Does responding to reviews help SEO? In short, yes. But answering them has many other positive results, such as solving customer problems, building trust with them, reaching and converting consumers, giving you insights on how to improve your business, or even your shopping experience. And most important: you show people that you listen and care about them.
In Latin America, the act of responding to reviews is even more important, because Latin American people really value relationships. And brands are no different, as they are seen as a friend or adviser to customers.
If you have a business, you should also have a Google My Business account, where you can complete with all your business information: address, phone number, frequently asked questions, images of your store, the latest updates of your company and – most importantly – you can receive and answer reviews. Good and bad ones. All of this tells Google that your business is or isn’t relevant enough for recommendation on the search results of the region your store is in.
If it is relevant enough, your business will definitely have more visibility. Because Google cares and trusts businesses that take care of their customers. After all, your customers are also Google’s, right?
In addition to that, people will probably choose a business that has more than a hundred reviews rather than choosing one that has less than thirty reviews. Word-of-mouth will always have a big impact on the decision of the shopper.
Adding keywords while answering
You can’t preview or control which words your customer will write on their review, but the more reviews you have, the greater the chances of the keywords of your business appearing. You can also insert the key terms when you are responding to the reviews.
To have a better understanding of this topic, imagine you have an Italian restaurant. Every word related to it, such as italian pasta, lasagna, gnocchi, gelato etc., will give your place more visibility. You can also mention some aspects of the client’s experience in your answer.
And it’s crucial to know that Google and customers value written reviews more than rating notes because this way they can have a more accurate response for what they are looking for.
For example, if Google wants to recommend the best Italian restaurants of the region, it will look for the keywords we said before.
Recent reviews
The customers will look for recent reviews, because they want to know if your place is still good and well frequented. So it is important not to get comfortable with the reviews you already have – you should always encourage your clients to leave reviews on your business profile.
Engagement on your business profile
The more complete your business profile is, the greater the chances of the customer spending more time on it: looking at pictures and updates, leaving comments, asking questions, reading reviews and visiting your website. And why is time spent on your business profile important? It indicates to Google that your profile has a lot of good information to customers, increasing your ranking on the results page.
Google can understand how your customer is feeling about your business according to the words they use to describe their experience. Positive words like “good” and “nice” make Google believe the shopper is satisfied with the product and service your business has provided.
Local guides
Google gives more authority to a customer who leaves reviews all the time, as opposed to one making their first review.
Review Sites
Google also values the customers reviews on famous review websites, such as Tripadvisor, Mapquest, Home advisor, Foursquare, BBB.org, Angie’s List and Zomato. To make it happen you must register your business on these websites so people are able to give feedback on them. Be sure your address, phone number and name are correct.
Google also “reads” the bad reviews and considers it a bad thing, since it can have negative words that show how the customer is feeling. But not everything is lost. You can answer the comment saying you are sorry for the bad experience and that you will do everything in your power to change the current situation. You can thank them for the feedback and invite them to contact you, even offline. Remember that bad feedback is also an opportunity to get more of an insight of improvements you can do on your business.
Too many reviews at once
Google knows when the quantity and velocity of reviews are not organic. If your profile has never been reviewed and, in one day, gets a ton of comments, Google’s algorithms will get suspicious.
Low ratings
Yes, Google values text reviews and ratings more, but a bad rating won’t give the trust Google needs in order to rank your business.
Fake reviewers
If fake reviews are found, Google can even suspend your business.
Now that you know the complete answer of the question “Does responding to reviews help SEO?”, you can search for more SEO content on our blog and learn much more about it.
