Why Google Reviews Matter
A lot of people wonder why Google reviews matter and how they impact a business. The following article explains how beneficial they can be.
What Is A Google Review?
A Google review is a first-hand customer experience of a business or service. There is an option for a star rating and/or a detailed write-up to accompany the rating.
With any new review and rating, an average score rating is calculated over the total of your review score. This is updated and shown anytime someone Googles your service.
What Does Google’s “E-A-T” Stand For?
E-A-T is an acronym for the three main factors taken into account to determine the quality of the content that is on the website and other online outlets.
These factors are derived from Google’s Search Quality Rate guidelines.
- Expertise
- Authority
- Trustworthiness
Expertise – refers to proficiency in creating content in that field.
Authority – denoting the creator as having authority in that field
Trustworthiness – an indication of how dependable the service is
These factors work together to determine an overall ranking in search results. The Google algorithm works to return the most accurate and credible results.
Hence meeting the criteria will help in bringing more eyes to your service or website.
Recommended Reading: Is SEO A Waste Of Money?
Importance of Google Reviews
Reviews are important to Google. They give a picture of the business from a client’s perspective, whether good or bad.
This demonstrates the realness of your business and the way it operates with its clientele through public presentation.
Having interaction with the reviews posted is important. Especially on the bad reviews.
This becomes an opportunity to show your willingness to learn from your mistakes and work on becoming a better service provider.
Be aware, though. A continuous foray of bad reviews negatively affects one’s ranking, pushing you lower and lower in the ranks.
3 Benefits Of Google Reviews
Increased Trust In Your Brand
Creating brand trust is possibly the hardest task for an online business.
Moving from brand awareness to brand trust brings return customers and more referrals your way.
More positive reviews mean more trust. Even those that have never interacted with or heard of your service previously.
Increased Online Exposure
With scoring high on the E-A-T criteria, one’s brand will continuously pop up at the top of the search ranks.
The higher up the list you are, the more likely your brand will be viewed.
Converts Customers
Positive reviews have led to more customer conversions and a higher average rating.
Glowing reviews give potential customers the small nudge to try out your services. An endorsement by many signals the reliability of one’s service.
Why Google Reviews Matter to SEO
The power of word of mouth remains the strongest form of reference, and Google considers what the masses say.
Customer service is dictated by the number of people and the consensus rating of the quality of the service. Therefore, customers dictate what they consider a good customer experience.
As Google wants to find the best in the business in the fastest way possible, these scores factor into SEO ranking.
Reviews Increase CTR (Click Through Rate)
A study has revealed that reviews, especially star reviews, increase the click-through rate.
The stars or written reviews work to draw a person’s attention. Higher ratings make one focus on it, leading to further investigation by potential clients.
Good Reviews Help You Rank Higher
With clients needing to further ascertain your services, they will need to visit your site. Good reviews will encourage them to do this.
Good reviews ultimately increase the traffic to your site, therefore increasing your rank.
Reviews Can Improve Keyword Search Visibility
With most reviews, the writer will unintentionally use keywords. Sometimes these keywords are very specific to your services.
These are described as “long-tail” keywords. Three or more words indicate a more detailed search by someone ready to convert to a customer.
These will increase your search visibility.
Why Reviews Are Good for Small Businesses
Here is why Google reviews matter.
Bringing small businesses online is a big task. There are many hoops to jump through to get your business visible and get potential customers to entrust you with their money.
Reviews have become an asset for businesses. Good reviews paint you as reliable in people’s eyes.
Hence, as a small business, one good review can bring one more customer to you. A great service to them will lead to them referring you to all their friends.
As a global community, the internet uses reviews as word-of-mouth marketing.
Boost Your Reputation And Credibility
A good reputation is very difficult to build and takes many a repeated great service.
Receiving many good reviews works the same way as building a reputation and increasing your credibility.
People Trust Online Reviews
People have grown to trust reviews. These have become a sneak peek into the inner workings and relations between service suppliers and customers.
Good Reviews Mean Good Service
Having several good reviews directly signifies that the business offers very good service. So much so that customers are compelled to leave reviews.
People Contact Businesses Directly From Google Local Listings
This tool instantly connects you to potential customers with ease. A bonus is that local listings have certain credibility to further grow trust in one’s service.
Allow You To Stand Out Against Your Competition
Any business that does not implement Google ratings and reviews stands way less chance of standing out against its competitors.
Ranked by their star ratings, customers tend to click on the higher-ranked review. They will ignore a link with no rating.
Interaction With Customers And Feedback
This is imperative to show that the business is still active. Even with bad reviews, customers want to see how the business will respond to bad service reviews.
These responses show how far the business is willing to go to rectify problems to continue giving the best service possible to their clients.
In Conclusion
In our economy, losing money is something the consumer thinks about a lot more now.
With every dollar spent, the highest quality is what customers expect to receive.
Google reviews really do matter and you should encourage every customer to leave a comment and/or star rating.
All you have to do is email or Whatsapp a client that has just purchased from your business either a product or service with a link to your Google review page. Ask them to give you a genuine comment or rating of their experience with you.
The more you have, the better your business will look to Google and potential customers.
Ultimately, this is the reason why Google reviews matter.
