Do Online Reviews Really Impact SEO?
The short answer is, YES! Reviews will not only impact your business by reflecting what others’ opinions are, but Google and other search engines use them as a ranking factor in search results. Why? Because Google wants to give people the best results for their queries and is constantly looking for ways to do just that. They factor in User Generated Content in their SEO algorithms, and user reviews fall into that category.
5 Reasons Reviews Boost SEO
Customer reviews can affect SEO in a number of ways. Here are five important reasons they can boost your SEO.
1. Consumers Love Online Reviews.
Reviews inspire trust, in that customers care enough to write about your product or service. And if you monitor them regularly, it shows that you care what people are saying and strive to maintain the high quality and excellence they’re looking for. Reviews generate conversation between you and customers, as well as among other customers. That’s huge to the search engines because they want to provide the most accurate information to people searching online to assist them in their purchase decisions.
2. Reviews Provide Fresh Content.
Content is king, and the fresher, the better. Publishing blogs, posting on social media, offering e-books—these are all great ways to offer content that helps your SEO. Customer reviews also provide content that the search engines factor into your rankings. They show that your business is active.
3. Reviews Are Natural Link Builders.
Customers work as an army of link builders and keyword writers by writing reviews. SEO strategies consist of keywords, titles, backlinks and internal links. Customer comments will reflect how they are phrasing concerns, which can then be integrated as keywords for increasing your SEO.
4. Reviews Can Boost Social SEO.
Social SEO is a critical element of your overall SEO strategy. User reviews are often incorporated in social media accounts in the form of shares, likes or comments. The will be linked to your website and brand, as well as generate discussion about your business.
5. Reviews Can Help Both Automated and Manual SEO.
Search engines use automated algorithms when crawling the web for customer input, like reviews and testimonials. The more reviews that are out there, the better your ranking. There are also human teams that will manually evaluate websites for authority and trust; and customer reviews help provide that legitimacy and build SEO.
How to Solicit Reviews from Your Customers
Now that you are hopefully convinced that reviews are an important piece of your overall SEO marketing strategy, you’ll need to do more to build more positive reviews. Here are some tips for doing just that (you can read a full blog post on getting a killer testimonial here):
- Ask! Include a request for a customer review as part of the sales process. Add a link to it on your sales receipts, a follow-up email, thank-you note, etc.
- Teach Them How. Many customers don’t realize how important their opinions are and may not go to the trouble to find out how to leave a review. Create a brief how-to guide to leaving a review.
- Automate the Process. There are tools that can be used for automatically requesting reviews. This can save some time over the manual process, but is more impersonal than a phone call, email or other communication directly from your business.
- Offer Incentives. Give customers a “gift” as a reward for submitting a review. A coupon or discount can nudge the customer to give a review, but be careful–it can’t be restricted to only positive reviews.
- Be Responsive. Make sure you monitor your reviews and comments regularly. If you receive a negative review, take action quickly to manage the effects of it. Thank the customers providing positive reviews.
- Include Review Links in E-mail. Adding a review link to your email signature is a great way to solicit reviews. If you use regular email campaigns, that could potentially generate a lot of feedback.
Las Vegas SEO for Growth Can Help You Maximize Your Online Reputation
Your online reputation matters to both search engines and customers, both current and prospective. Let us help you build the trust and secure your spot in the search results. Contact us today to learn more!