Local SEO Review: A Guide to
Boosting Local Visibility
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Local SEO reviews have been a vital element in
every local marketer and business owner’s toolbox
for the past few years.
There are more review sites than ever before, and
consumers
increasingly write and reference
reviews. Many studies conducted in recent years
determine how negative and positive reviews
affect
business
popularity,
sales,
product
awareness, and profitability.
Reviews can help consumers decide what
products or services to buy, where to travel, and
where to eat. For this reason, online reputation
management has become more critical than ever
as reviews have gradually become an integral
part of online businesses.
Today, reviews have begun to influence search
engine algorithms, impacting both search results
for general and local searches. It is essential to
understand the importance of reviews in local SEO
when devising a strategy that will put a business
on top of digital competition.
How Reviews Affect Local SEO Ranking
Everyone knows that SEO and reviews are closely
related as they share the same goal.
Search engines want to make it easy for users to
find the best product, service, or information
quickly. SEO reviews help customers find the right
local business by separating the good from the
bad.
A survey found that reviews are a significant factor
in 16% of search engine decision-making for local
SEO. But this is not all; there are many tangible
benefits of reviews in improving local SEO ranking:
Think of local SEO reviews as crowd-sourced
recommendations. Research found that seven
out of 10 customers trust online reviews.
Four- to five-star Google reviews increase
click-through and
lead
to more
traffic,
encouraging business growth.
High reviews on your website mean that Google
trusts you more, allowing for better SEO
rankings.
A Harvard study shows that a one-star
increase in Yelp ranking can result in a 5-9%
rise in sales.
Local SEO Review as an Essential Ranking Factor
Google score and review count are factors in
local search ranking. More local SEO reviews and
positive ratings can improve a business’s local
ranking.
However, a high ranking is not only determined by
your overall SEO rating. Google considers many
review signals when determining search ranking.
Here are review signals essential to consider
when optimizing your business
for search
engines:
Review Recency
You should ensure that your website is receiving a
steady stream of reviews. While it’s great to have
collected a lot of reviews from last year, it is much
better to have a lot of reviews coming frequently.
Customers tend to be more interested in recent
content than in old content. They assume that
people change over time, and businesses also do
so. According to the Search Engine Journal, 85%
of customers think reviews older than three
months are irrelevant.
Review Diversity
There are many review sites on the Internet.
While monitoring and managing reviews from
multiple sources can be overwhelming, it can
help to have reviews from different sources.
You also might consider getting reviews on sites
specific to your brand niche. Simply put, your
business will be found in the local search results
if it has received many positive reviews across
multiple review platforms.
Review Quantity
Your chances of being ranked high improve if
you have more local SEO reviews. Customers will
usually look at a minimum of 10 reviews before
deciding whether a business is trustworthy. This
means that customers look for patterns in a
collection of reviews and not just one or two
negative experiences.
If you’re looking to increase your review volume,
ask your loyal customers and encourage your
new customers to leave positive feedback on
your website, GMB profile, and other review
platforms.
Local SEO Guide: Optimizing Website for Local
Searches
Optimizing for
local searches
is becoming
increasingly difficult. According to Moz, 71% of
clicks are made on the first page of Google
search results. Businesses must appear on these
must appear on the first search engine results
page to maximize visibility online.
However, page 1 is even smaller than before. With
mobile searches being more popular than
desktop searches, customers typically only see
the top three local search results, known as “local
pack results.”
Being part of the local pack is crucial to attracting
more customers online. Customers tend to
choose the local pack results and not scroll any
further.
Fortunately, there are many ways to improve the
SEO profile of your website, and getting reviews
from locals is one of the most potent ways to get
more business and traffic from people around
you.
Google reviews, local SEO, local promotion, and
social proof are great ways to boost your
website’s online visibility. When combined with
word-of-mouth and current events around the
globe, local SEO review can be a powerful
indicator of your company’s health.
With all that being said, how can you make
reviews work for your local SEO strategy? Here’s a
comprehensive local SEO guide to get you
started:
1. Leverage Google My Business Profile
As it is the easiest way to increase brand
awareness, a Google My Business (GMB) listing
should be on top of every business’s local SEO
guide. Your visibility on Google Search improves
when you optimize and maintain your GMB listing.
According to a study, only 44% of businesses
claimed their Google My Business profiles. If you’re
on the fence on how to do local SEO, start by
claiming your Google My Business profile by
adding detailed information and high-definition
photos of your business. This tip will make you
and your business more trustworthy to Google’s
algorithm.
2. Utilize Keywords from User-Generated Content
Google reviews are an example of user-generated
content that customers can use to discover your
business. Reviews such as these are full of the
things Google
loves:
fresh content,
images
published at authoritative
sites
such as
TripAdvisor and Facebook, and relevant keywords.
Relevant keywords from user-generated content
often provide insight into how customers found
your site. You can
leverage
these when
conducting keyword research for your website
content.
3. Embed Customer Reviews on Your Website
Search engines love fresh, relevant content like
user reviews. Why not include them on your
website?
Your business will look more credible to visitors if
you have a live review stream on your website.
Displaying review feeds on your website is a way
to demonstrate social proof, just like sharing
reviews on social media. Visitors can instantly see
how your business serves other customers.
4. Focus on Authoritative Review Sites
Review diversity is one of the elements that Google
considers when ranking businesses and services in
search results. This means that you should track
local SEO reviews from multiple sites and not just
one.
Keep an eye out for review sites that are relevant to
your industry. You can try searching for a term
related to your industry on Google. When you see a
drop-down option to the right of the relevant
results, click on the button leading to similar links.
Customers
looking at
these
industry-specific
review websites are likely to make a purchase.
These customers have an idea of what they want,
but they need to decide between several options.
5. Activate Google Seller Rating
How to do local SEO and take it to the next level?
On your paid Google search ads, you can enable
Google Seller Ratings, letting potential customers
see the other’s ratings of your products.
Google Seller ratings can make your ad campaigns
easier. A higher SEO rating means higher click-
through rates, lower costs per click, and, of course,
more customers.
Your business must meet some requirements to
be eligible for Google Seller Ratings. You must
have at least 100 reviews in your country within
the past 12 months and a minimum of 3.5 stars for
your business.
Since this review requirement applies to all
campaigns, you need to keep your seller ratings
high by having a steady stream of Google
reviews, making it more critical to solicit reviews
from customers.
6. Ensure Consistent Listings on Other Sites
Although SEO review signals are essential for
Google to determine local search rankings, they’re
not the only thing that matters. Citation signals
are another important factor. Citation signals
refer to consistent listings of your business on
different websites, including your name, address,
phone number, and the link to your website.
Search engines will not trust businesses with
outdated or conflicting listings on other websites.
This can lead to a decrease in search rankings for
your business and, ultimately, a drop in the
number of customers who can find your business.
Bright Local found that 68% of customers would
abandon a local business if they discovered
incorrect information online. You can use online
listing tools to consistently make updates on your
business details to prevent any damage to your
online reputation and visibility score.
7. Make Use of Social Media
If prospects see proof of your brand’s reliability
and quality, they are more likely to choose your
business over your competitors. Sharing customer
reviews on your social media channels is a great
way to showcase your business potential and
what you can offer.
Customers aren’t the only ones paying attention
to social mentions. Google may soon determine
the popularity and reach of your website by
looking at what other people have said about you
on social media.
Partner with Advanced Digital Media Services
Executing Local SEO efforts is more important than
ever.
At Advanced Digital Media Services, our team of
experts can help you catch up and even exceed
the local competition in SERPs. From managing
your GMB profile, optimizing your websites, and
publishing quality content, our SEO services are
designed to help your business gain more local
exposure, loyal customers, and eventually higher
revenues. Call our team today!
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