While many factors play a huge role in your SEO, such as your website content down to the keywords you use, one of the factors you should never forget is reviews. More specifically, we’re talking about the reviews you get for your products, services, and even the business itself from your customers and partners. 

Reviews are generally unbiased opinions about a business. Because they are usually crowd-sourced, Google considers it an essential factor in SEO. For this reason, reviews that you get from Google My Business (GMB) directly affect your SEO.

How do reviews work exactly? Is it what the people say that affects your SEO, or is there something more to it? Here are a few things you should keep in mind about reviews and SEO.

1. Reviews require interaction

While you might believe that leaving a review as it is will affect your SEO, you will need to play a part in it as well. You will need to engage with these reviews as you would with posts on your social media marketing activities. You should respond to them in almost the same way.

For instance, what should you do if you find a positive review? You can respond by saying thank you that they chose you and that you strive to satisfy their needs. On the other hand, if you run into a negative review, you should still respond to them by addressing the issue and promising to improve. As a result, you can turn a negative review into a positive one where you show that you care. Avoid going quiet unless you discover a toxic review, which is best to ignore.

2. Good content is good SEO

The content of the review matters not so much as to whether it is a positive or negative one, but whether it contains relevant keywords. 

That’s because Google utilizes these keywords to match whatever the users are looking for with related business. When your reviews contain the right keywords, you will show up more if what the user queries match. In other words, your reviews help you rank for keywords and other efforts, such as providing articles, blogs, and more.

3. Reviews improve click-through

Great reviews are among the most significant factors motivating a person to go ahead and buy a product or opt for service. It means that more customers also end up going to your website and reaching you, all of which boost your SEO.

The best part about this is that once the customer has worked with you and leaves another positive review, it increases your chances of landing a new customer, creating a positive cycle.

Conclusion

As you can see, reviews are critical to your business. Not only do they improve your SEO, but they also create a positive reputation that attracts more customers. If you haven’t been getting many reviews, motivate your customers to do so. For instance, offer exclusive deals and discount codes for those who leave reviews. You can also send an email to your customers asking for a review (with a reward at the end). Efforts like these will help you make the most out of your reviews and, in turn, improve your SEO significantly.

Local SEO Pro offers you a platform to optimize your website for voice searches along with integrating many other features, such as link-building, GMB, and review optimization. 

If you’re looking for an affordable SEO solution that includes optimizing your reviews, reach out to us today at Local SEO Pro! We’re happy to help you.