Google reviews don't just play a crucial role in influencing consumer decisions, they can also significantly impact your visibility and ranking in local search results.
Not only does Google's algorithm take reviews into account as a local ranking factor, but there are other creative ways you can use reviews from your Google Business Profile to help boost your local SEO efforts.
Keep reading to find out more about just how important Google reviews are for local SEO and how you can use them to boost your ranking in local search results.
Google Reviews as a Local Ranking Factor
Google takes into account various factors when determining the ranking of local businesses in search results, and reviews are one of these factors.
Google considers the quantity and quality of reviews as a ranking factor, so businesses with a higher number of positive reviews are more likely to rank higher than competitors with fewer or lower-rated reviews.
While not as strong a ranking factor as the big three — relevance, distance, and prominence — Google reviews are shown to help SEO and are easier to influence than other ranking factors.
So, by doing things like focusing on improving the customer experience and encouraging satisfied customers to leave reviews, you can directly impact your local search ranking.
Positive reviews can also help build trust and credibility with potential customers, making them more likely to choose your business over competitors, so they're not to be overlooked when it comes to doing SEO for any type of local business!
How Many Google Reviews Do You Need To Start Ranking?
For businesses just starting out on Google Business Profile, getting just 10 to 15 positive reviews — ideally 5-star reviews — can potentially help you start ranking well in local search results. However, this depends on multiple factors, including the business type and location, as well as the competition in the area and their reviews.
Keep in mind that your overall Google Review score is an average calculated based on all of your reviews, and just one bad review can seriously impact your overall score. To counteract just a single 1-star review impacting your rating, you'll typically need somewhere between 10 and 20 new 5-star reviews to get your average review score back up to where it was before the negative review.
If you want to know how many 5-star Google Reviews you need to get your total review score up to a certain number to help you outrank competitors, use the Google Rating Calculator below:
Does Responding To Reviews Help SEO?
According to information from Google on how to improve your local ranking, you should respond to Google reviews to show that you value your customers and their feedback.
Responding to reviews on your Google Business Profile also shows engagement and improves your business's reputation and authority, which can indirectly influence your local SEO efforts.
One way responding to reviews can indirectly impact your local ranking is by encouraging more customers to leave reviews — people are more likely to leave a review when they see a business reads them and is actively engaged with its customers.
We already know that the more positive reviews you get on Google Business Profile, the better, so anything you can do to encourage more satisfied customers to leave reviews can have an impact on your local SEO!
Keep in mind that you should respond to both positive and negative reviews. This not only helps optimize your Google Business Profile, but also provides you with the opportunity to really listen to feedback from customers that could help you improve the customer experience, ultimately leading to more positive reviews down the road.
How Else Can You Use Google Reviews To Improve Local SEO?
Besides getting more positive Google reviews and responding to both positive and negative reviews on your Google Business Profile, there's another way you can use Google reviews to boost your local search ranking, specifically the ranking of your website.
The way to do this is by embedding positive Google reviews on your business's website, providing valuable user-generated content that Google's algorithm values when determining rankings.
You can embed Google reviews on your site through different plugins or by accessing the data directly in Google Business Profile's API.
For an extra local SEO boost, try naturally incorporating locally relevant keywords in your responses to reviews, then embedding both the review and the response on your website. This allows you to add more local keywords to your site's content.
Keep in mind that you shouldn't go overboard when doing this, as embedding too much user-generated content on your site could get flagged as spam by Google, having the opposite effect on your rankings than the one you want!
The Bottom Line
Google reviews play a critical role in influencing consumer decisions and can significantly impact your visibility and ranking in local search results. Google considers the quantity and quality of reviews as a ranking factor, making businesses with more positive reviews more likely to rank higher.
Responding to reviews not only shows engagement and improves your business's reputation, but can also indirectly influence your local SEO efforts by encouraging more customers to leave reviews. Additionally, embedding positive Google reviews on your website can provide valuable user-generated content that Google's algorithm takes into account when determining rankings.
Overall, Google reviews are a powerful tool that should not be overlooked in your local SEO strategy's toolbox.
By focusing on providing an excellent customer experience, encouraging reviews, and responding to feedback, you can boost your local search ranking and attract more local customers to your business!