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How Can Customer Online Reviews Help Your SEO?

There’s nothing as important as what a customer thinks about your products or services. What customers experience, and then share with others, is a part of your brand and your customer service, and it generates (or decreases) your revenue. When they tell anyone about their experience—whether it’s online or talking to someone in person—that’s considered a review. Online reviews are no longer a “nice-to-have” component for SEO. They’re just as important as any other part of a professional SEO program.

SEO Services in Pittsburgh Help Your Company’s Reviews

Why reviews are so important?

  • They keep you and your business connected to your customer. Customers who reach out and provide a review care. They care enough to take time out of their day and let you and others know just what they think of your business, product, or service. You’ll be able to respond to them, offers suggestions, or fix problems. It also gives you the chance to respond to unhappy reviews, showing people that you listen to customers’ concerns. They care, you listen. You build your brand, and they respond. It’s a cycle that you can partly control by being vigilant about your online reputation.
  • They’re meant to be shared. You’ve heard of the term “going viral.” While a viral post or two would be nice, they aren’t necessary for you to develop a rapport with customers. You just need some happy customers who use social media, and who love to share their thoughts on what products they’re using. Many, many people online have thousands of fans or followers who monitor their every post and every image. This can give your brand a very wide reach or can offer you a more targeted approach, depending on who is willing to share their thoughts.

Pittsburgh SEO Services Help Local Customers

Let’s talk about why online reviews are important for your SEO. Pittsburgh hotels, restaurants, and retail stores, as well as other local attractions, must generate enough positive reviews so that potential customers will be ready to buy. Some SEO experts have determined review signals to be as high as 10% of the total ranking factors.

Local SEO:

  • Persuades potential customers to buy (or not buy) your products. People are more likely to believe someone’s online review more than someone they actually know. Since more than 85% of people read online reviews before making a purchase, you have to be sure your reviews are excellent, because most people only read about six reviews before deciding whether to buy or move on to a similar product. When people are searching for a particular result, you want to be sure they see 4- and 5-star reviews that are highlighted next to your product.
  • Encourages immediate purchases. When potential customers search locally, more than 50% of them will visit a store they find in that search that very day or the next. It’s not a sale that prompted them, or a great coupon. It’s the fact that they searched for something that came up on Google, most likely on the first page, followed by a certain number of stars to signify their reviews. It’s not just people’s opinions that are important – if your business hours, contact information, address, and products aren’t on your site, you’re losing valuable foot traffic, and probably sales, too. Everything must be there so that Google can index it and then display it during searches.
SEO Pittsburgh Services for Local Businesses

The better your reviews are, and the more reviews your customers leave, the more likely people will be to walk in your store or give you a call to find out more information. When they do, ask them for a review, offer a place on your website where people can see your reviews, or create handouts that give clear directions on how to leave a review on Facebook, Google+, Yelp, Yahoo!, Twitter, and more.

It’s a lot of work to ensure that you’re getting great online reviews. Higher Images uses customized software that can help you earn more 5-star reviews from your happiest customers and that people can see when they search for you. Call us today to learn more.

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