How Google Reviews Can Affect Your SEO
What people have to say about your business can really have an impact. Our resident internet guru Steve Hooper, gives us some tips on how Google reviews can affect your SEO.
Search engine optimization or SEO depends on more than your website content. Search engines are listening to customer input. Search engines are paying attention to what others say about your company.
Due to this, Google reviews tend to have a much bigger impact on search engine optimization.
One study found that, out of more than 30,000 online businesses, online reviews led to an increase of more than 2,000 organic page views per month over a nine-month period.
Do you want to learn how Google reviews impact your SEO rankings? If so, keep reading our analysis below!
SEO rankings depend on Google reviews
Today’s search engine relies much more on reviews than in days gone by. Google’s SEO rankings bring much more focus on users’ opinions and social media engagement than on the keywords or meta tags found on your website.
User-generated content and Google reviews give your company fresh content. You get plenty of backlinks to raise your SEO scores from user-generated content, and search engines will rank your website higher when they have access to newer content.
Reviews target SEO qualities organically
Without having to write your own content, your customers can do the work for you. Reviews work by providing many more internal links and backlinks as well as keywords for your site.
Basic SEO qualities depend on keywords, titles, internal links and backlinks. Instead of creating your own original content, you can promote positive reviews through social media sites. This will raise your SEO rankings.
Google reviews and organic search results build trust
According to a survey from BrightLocal, as many as 88 percent of online shoppers trust online reviews as much as a personal recommendation. These results show that buyers put their trust in online reviews.<< I would take that last sentence out
Research also shows that more people trust organic search results than Google banner ads or pay-per-click ads. This shows how Google’s SEO rankings and their organic search results can go hand-in-hand with online reviews.
Overall, there is no question that positive online reviews benefit businesses.
Online reviews impact consumer purchasing habits
Online reviews impact your SEO and click-through rates. Reviews will also make or break your sales numbers.
When someone starts looking at reviews, he or she has already determined what they need to buy. The shopper already knows what they want, and now they need to find a product or service that will provide a positive experience.
Nobody wants to buy something that will break down in a few months, and expecting someone to purchase from a company that has no demonstration of product quality is a big ask. In order to provide peace of mind, reviews are key for letting other shoppers know whether or not to trust a vendor.
The time it takes for a customer to make up their mind on whether or not to buy a product or service is very short. Vendors will need to keep their shoppers satisfied in order to get good reviews and more business.
The BrightLocal survey suggests that as many as 85 percent of online shoppers read reviews, a huge number. The data also shows that business owners will need to keep their online reputation strong in order to get high sales numbers – reviews gained over a longer period show a stronger brand, so start building them now.
Online reviews and SEO strategy goes hand-in-hand. Do you need more advice on how to boost your SEO rankings using reviews?
