Why Reviews are Important for SEO and Website Ranking
Learn why online reviews are so important to your website and rankings.
Before technology became a mainstream part of daily life, the success or failure of a company was decided by word-of-mouth. You have wondered one time or another—why are reviews important to your brand? There are many reasons, but to start, reviews speak volumes about your business. If customers receive your brand positively, others will be more inclined to trust you as well.
While word-of-mouth marketing is still a powerful tool, most brand reputation strategies have gone digital. Online customer reviews are the word-of-mouth of today. Customers have endless choices when purchasing things in this digital age. Having a solid reputation management strategy is key to reaching customers online.
But how do online reviews affect SEO? Do they even affect SEO in the first place?
Google Values User Feedback
SEO may continue to evolve each year, but one of the things that has remained constant is the value of customer reviews.
One thing that has been constant in the realm of SEO over the last few years is the value of high-quality links. The same logic applies to customer reviews. So, why are reviews important for your growing business? Positive reviews tell Google that your site, products, or services are high quality, placing more value on your brand.
It should be no surprise that Google prioritizes companies with many positive ratings. As a search engine, Google aims to provide the best possible experience for searchers. The algorithms are designed to display the most relevant and valuable sites to users.
More Reviews Equals More Keywords
Consumers are necessary to the success of any business. Happy customers are likely to tell their family and friends about your brand if they have had a positive customer experience. Search engine algorithms are changing, and over the years, customer feedback has become an important aspect of SEO.
You may not view your customers as content creators, but their words can be powerful in influencing others’ opinions about your brand. So, instead of seeing your customer reviews as feedback, think of them as content.
So, why are reviews important? It is because every time a consumer review is posted, Google gets new material to crawl. Whether you get a positive or negative review, it is almost certain to include keywords and key phrases relevant to your company.
Every customer review is likely to contain terms relevant to your product, services, or industry. It helps Google understand your company better, allowing you to achieve higher search ranks and greater visibility in the search engine results pages (SERPs).
Get Ahead of Your Competitors
Regardless of where you currently rank in the SERPs, more reviews equal greater brand trust. Usually, this outcome leads to a better click-through rate (CTR) than competitors, since a high CTR indicates that people find your content and listings useful and valuable.
But what does this signify for your SEO strategy? First, remember that CTR can help you determine which listings, advertising, and keywords are working for you and which need to be adjusted. CTR is one of Google’s ranking determinants. So, the more people visit your site, the more likely you will see a boost in search rankings due to more traffic and popularity.
Social Media Has an Impact on Ranking Criteria
No doubt, social media has become a central deciding factor in the star rating of a website. It makes sense if you think about it, given that social media is a major driving force contributing to the bulk of online traffic.
Google monitors user behavior and determines whether users talking about a website on social media are beneficial. As a result, it is only natural that search engines will rely on social network users to inform their algorithms about good and harmful websites.
Advantages for Local SEO
You already know that reviews have a significant influence on SEO. If your business relies on foot traffic, your next question might be: Why are reviews important for local ranking?
Reviews are crucial for local business SEO. Again, this has to do with the format of local company evaluations. They include far less information and are much shorter than conventional reviews. They serve as a vital indicator for local searches and help you stand out from your competitors.
Think of it this way: if you are out and looking for a place to dine, you can type in “restaurants near me” on Google. Then, to filter through the results, you will likely read reviews about the top establishments and decide where to eat from there.
Why Are Reviews Important for SEO and Website Ranking?
SEO is one of the most popular digital marketing strategies. Thus, to stay ahead of your competitors, you need to track and adjust your strategy based on the market. Regardless of what you offer to customers, reviews will influence how people interact with your website and perceive your brand, influencing your SEO results.
P3 Agency specializes in web design in Clearwater to help you design the perfect marketing strategies. To learn more about our services, including reputation management and SEO, contact us at 1-800-515-9422 to get a free marketing assessment.