Reviews vs SEO: How Google Reviews Influence Your SEO

Google trusts its users, and the search engine’s algorithm uses customer reviews to help determine where a website should rank in search results. It’s not the only factor to make a difference, but reviews can influence your site’s position. They can also:

• Build trust and credibility – Customers trust other customers, and positive reviews can act as a signal to Google and online shoppers that others recommend your business.
• Boost sales – 93% of people are more likely to purchase a product after reading a review, so making reviews visible on your website and creating a Google Business Profile is essential for any online store.
• Improve keyword relevance – Reviews (and your responses) can naturally include your target keywords, helping your business appear in relevant search results.
• Target local customers – Google reviews play an important role when it comes to local SEO. The search engine uses three key factors when ranking sites for local search terms: relevance, distance, and prominence.
• Increase click-through rate (CTR) – Users are more likely to select a search result with a good volume of positive reviews, as opposed to a business lacking any reviews. And, the higher your CTR, the higher your website will rank.
• Showcase your online community – With reviews, you can show that your business is used and trusted by other people online. It’s also a useful way to highlight how responsive your business is when customers leave feedback.
• Highlight activity – Recent reviews let potential customers (and Google) know that your business is currently active, increasing your chances of appearing in higher ranks.

Google is always looking for off-site SEO ranking factors, such as Google reviews. So, what does the search engine look for in your reviews specifically?

#1. High-Star Ratings

One of the first things Google will look for is a high-star rating. The reality is that Google trusts your customers more than it trusts you. Of course, you’re going to say your brand is great, but what do your customers think?

If customers leave positive reviews and a high rating, Google will look at your website favorably. This makes it easier to rank in top positions for your target search terms. By default, Google filters its search results to show businesses with a rating of 4.0 or above, so this gives you a benchmark to aim for. After all, this could be the deciding factor for a customer to shop with your business or a competitor’s store.

➡️ Learn how to secure a Top Quality Store badge from Google with our step-by-step guide.

#2. Mention of Long-Form Keywords

When Google crawls through your reviews, it’ll be on the lookout for certain long-form keywords. These help Google understand the relevance of your content so it can present relevant search results to users, making it easier for customers to find your business quickly.

Keywords in reviews are important, but they need to come naturally. You can’t go around asking people to mention specific keywords or phrases ahead of giving feedback However, it’s likely customers will use them organically when searching for a service or product. For example, if you sell pet accessories and multiple reviews mention “dog collar,” Google will see that your business is a match.

#3. Recency of Reviews

Google will also look at the recency of your reviews, meaning it considers when customers leave feedback when determining rankings. If a ton of time has passed since a customer’s review, it has less value to Google – and other customers. 85% of people think any review older than three months is irrelevant and outdated, so you need to be regularly gathering feedback.

Google wants to rank websites that have recent positive reviews, not ones with outdated feedback. And potential customers can’t get an accurate depiction of your business if all the reviews are years old. If you have a constant stream of fresh reviews coming, Google will recognize that your business is attracting new customers and that your business is actively serving its market.

#4. Responses to Reviews

Responding to Google reviews (both good and bad) should be an important part of your wider marketing strategy. It shows customers you appreciate their feedback and listen to their needs and pain points. This, in turn, improves your site’s overall SEO.

Google admires and rewards brands that reply to customer reviews. Not only does this help you build customer relationships and improve your brand’s reputation online, but you can also target keywords in your responses.

#5. Quantity of Reviews

The volume of reviews your business has sends signals to Google that your brand is active, popular, and trusted by customers. As a result, your online store is more likely to appear in relevant search results, especially since a reviews can help improve your site’s ranking position for various keywords.

Along with a boost in the SERPs, having more reviews to your business name can also impact conversions. 50% of customers read five (or more) reviews before deciding to shop with a brand. So, if you have a good library of reviews to browse, a customer is more likely to trust your business and make a purchase.

#6. A Verified Google Business Profile

As a business owner, you have to sign up for a Google Business Profile to help your store get seen by people across Google Search, Google Maps, and other services, such as Google Shopping. Without an account, potential customers won’t be able to see your business information. This can make your business appear unprofessional and old.

When it comes to reviews, you can only respond to customer reviews if you have a verified Google Business Profile. Thankfully, it’s easy to setup – simply sign into your business Google account and click “Create a profile.” From there, you need to fill out your business details and choose a verification option.

#7. Balanced Customer Feedback

Every business owner wants glowing reviews to confirm that customers are happy and satisfied. However, it’s important to strike a balance so your business appears trustworthy and real. You can’t please everyone, even if you’re one of the biggest brands in the world, so only reading positive reviews for a business can seem fake.

Most customers gravitate towards businesses with a high overall rating, but a mix of positive and negative reviews. Having only five-star reviews lacks plausibility. Customers want to see genuine feedback from real people, and you won’t gain any valuable insights about your business from your reviews if you simply pay someone to sing your praises.

When it comes to reviews vs SEO, there are several strategies you can implement to optimize your Google reviews. After all, you want to ensure they’re helping and not hindering your search rankings. I recommend the following steps:

#1. Encourage Customers To Leave Reviews

First things first, you need to collect Google reviews for them to have any impact on your SEO. Encourage customers to leave reviews for your business by asking them directly. This could be via automated email once they’ve received their order, a custom page following a purchase, or by including links to your Google Business Profile on your website and social media accounts.

You want to make it easy for customers to leave feedback. Most website builders have the option to add custom forms or contact information to your store. And, remember to encourage reviews without bribing customers. Google doesn’t look kindly upon misleading content, so make sure you’re familiar with its current review guidelines.

#2. Respond to Google Reviews

As I’ve already mentioned, responding to Google reviews is one of the best things you can do to ensure they have a positive impact on your SEO. Google has clearly stated it will reward businesses who respond to their reviews. Here are a few top tips to help you get started:

• Be timely – 89% of customers expect a response to their review, so responding to feedback promptly shows that your business is keen to check in with customers and actively engaged with its community. I recommend setting a window of time, such as two days, in which you have to respond to a customer’s review. This helps you stay on top of feedback and sends positive signals to Google.
• Use keywords – While customers can naturally use your target keywords in their initial review, you can easily optimize your response for SEO purposes. Make sure your reply is helpful to the customer first and foremost, but adding keywords can help boost your site’s rankings for those search terms.
• Create best practices – Train your staff so they know how to appropriately respond to Google reviews since they’re representing the brand and interacting directly with customers

#3. Address Negative Reviews

Google wants you to respond to your reviews, and that includes the negative ones. Sometimes you can do everything right, but a customer might still decide to leave upsetting feedback.

Of course, this can be demoralizing and frustrating, but it’s important to know how to respond to negative reviews so you can address them right away. 63% of customers lose trust in a business if they mostly see bad reviews, but responding can boost your brand’s image and reputation. Mistakes happen, and accepting responsibility and offering a solution can show a human side to your business.

Be polite and professional, and ensure that the customer knows you value their feedback. If Google can see that you’ve responded to a negative review, it’ll be less likely to use the low rating as a ranking factor for your website.

#4. Add Reviews to Your Website

A key way to optimize your reviews for SEO is to add them directly to your website, instead of simply relying on your Google Business Profile or third-party review platforms, such as Trustpilot. This helps add unique user-generated content to your store and boost your rankings in the SERPs. You’ll have more keywords populating your product pages, increasing the chances of Google presenting them to customers using the search engine.

I recommend adding a testimonial element to your website or product pages. This is easily done, especially if you use a website builder, like Wix or Squarespace. For example, Squarespace has 13 pre-designed testimonial elements which I can simply drag on to my site’s page and edit to showcase my favorite reviews.

#5. Deploy Reviews Schema Markup

Schema markup is an important part of ecommerce SEO, and this unique piece of code which you can add to your website’s pages can help search engines organize and understand your content. Google pays close attention to over 30 types of schema markup, including reviews and ratings schema.

Reviews and ratings schema displays the familiar star rating alongside your business in search results. This helps customers understand your store’s popularity, quality, authority, and credibility. To get started, you’ll need to create the code using a tool such as Google’s Structured Data Markup Helper before adding the markup to your desired page’s HTML.

#6. Use Google Review Insights

You can use your Google Business Profile insights to better understand how your brand is performing when it comes to Google reviews. You’ll be able to see the average rating, as well as the number of reviews your business has overall.

I recommend using this data to determine if more work needs to be done to improve your Google reviews and SEO strategy. For example, a common keyword that keeps popping up in your customer reviews could inspire a new blog post, which could help your business rank for that search term.

Google is all about quality when it comes to ranking websites. The quality of your website content, the quality of your backlink profile, the quality of your user experience… and the quality of your Google reviews.

Not only do you need to ensure that your Google reviews are positive, but you also need to collect reviews from real and trustworthy people. It can be tempting to purchase fake reviews, but Google will spot them from a mile away, resulting in a negative impact on your SEO.

Encourage your customers to leave a Google review that includes their name and a detailed description of your service or product. Adding photos or further information can also help signal to Google that these are genuine reviews.

Google reviews help the search engine determine how credible your website is and where it should rank in the SERPs. What your customers have to say matters and encouraging them to leave Google reviews can positively impact your site’s SEO.

Of course, the most important thing in all of this is serving the customers with a positive experience. It’s all well and good collecting Google reviews, but if every one of them is negative, then they’re not going to have the effect you want. Remember to actively seek feedback regularly, respond in a professional and timely manner, and analyze your reviews to find common customer issues.