Q: Do Google reviews help SEO?
A: They absolutely do. Google Reviews are important to the way Google ranks your business and the way prospects and customers pull you up in search.
Do you feel uncomfortable asking your customers for Google Reviews? Or do you simply avoid doing it?
If this sounds like you, you’re missing out on a huge opportunity to promote your business.
Google Reviews are important…not only to your customers but also to Google.
In Google’s Eyes and in the Heads and Hearts of Your Customers
From Google’s perspective, reviews are directly related to your overall ranking profile. This factors into search page results as well as your ranking on Google Maps. That all adds up to better SEO. You appear higher up on the search results page. That’s important when someone living in or visiting your area is looking for your services.
A great review is even better. Being great means that your review receives more stars. It also means the review describes your services and your customer’s positive result. In Google’s eyes, the more your services align with customer searches, the more proof you’re serving your customers well—and the more deserving you are of a high search ranking.
Plus, prospects automatically read reviews when looking for products and services and reach out to businesses with positive ones.
A Review Rewards Your Hard Work
Get talked about and referred and remembered, and you attract more people.
But sometimes even satisfied customers are stymied by what to say in a review or reluctant to spend the time writing them. You can help get them started with thought-provoking reminders—say for example, asking them why they needed your services and how using them got them the results they wanted. If you’re a chiropractor, for instance, having your patient mention getting rid of their back pain or improving their golf swing without shoulder discomfort carries more weight than the brevity of Dr. So and So helped me a lot.
Coaching not Welcome
One important caveat. Coaching or writing a review for a customer is bad practice that can get you into trouble with Google. Prompts, though, are not coaching. You’re simply encouraging customers to dig deeper to describe the value you’ve provided. When it comes to SEO, those prompts pay huge dividends.
Connecting Value to SEO
Think back to the chiropractor. Words like back, shoulder, or neck pain are logical descriptors. But there’s more to SEO strategy, and agency know-how can help with focus on:
- Deeper search trends for a particular industry
- Best performing keywords for high search volume results
- Optimizing your website or photos
Agency expertise can trump you taking the time to figure things out for yourself and risking negative results, a Google penalty, even worse, a Google suspension.
Ballantine: Providing Clarity to Your Review Strategy
At Ballantine, we provide clarity to your review strategy. We recognize that you are understandably busy running your business. You can easily overlook the finetuning of a review strategy. You may be unaware of trends and best practices for developing your online presence.
Our knowledge and experience mean we make sure your business stands out from the competition. That’s important to all business and particularly to local, brick ‘n’ mortar retailers vying for local business.
We know where you must focus.
We know how to accommodate your individual marketing preferences and style whatever your comfort with the internet. And we work with you down to your SEO review strategy to make sure you get the best marketing results.
You can’t let anything get in the way of getting great Google Reviews.
So, call us. Make sure you nail your SEO—and to that end, get the reviews that set you apart from your competition.
I'm the Director of Digital Services and Partner at Ballantine, a family-owned and operated direct mail & digital marketing company based in New Jersey. and started in 1966 by my great uncle!
