Reviews & Its Role in Local SEO

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Online reviews are one of the most important factors that can help in gaining higher search engine rankings for your local business. Any website can perform well by improving their local rankings if they have authentic online reviews.
As per a study conducted by Brightlocal, positive online reviews can influence potential customers.
You would need to focus on good user reviews. If you want your local business to gain a prominent position in the search engine ranking pages, then it’s crucial. It will also encourage online site visits and click through from the users.
Google is the best site for reviews and rankings when considering the total volume and quality of reviews.

Why Are Reviews Important for Local Rankings?

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There is no denying the power of word-of-mouth. In other words, people need the validation of their action and a confirmation that they have done the right thing. That is why when a user intends to buy; they look for the reviews of the product in question.
Often reading positive reviews can influence the user’s decision to buy. That is what makes the reviews work in building the local rankings. Also, good reviews increase the click-through rate on your websites.
Search engines consider them as a matter of trust factor.
Online reviews mostly represent an unbiased opinion from other users. Meaning they present an authentic opinion about a business.
Search engines take these factors into account when ranking websites. It helps them to improve the user experience.
For example, Google does not allow anonymous users to add online reviews for a business.
Businesses that have anonymous reviews fall below in the local rankings as Google removes such reviews. It suggests that a business’s rankings can directly get affected by the number of authentic reviews it has.

How Online Reviews Fits into Local SEO?

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Fresh content on the website acts as fuel for the Local SEO rankings. That is why any SEO consultant will constantly encourage you to add new landing pages and fresh content to your business website.
In other words, if you want better search ranks, you need to invest in good quality contents. The online user reviews work in the same manner.
When you get regular online reviews, they provide fuel to the search engine crawlers.
Also, ensure to respond to the reviews as soon as possible to let search engines understand that you value your customers' feedback to provide better services in the future.
The more the reviews get published on various social media platforms, the better.
Impressing a search engine bit will not be enough in building good search rankings. Some other factors affect the quality of the rankings. They are the authenticity and legitimacy of the reviews.

How Do Reviews Impact Local SEO Rankings?

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Here are some factors that point out how a good review can impact the local SEO for businesses.

1. Online Reviews Enhances the User Conversion Rates

Brand loyalty depends on quality user experience along with the product reputation. Hence, a good product review and customer experience can enhance brand loyalty to a huge extent.
When several users trust a business brand, it will increase user conversion rates. So, your business must offer good quality products along with great customer service. It will help you to get a better user conversion rate.
Google updates its search engine algorithms regularly. They consider several factors for determining the ranking of various business websites. Thus, having a good conversion rate can result in better search engine rankings.
Aim to have good reviews posted on various social media platforms, directories, review platforms like Yelp, yellow pages, etc.
It will help you to attract more users to your business. It results in a good user conversion rate that enhances the search engine rankings.

2. User Engagement & Interaction Will Boost Your Local SEO Rankings

More the number of review sites that feature online reviews for your business, the more the number of backlinks that you can get for your website. And the more the number of backlinks, the more is the popularity of your website.
And you know that backlinks are one of the strongest factors in search engine ranking.
Also, communication with your users is an important factor in garnering reviews. It will result in user engagement and user interaction. It can attract good reviews and help you achieve a positive impact on the search engine rankings.

Relevant : Impact of Reputation on SEO Services

3. Citations of Your Business on Review Sites Enhances Your Local Rankings

Use accurate information in creating your business profiles on various review sites. Accurate information like name, address, and phone numbers can give better local rankings.
Citations are of two different types, structured and unstructured.

• The structured citations are fetched from the various online forms that you fill for creating business profiles. The citations usually come from other publications and articles. Self does not create them.
  
• Structure citations are a kind of best inbound marketing strategy to do a business to be found on quality internet places like Yelp, Foursquare, Better Business Bureau, etc.
  
• The unstructured citation is created based on user reviews across various social media platforms. The more citations your website receives, the better rankings you get on search engines.

How to Get More Reviews?

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The more positive reviews your business has, the more trustworthy you become as a brand. It also helps you in attracting potential customers to your local business.
There are several ways to attract reviews for your business. Here are some of them:

1. Send an Effective Email Campaign

Email is a great way to reach out to existing and potential customers. Also, sending out emails is an amazing way to interact with your customers in a more personal manner. Ask your customers to review your products through email. It is an inexpensive way to enhance search engine rankings.
Email campaigns are considered as one of the premium methods of acquiring honest reviews from customers. Connect with customers with personalized emails to make them realize you value them. Here’s an example of several review request templates:
The more the number of positive reviews, the better is your chances of improved rankings. For instance, the rideshare companies ask for immediate reviews from their passengers once they have taken a trip. Similarly, you should seek reviews from users after they purchase with you.
Especially when the customer service meets the expectation of the customer, you should immediately seek a review.
If the customer service is excellent and beyond the expectation of the customer, it can most definitely result in a great review. It is needless to say that such good stuff will enhance your business rankings on the search engines.

2. Ask for Reviews from Your Customers

Print out feedback forms and hand them out to your customers when they visit your business. Several businesses offer prize draws for leaving reviews. However, remember that most review sites do not agree with the concept of offering incentives to customers for leaving a review.
Interacting with your customers is also a great way to seek positive reviews. Interacting with them is important. It makes them feel good about the overall customer service of your local business.
In case of a negative review, keep the communication channels open for the customers. It is a good way to improve customer service. It can often lead to changing the review into a positive one.
Ask for an honest review from the customer. It is the best way to seek positive reviews on any given day.

3. Make Use of All the Social Media Platforms

Focus on enhancing social media followers. Do you have a decent number of followers on various social media platforms? Then, you can ask for reviews via tweets and posts. It can work more than you can imagine.
Because of the followers, keywords, and shoutouts, you’ll get a good number of organic and honest reviews on social media platforms.
Do you have a list of all the email addresses of your previous customers?
Then, upload that list on Google and other social media platforms like Facebook. Facebook will personalize the ads and serve them to your specific customers.
Having a message from the business that the user had earlier used can act as a refresher for the consumer to repurchase. This process of uploading email addresses to Google or Facebook is also known as a retargeting campaign. It is usually a cheaper way of collecting reviews for your local business than paid campaigns.

4. Send In-App Messages Through Mobile Apps

Apart from having a website, most businesses now started creating their apps. If your business has an app, you can send interesting display messages within the app seeking reviews from the app users. It is a great way to get positive reviews, especially when people have experienced a good service from your business.
For instance, if a user has just brought a product from your app, take the time out to seek their review immediately after their buy. It can result in getting a favourable review. It is also a good idea to offer a discount for the next buy. Or give some rewards for leaving a review. If you do not have an app yet, you should consider getting one.

5. Optimize the Content of Your Business Website

Optimize your website content. It is a great way to keep your customers coming back and keeping them engaged. Add fresh content to your website regularly that are genuinely useful and interesting. They can be blog posts or social posts. But you need to optimize the content so that it is easy for the users to find your website on the search engine pages.
Good content would always increase the positive user experience. And it will lead to good user reviews and local rankings.
Optimize your business website for a mobile view. It also adds to a positive user experience. And, you can also set up badges on various social media platforms for people to read and leave their reviews.
Time is of valuable essence for both you and your customer. So keep things short and simple as it is of utmost importance.

6. Respond to All Kinds of Reviews, Whether Positive or Negative

Not all customers are the same. But for a business, each customer is a king. Treat each of your customers like royalty, even if they leave you a negative review.
For instance, let’s assume that you get a one-star rating in your business review. Make sure to respond to the customer thoughtfully. Do not be defensive; instead, make sure to provide a resolution to their grievances.
Receiving negative customer feedback may seem hard, but ignoring it will affect the business negatively. For example, a user gave a 1-star rating to the Bumble dating app, but they were not hesitant to respond to the user.

Your response will not only calm down the customer but also help your business in the long run. You never know, the customer might change his mind and leave your business a positive review for your customer service.
Providing excellent customer service and a resolution can make things work like magic. According to the Harvard Business Review, when you respond to negative reviews, they can result in overall better ratings.

7. Share the Positive Reviews on Different Social Media Platforms

Try to keep the momentum of positive reviews going when you start receiving them. You can do that by highlighting the positive reviews on various social media platforms. It will also encourage other customers to leave their reviews about your business.
You can mark certain reviews as helpful on some of the social media platforms. You can consider these reviews as upvoting and more people can read through them. Keep upvoting your positive reviews regularly. It will help you in enhancing the ratings on the search engine pages.
Social proof is an effective marketing technique. Generally, people like to follow the crowd. When people see that others are sharing their thoughts on social media platforms, they intend to follow the rule. It helps them open up their mind to sharing their thoughts too.
Sharing positive reviews across various social media platforms can generate more reviews. That, in the long run, can result in better local rankings for your business.

8. Do an Effective Follow up with Your Customers

Do a regular followup with your customers. It is one of the ways to seek feedback about your business from your customers. There are ways in which you can track whether they have viewed your message or email or not.
There can be several reasons why a customer might not have opened your email or message. But, if you follow it up with your customer, they might be able to help you by leaving a good review for your website.
You can also write emails with changed subject lines to the same customers who have not yet responded to your original mail after three days. It will help you in garnering more reviews for your business. Also, don’t forget to thank your customers once they leave your business a review. It will leave a good impression of your business on your customers.

9. Focus on the Quality of Your Business

The quality of your products and services is what matters the most. Unless you offer great quality products, no kind of Local SEO tricks will work. Offering great quality will ensure better reviews.
Take regular feedback from customers and work on them seriously. A happy client is your card to success. They will provide you with free word of mouth publicity too.
Before you complete your dealings with your clients, make sure to politely ask them about how they liked your product or service. Also, do not forget to ask whether they are willing to leave a review for your business.
Drop hints about how you have earlier received great reviews for your business from your former clients. It might influence your customer to a certain extent in leaving you positive feedback.

10. Set up Business Profiles on Various Platforms & Claim Them

It is imperative to say that you know your business better than anyone else. So, make sure to take advantage of this knowledge. Select good review sites that attract dedicated and serious users.
There are some top review sites like Capterra, Trustradius, etc., that most businesses and customers rely on. Reviews on these sites help you improve your product/services accordingly.
These review sites will help you in showing your business on the search engine pages when a user googles for a particular service or product. It will also help you in enhancing your local rankings on the search engine pages.
Set up your business profiles in the accounts of those shortlisted review sites. Take ownership of those business profiles. And keep updating them as and when necessary.
Once you create all the profiles, make sure your business is represented in the various review sites in the most appropriate manner.

11. Be Selective About Your Reviewers

There are two important points that you should remember while garnering reviews for your local business.

• First, you can ask those customers who have done business with you in the recent past, to write a candid review for you.
• Be selective in choosing your reviewer since not all customers are your best choice for gathering reviews.

Always seek honest answers from your customers. Strive to improve your business as per the feedback received from your customers. It will help your business in the long run. Always keep in mind that positive reviews give you better rankings. But at the same time, negative reviews help you in gathering information about all that is missing in your business.

12. Assess & Keep Track of Your Reviews

Keep track of all the review requests that you have made from your customers. Keeping a spreadsheet might be helpful. Keep track of transaction data, the review that you asked for, and the medium or channel on which you sought the feedback. Also, keep track of the success rate of asking users for reviews and getting their replies.
Keeping a regular track will give you a pattern on which kinds of customers are more likely to provide a review. Once you get hold of the pattern, you will have more success rate in receiving better customer reviews.
You can also use surveys to seek feedback from your customers. There are several surveys designing sites that can design short surveys for you.
Create an account on Typeform and create a survey that best describes your business.
Sending out surveys is a great way to learn about the areas of improvement that your local business needs and get reviews too.

13. Place Your Reviews in the Right Position

You can consider placing the positive reviews right at the centre of your business website. If you have received positive reviews for any particular product, you can place the review on the product landing page. It will make a greater impact on your website. It is a great way to attract more consumers and more reviews in the process.
Once a user visits your website, they will most definitely notice the reviews at least once. The reviews will encourage them to make the purchase and leave you a positive review in the process.
You can also add a dedicated page to the amazing testimonials that your customers have left you. It will also add a lot of zeal to your business.
Many businesses have an entire page dedicated to their product reviews.
For example, here's a testimonial from a reputed organization on the SEMRush tool.

14. Host an Event or a Lucky Draw

One of the most effective ways of garnering reviews for your local business is to host an event or a contest for your customers. It is a great marketing tactic that can help you in engaging your customers too.
There are several social contest ideas available online. You can use those to promote your local business. Add a reward for all those customers who chose to review your products or service.
And make sure to keep the reward as a surprise for the customers.
For instance, DVF style conducted an online contest to win some money by gathering reviews.
The surprise factor will give the customers a happy experience. They will remember the surprise and give your business a lot of publicity in the coming days.
You can also add another wow factor for the customers that leave your business a review. You can add their photos on your business review page. It is a way of thanking your customers and adds a lot of credibility to the reviews too.

15. Give a Reason to Your Customers so That They Are Happy to Leave a Review for You

There are many ways to make your customers happy. It can be as simple as adding a personal touch to their buying experience.
You can also add a personalized note of thanks. It is a gesture that will add a lot of value to your brand. It will make your customers feel good about your business and the customer service that they receive from you.
Walk that extra mile for your customer. You might get the gesture back from your customers in the form of great reviews.
Reviews are important for building the credibility, reputation, and trust of a business. And when you take that extra step, it can only help you in building brand loyalty. And that loyalty will drive your customers towards your business.
Are you looking to boost your Local SEO rankings and gain more positive reviews? Drop your details here to get a callback.