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Are Reviews Important For SEO?

The short answer is, Yes! But, Why? What people say about your business shapes your reputation. According to Forbes, “a Google review can shape your business far more than a Google AD. According to a Zendesk survey, ‘90% of participants claimed that positive online reviews influenced their buying decisions, and 86% said negative reviews influenced their decision.’ ” So then, how do reviews help increase your SEO? Let’s look at four areas.

Fresh Content

First, these reviews give fresh content. It gets people talking about your business and creates free advertisements. The more active your business is online, the more google “sees” you and understands your business and how people promote it. Reviews show your website and business are active.

Evergreen Content

Second, reviews create evergreen content. What is evergreen content? “It is content that covers a constant level of sustained interest, and they do not experience significant seasonal peaks and through in demands,” according to Semrush.com. Evergreen content creates backlinks that can continue to promote your site over the long term; even if Google changes its algorithm, it will help you keep your ranking.

Click-Through-Rate

Third, potential customers are more likely to investigate your business when they see reviews. When this happens, it increases your website click-through rate (CTR). The more CTR and more conversions, comes an increase in your site rankings. Also, when customers leave a review, it helps others find your domain easier when they use Google search. So, with increased search opportunities, your rankings could increase, according to Semrush.
Interact With Reviews

Fourth, it is essential to respond to all comments as business owners. Google likes to see conversations, which will help your SEO. It also shows you care about your customers. How you handle all reviews can either increase or decrease your business. Saying “thank you, we appreciate your support” will go a long way.

It is essential to respond to negative reviews. You never want to ignore a negative review because it will appear as if you don’t care. It will help to remember that every business may get a negative review somewhere along the business journey, but how you handle them is crucial. View this as an opportunity (make a lemon into lemon aid) and present yourself and your business as a professional, sincere company that cares about its customers. By doing this, you can gain the trust and confidence of your potential customers. A couple of points you want to keep in mind:

1. Please do not respond with your emotions. You don’t want to add logs to the fire. Calm down before you respond.

2. Give a direct, clear answer to the reviewer. This will make the reviewer feel heard and understood. Everyone is going through something, and customers sometimes want to be able to express their opinions and feelings to someone. Try not to take it as a personal attack. (This can be heard, I know).

3. You can also ask them to contact you directly to discuss the matter. 

4. When the issue is resolved, ask the reviewer to update their reviews.

In Conclusion

As you have read, reviews impact how Google will rank you. Therefore, the more active your business is online, the better ranking you will receive. Also, remember it is essential to get reviews not only on google but on other platforms like Facebook or Yelp to get cross-references to show Google you are not buying reviews. 

We are here for you if you need help with SEO! The following article will discuss getting customer reviews for your online business.

 

 

Want to learn more about this topic, follow the links below:

Simple Ways To Get Customers To Review Your Business Online

Why Online Reviews Are Important In Your Marketing Strategy

 

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