The answer is that critics are very important for local SEO.
There is no doubt that exams can be extremely beneficial for businesses of all kinds. Most consumers seek advice when looking for a product or service provider in their area. More than 90% of consumers read reviews online and almost as many view them when they make a purchase decision.
You may have heard of a link between reviews and a search engine ranking of local businesses. But do critics really make a difference? How good are they?
Do reviews make a difference to SEO?
Google is looking for things that indicate trust in a business. The biggest indicator of trust is a link from a website to yours. It is a vote of confidence that your company provides some kind of value and is trustworthy in one way or another.
You can only get a lot more of a vote of confidence than a positive review from a client. Of course, it must be checked in one way or another. Anyone can make criticism for himself (and they do it).
In the case of local SEO, studies have been made to make a difference, both for organic lists and Google maps . They are not as valuable as backlinks, but they still play an important role, and the added benefits of a better reputation make the evaluation an exercise that is well worth it.
How important are opinions to local businesses?
Many studies have examined the value of revisions in relation to local referencing. One of the most important and well-known studies of Moz estimates that journals represent between 7% -13% of all ranking factors (in 2017):
- 7% for organic lists
- 13% for local pack lists
It is important to note that these numbers come and go. Google could put more weight on the critics. However, trends have shown that the importance of exams has decreased slightly. This is mainly for the fact that Google favors businesses with a varied online marketing footprint.
The general trend is that critics really make the difference but they will not lead you to the front row alone. In fact, there are many companies with more criticism than their competitors, but they do not rank in the top 3.
Depending on the competitiveness of your market, some opinions might push your list to several places, if not to the top 3. There are also cases where a company with 10, 20 or more critics does not appear at the top . Probably because they did not focus on the other key areas of local SEO. It is important to remember that critics account for a small proportion of all the factors that affect the ranking of a website. Yet this does not mean that critics can not tell the difference.
Given the choice, almost all consumers would choose a business with 5 stars rather than one with none. If nothing else having a rating of 5 * will make your business more favorable on your competitors with less positive ratings.
Comments are not always positive
Sometimes people are more likely to write a comment on a negative than positive experience. They want to be heard and have more incentive to do so.
While positive reviews can make a positive difference to rankings, negative reviews can do the opposite. Just like the positive reviews, the impact of negative reviews is not the most important factor in local SEO, but it is one of many. Factors that may negatively affect the ranking include:
- Lowest on Google / Third Party Websites
- Negative comments in Google / third-party reviews
- Receiving too many comments too quickly
If you have negative reviews, you should take steps, not only for SEO, but for your reputation.
Google reviews are not only one of the first things that people see when they search for keywords in your business or service, but also third-party sites. If you have a rating of 1 or 2 stars on Yelp for example, it could appear in your Google listing when searching for your name.
We can not always stop negative reviews in the first place, but we can try to fix them once the comments have been left. If you are unable to solve the problems with the client who left the review, you can at least answer yourself to give your version of the story.
If you can not get them to change their rating, the best thing to do is to try to bury it with higher notes. If you do not have a revision strategy in place, this is the right time to start thinking about it.
Increasing the Chances of a Boost SEO Critics
Because everyone can comment, Google tends to prefer larger, more established review sites. Although this does not mean that false reviews can not make their way despite this.
If you want to get advice from your customers as part of your SEO strategy, it's best to focus on larger review sites such as Yelp, Facebook, TripAdvisor, etc.
It is good to post notices on your website, but having an evaluation form on your website will not be as credible as a notice of an opinion. external website, at least not to Google.
As a local business, the best place to ask customers to leave a comment is on Google. To do this, you need to have a Google My Business listing. It is also useful to have opinions on other platforms.
Of the best:
- Yelp
- Yellow Pages
- Yahoo Local
- Search Cities
- InsiderPages
- Foursquare
- Opentable (restaurants)
- TripAdvisor Photos
What to do to get more reviews
If asked, most consumers will leave a review for a local business. It is to be proactive. Here are some things that can be done to make it easier and increase the likelihood of getting a revision.
- Giving customers a review card with instructions on how to leave a review
- Give them a revision document for Google with very clear instructions
- Give them an opinion on Facebook and Yelp
- Sending an e-mail with a direct link to the evaluation platform you are using
- Send an SMS with a link to the notification form
- Train staff and offer incentives to get more opinion
- Putting documents or cards with customer invoices or after completing a job or a sale
These strategies will work, or will not work, depending on the effort deployed by the companies to encourage a review of a happy customer. Business owners have no problem asking for a sale. Requesting an opinion is just as easy.
There is more and more gossip in the SEO industry about the importance of journals, when one takes the time to seek advice, and efforts to put in place a review strategy it's obvious.
Reviews should be part of the local business SEO strategy. More and more, Google is relying on various factors to rank local businesses. Google wants to see evidence of a well-rounded online brand. To achieve this, you need to focus not only on one area, but on a range of factors, including criticism.