The online world is rife with uncertainties. Brands dealing in the virtual world cover both technical and human grounds to become more active and get exposure at the prospective fronts. There are two major lines in this regard. First, Google Reviews cover the human factor where a customer or user of a service provides feedback […]
The online world is rife with uncertainties. Brands dealing in the virtual world cover both technical and human grounds to become more active and get exposure at the prospective fronts.
There are two major lines in this regard. First, Google Reviews cover the human factor where a customer or user of a service provides feedback to the company that will be visible to other users. This provides social proof to those who are still on the fence about whether to use a brand or not. Second, ranking factors, of all shapes, sizes, and forms, cover the technical ground. They send out either positive or negative signals to search engines based on their services and products.
In this blog, we will cover the relationship between these two factors so that marketers can take advantage of the two.
Customer reviews comprise feedback, testimonials, and comments from users regarding a brand’s products and services. It is one of the most important steps in the whole journey of the customer. Mostly, it is both the starting and ending phase since it lies at the end of the user.
For instance, a new user wanted to buy product A. He looked around the internet and found multiple sellers for the product. After going through the customer reviews for each one of them, he went with the company ABC, primarily because of the quality of customer reviews. After buying and using the product, he found the product to be satisfactory. Again, he went to the reviews section to post his findings.
Depending on the influence and importance of customer reviews, marketers spend a lot of resources to get them aligned with the brand’s intentions.
Google offers a local pack that provides a holistic approach toward Google Maps and other local ranking factors. It is essential for all the brands that are small, cash-hungry, and looking for a new business to meet internal demands.
Local Map is a deal-breaker in terms of attracting new customers. According to research by an independent group, around 17% of all local traffic is directed to the local map pack from customer reviews. However, the same research found that almost 5% of the traffic comes from the local organic push.
Irrespective of the percentages and the number of games, customer reviews and the signals they send off offer exceptional insights to the search engines to consider a specific business for the rankings and indexing numbers. Marketers argue that both keywords in Google native reviews and their quantity play a huge role in the businesses’ visibility in the virtual world.
Google is at the helm of business activities in the online world. The same is true for providing the tools to marketers to follow the best practices. So, after going through the relationship between customer reviews and ranking factors, it is time to see where to get Google Reviews.
These are managed by the company itself allowing them to index and rank businesses better, based on peer-generated reviews and comments. There is no denying that Google Reviews comprise the most valuable reviews, both in quality and quantity. Some researchers have put the number at 57%, followed by Facebook reviews at around 19%.
Other third-party platforms that collect and consolidate customer reviews for brands hold much lesser value compared to these giants.
After going through the vitality and effectiveness of customer reviews across the human and technical grounds, it is time to address the elephant in the room! Brands understand the value of customer reviews but they still have a hard time collecting them and then highlighting them at the relevant places.
In this section, we will take a look at some of the ways that can prompt customers to leave glowing reviews.
Instead of being mortified by the prospect of asking the customers to leave a review, step up. A majority of customers are not willing to post a review for your brand, they are happy to oblige. All you need to do is pick the best time and work through it. One of the best instances is right after the provision of service or delivery of a product.
Promoting the campaign to get customer reviews is another great way to show the prospects that the brand is indeed a people’s brand. To do that but without being intrusive, brands can always leave subtle remarks and calls to action via advertisements, listings, and even invoices.
Positive reviews are always welcomed by brands, no matter whether they deserve it or not. However, negative reviews are a reality that brands need to face from time to time. Keep in mind that they are more destructive compared to positive reviews. Some experts believe that it takes around 29 positive ones to neutralize the effects of only a single negative review.
So, now that your brand has received a negative review, here is what you should do:
Once you have received a negative review, it is best to get to the resolution of the issue so that less time will be wasted in the limbo.
Since we are talking about Google search ranking factors, it is only appropriate to cover some in addition to customer reviews and ratings. This section is dedicated to discussing some of them in detail.
Domain Factors
There is no point in defining and explaining what a domain is since everyone knows what it is. What everyone doesn’t know is the value of the domain and its characteristics in terms of ranking factors. Here are some of the aspects of domains that affect rankings:
Site Factors
Websites come in all forms, sizes, and shapes. When a search engine indexes a website, it takes into account certain factors before making a decision. Many marketers believe that web design and development are as necessary for SEO as other on-page and off-page measures.
Brand Signals
This is another area that can affect the overall ranking scenario for the business. In this section, the brand signals comprise the sense of belonging and attachment toward the brand. Following are some of the brand signals that contribute the highest in the ranking game:
Marketers spend a lot of time and other resources to get their brands rank on the highest pages. Many determinants come into play in this matter. In this blog, we have covered the relationship between customer reviews and ranking factors. Since Google has iterated time and again that customer reviews are indeed a solid contender that can improve a brand’s online rankings. Still, there are others that must be covered in the strategy to reap exceptional rewards.
If you are looking for a tool that can help you with managing customer reviews, TrustAnalytica is a leading brand in this domain with award-winning services and products. Get in touch with us to enjoy a free trial!
Yes, they are! Google reviews provide the much-needed social proof and technical signals to ensure that the brand is indeed trustworthy and reliable. That’s why brands need to be on top of the game to outsmart the competition.
According to some research, it takes around ten to 12 customer reviews to notice a boost in Google rankings. This is still a conjecture because it is hard to isolate and quantify factors in the virtual world and then study their changes.
Google uses AI-based algorithms that keep into account multiple factors, including domain, site, page, backlinks, brand signals, and more. Based on the aggregate and quality of these factors, it assigns a rank to a website.
Of course! According to the company’s sources, managing and replying to customer reviews can enhance the authority and trustworthiness of your brand. Simply put, it is a simpler way to generate content that can send positive signals to both crawlers and human users.
There are many benefits for brands if they decide to do Google Reviews:
