Why You Need 5+ Reviews

thumb_1289You know your business needs reviews – they’re as effective as word of mouth from friends and family, and more trusted than any ad campaign could be.

With the new local stack format, there’s an added reason to make sure your business is getting reviewed: An extra line in your listing on the search engine results pages.

It comes in the form of stars and a link to the reviews, and simply having it is a better indicator of site traffic than even being in the top spot.

You don’t need all positive reviews, but you do need at least five. Just one a day every day this week will get you there!

review stars in local pack

Expert Advice

Russell Burnett, Online Image® founder and chairman, gave a presentation to the Utah chapter of the American Marketing Association this week. He gave a real-life example of how two competing businesses showed up for a single keyword phrase queryThis occurs when a user asks a search engine to perform a search and provide relevant results. The term can be used either for the string of words that made up the query or for the action of asking itself.. The one on top had no reviews, but the one in position five had several. That business drew more clicks and had more conversionsWhen a visitor does what you want them to on your page, that’s a conversion. You can set any conversion goal, but common ones are phone calls, form submittal, newsletter signups and purchases. than the one in the first position, by far.

The room lit up with questions and conversations as soon as Burnett brought up reviews. They wanted to know how to get the stars in local listings, how to get the line of stars to appear on standard organic listings and whether it was a good idea to get reviews on multiple directories or on your site itself.

The Answers:

  • How Can Your Business Get Stars in Local Listings?

The new local pack uses data collected by Google itself, so the only way to get a star rating there is to encourage reviews of your business on your Google My Business page. Tell your satisfied customers to find you on Google Maps and follow the steps to leave feedback. Click here to print a free review request form that you can print out and give to happy customers or staple to their receipts.

  • How Can Your Business Get Stars for Other Reviews?

Local listings are becoming the most popular way for customers to find businesses, but many searchers still look through the regular organic results below as they make up their minds. In those results, you can qualify for the extra line of stars based on things like Yelp and TripAdvisor.

review stars organic listings

  • Which Sites are Best for Reviews of Your Business?

The answer is a tricky one, and it really depends on your business and your industry. But a few things are certain – no legitimate review is a bad review, and reviews on Google My Business are best. That’s not all, though. To find other top review sites, start by plugging in some keyword phrasesThese are the words or phrases users type into search engines as queries. about your services or products into a search engine. If you don’t see businesses like yours, try a different phrase. When you do find businesses like yours, there’s a good chance that results for review sites will also pop up. Make sure your business is listed on those sites and choose the top one or two to focus on. Pay special attention to local and niche-specific directories and review sites. And don’t forget about social media! If your business is on Facebook, ask for reviews on your company page.

  • Should You Ask for Reviews on Your Site?

Yes! But having them post just on your site may not be the best idea. Instead, consider linking to your best-performing review site. Then, keep an eye on that site and pull reviews from it to post on your site. There is schema markup for reviews, but Burnett thinks Google will soon stop paying attention to on-site reviews because they can be faked so easily.

statspage reviews

Don’t Get Overwhelmed

 Tracking reviews, listings and search engine results can be time-consuming and frustrating for any business owner, but Online Image® is offering a free trial period for our new proprietary software service. You can use it to track all those things on your behalf, making it easy to see search results, reviews and listings with just a few clicks. We also offer several review templates like the one above. Join up by using this online form or by calling our in-house experts at 801-261-5700.