Value of Local SEO Reviews: Simple Basics

There are a few potential elements of a locally targeted SEO campaign that can be extremely important to your brand's visibility and success, and online reviews are a great example. While reviews can be important for varying SEO and digital marketing campaigns, they tend to hold particular weight for local campaigns where people in a given area are looking for a product or service and comparing their options.

At Be Locally, we're proud to assist clients with a wide range of online marketing and SEO solutions, including local SEO for various businesses that may benefit from it. In this two-part blog series, we'll discuss everything you should know about reviews for your local search campaign - why they're important, how to get them, how to manage your reputation and boost your review quality, and more. 

How Online Reviews Work

While most readers have at least a general understanding of how reviews work, it's important to understand their specific mechanics. Let's think about Google reviews, which are some of the most common and important types for local SEO:

• Leaving a review: If someone wants to leave a review of your business on Google, they must be signed into their Google account. They can then navigate to your Google My Business listing and click the "Write a Review" button. They'll assign you a star rating out of five, write some text about their experience with your business and submit it. 

• Review visibility: Once the review is submitted, it will be visible on your Google My Business listing for anyone to see. It may also show up in other places, such as relevant search results or even Google Maps.

• Responding to reviews: As a business owner, you have the ability to respond to reviews left for your business. Whether the reviews are positive or negative, it's always a good idea to respond and engage with your customers.

• Review influence: Google takes reviews into consideration when determining search rankings for local businesses. Generally, businesses with higher ratings and more positive reviews will rank higher in relevant local searches.

Why Reviews Are Vital for Local SEO

Within any local campaign, reviews are extremely important for a few key reasons. For starters, they provide valuable social proof for potential customers who are considering your business. Seeing positive reviews can increase trust and credibility in the eyes of consumers, making them more likely to choose your business over competitors.

Additionally, as mentioned previously, reviews play a role in search rankings. Google's algorithm takes into account the quality and quantity of reviews when determining where a business should rank in local searches. This means that having a strong review presence can directly impact your visibility and search performance.

Furthermore, reviews also allow for customer feedback and give businesses the opportunity to improve their products or services based on this feedback. Responding to negative reviews and addressing any issues can demonstrate excellent customer service and show a commitment to improving the overall customer experience.

In part two of our series, we'll go over some tips on how to get positive reviews, how to manage your review reputation, how to respond to certain kinds of reviews, and more. At Be Locally, we understand the importance of online reviews for local SEO and are here to help your business succeed in this area. Stay tuned for more helpful insights in our next blog post!