommend a good web hosting provider at a reasonable price?
    Thanks, I appreciate it!

  136. You actually make it appear really easy along with your presentation but I find this
    topic to be actually one thing which I believe I’d never understand.
    It seems too complicated and very broad for me. I am looking forward in your subsequent put up, I will attempt to get the dangle of it!

  137. Somebody necessarily assist to make seriously articles I’d state.
    This is the first time I frequented your website page
    and up to now? I amazed with the analysis you made to make this actual publish
    amazing. Great activity!

  138. A different issue is that video gaming has become one of the all-time main forms of recreation for people spanning various ages. Kids play video games, and adults do, too. The particular XBox 360 has become the favorite gaming systems for folks who love to have a lot of games available to them, plus who like to experiment with live with other folks all over the world. Thanks for sharing your ideas.

  140. After I initially left a comment I appear to have clicked on the -Notify me
    when new comments are added- checkbox and now every time a comment is added
    I get four emails with the exact same comment. Perhaps there is a means you are able to remove me
    from that service? Thanks!

  141. I’ve been exploring for a bit for any high-quality articles or blog posts in this sort of space
    . Exploring in Yahoo I finally stumbled upon this site.

    Reading this information So i am happy to show that I’ve an incredibly excellent uncanny feeling I
    discovered exactly what I needed. I such a lot without a doubt will make certain to do not overlook this website and provides it a glance regularly.

LEAVE A REPLY