Can obtaining business reviews improve our businesses SEO?
Introduction
Most businesses now face fierce levels of competition online, so it’s more important than ever to have the edge.
This means businesses, and seo agencies alike are constantly racking their brains as to how to obtain better rankings.
It’s also no longer just a matter of getting a business onto the first page and then job done. That’s to say no digital marketing agency can rest for very long, the reason being is some websites are so good at generating sales, that the customer of that site may totally ignore the competition.
That’s to say for some businesses they make it a walk in the park for the customer to find what they want- so why would they consider anyone else?
So this is why its more important than ever that your website stands out, that’s while the visitor is deliberating over which website to click on.
A great way that you can standout is to have a ton of good customer reviews. Just like the brightest and tallest flower in the garden, you will get the most attention, the most clicks and hopefully the most sales.
So how do you become the best flower in whole garden, well have a read on, we shall tell you more.
The importance of business reviews
It used to be the case here in Britain that if we wanted to find a business, well we would get on the phone and ask friends and family for a recommendation.
Some of still do this, yet most of us now just get out our smartphone and have a look at which businesses we like the sound of.
So it should come as no surprise that in a recent survey found that “85% of consumers have as much confidence in online reviews as they do in personal recommendations”- https://www.brightlocal.com/learn/local-consumer-review-survey/
So there you have it, business reviews are important, and they are important for two reasons.
Number one, us seo’s know that loads of positive reviews can increase the CTR of a website, which means the click through rate. Meaning when a person is scanning over all the different websites, yours can standout more if it has positive reviews, which may well show as a star rating.
Number two positive reviews can help to generate trust, that’s to say a visitor may well like a few businesses, yet you may just clinch the deal if your website has a load of people singing its praises.
And actually there’s a third benefit as well, that is if your business has loads of genuine reviews, well Google will pick up on this, and the algorithm will use this information to work out where your business should be placed.
So positive business reviews can help to improve your local seo as well.
Where should a business be obtaining reviews to?
Well, we are glad that you asked as this is a common question that our seo company frequently get’s asked.
As an agency we always recommend to clients that they tell their customers to leave a review on the company’s Google My Business account.
So for example, if you have a happy customer that’s expressing how pleased they are with the overall level of service offered, why not ask them to leave you a review on the company’s Google My Business account.
Pasting a link to your Google My Business page also increases the chances of the customer leaving a review for you.
Is there anywhere else other than Google My Business that we should be obtaining reviews?
Quite simply put, every single positive review will help. The reason being is you have to place yourself in your customers shoes.
They know when their buying an item that is super easy to fake business reviews, yet on the other hand multiple websites that all have detailed reviews written by genuine customers, well this will give you the edge.
The businesses that do have fake reviews, well often a lot of customers can see straight through a fake review. Normally the author of the business review that is fake will go over the top singing the praises of the business, is a tell-tale sign.
Also if all your reviews are clumped together in just one place, well this may not look too genuine neither.
As you can imagine if you many happy customers, well they are going to leave positive reviews all over the place. So as such, if you have customers that are seeking your businesses advice, and asking where should we leave our business review? Well why not diversify, and ask your customers to leave reviews across multiple websites.
Take a look at this article, it recommends 22 websites where customers can leave a review.
How important are obtaining business reviews
We think very important, the reason being is that most seo agencies now think that business reviews are also a ranking signal. This means that business reviews are a factor that is weighed into the mix when working out how important your website is.
Yes, you guessed it, the website with the strongest “ranking signals” well that business will be ranked at the top.
Yet there are not just one or two ranking signals, there are hundreds. Business reviews are therefore just one element out of hundreds that are considered.
Will fake business reviews work?
No. It’s as plain and simple as that. We would never recommend writing fake business reviews, the reason being is Google’s algorithm will be able to spot a fake review, and this means that your business may no longer show up for the map listings.
For example, say you run a pet store, and your write a fake review, then your business may no longer show up for “pet stores near me” for example. So you could be losing out on business.
How should my business be obtaining business reviews?
We always recommend to clients that they ask customers when they know are very happy with the service the company has offered.
So when sending a company invoice for example, you may wish to write whether or not the customer is willing to also leave a business review.
Will obtaining business reviews greatly improve our local seo?
This depends, obtaining business reviews should only be considered as one part of the work that is needed to carried out in order to improve a business’s local seo.
This means there’s much more things that also need to be improved and optimised, such as the following:
· Optimise the businesses Google My Business account
· Build quality business citations
· Onsite seo
· Content marketing
· Offsite seo
How can our business obtain help with our local seo?
If you would like further seo advice, then why not give us a call?
