The quick answer to this question is yes, Google reviews definitely help SEO. But more interesting than this are the reasons why Google reviews help SEO. Understand Google’s reasoning and you’ll get clues into how it works, what it likes and dislikes, or more appropriately, gives higher and lower ranking factors to. And if you understand more about Google SEO, you’ll gain valuable insight for even better SEO performance.
Google wants to be a human
If you didn’t already know, Google is big into AI (Artificial Intelligence). Google is advancing its AI platform and resources all the time, with its stated objective being to advance “AI for everyone”. Its open source resources are used for learning, researching and solutioning many global issues, including societal problems.
At the back of all this is an interest in the ‘human’ and how humans think and behave. So, when it comes to Google the search engine, its main aim is to return constantly improved search engine results that are highly relevant to the human searcher, therefore it always aims for its algorithms to match the behaviour of humans.
Google trusts your customers
Google doesn’t mean to cause you any offence, but it believes your customers words about you, probably more than it believes your own words about you. And who wouldn’t? If you’re looking for a high-quality paint supplier, do you believe the supplier who says, “I’m a high-quality paint supplier.” Or do you believe the twenty-five customers who say, “This is a high-quality paint supplier”?
In the same way, Google is looking for clues of authenticity about you, on which to hang its trust and belief in who you are and what you offer. All other factors being equal, if you have five-star Google reviews, with lots of good words about you and your competitor doesn’t, you are going to feature higher up in the rankings.
Google doesn’t want to stop reading
Google is reading the content in your website, the content in the websites you link to, your meta, your social media, comments left on your website, and your reviews. It reads all these words and looks for clues, again, to hang its belief on you and your offer. So, if your website is all about the amazing paint you sell and your wonderful service, it is going to be looking for clues in your reviews as to the validity of your claim.
If your reviews talk about your ‘helpful advice’, the ‘quality finish’ and the pleasing ‘transformation’ of an ‘interior decorating’ job, Google will read these words and see them as relevant, or not, and link them to your offer. Reading helps Google to sift the clues and build the evidence it needs to be able to trust you, just as a potential customer would when reading your website and reviews.
Manage your reviews
Actively managing your reviews on Google, means asking your customers to leave them for you, and providing them with the link to make it easy for them. And then responding to those reviews with appreciation and engagement. If you don’t receive five-star reviews, don’t worry. Ask your customer what you can do to improve, and make you a five-star supplier. Be open and responsive, just like a human, and Google will reward you for that too.
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