Google does not make things easy for the local businesses. We can hardly blame them as spammers are constantly trying to take advantage of search engines and get ahead. I am sure you have all tried at one point to claim and edit your local business listing and probably thought it would be an easy thing to do. Your business listings position on Google is based on a few factors. This article is to help you understand the importance of reviews on Google in helping your business achieve the top 10 coveted spots.
Since Google has started to show the local listings on the first page the importance of local optimization has become more and more important. Reviews on Local businesses are one of the most important factors in local search rankings. According to Dev Basu – “Citations are to local SEO what traditional linkbuilding is to organic SEO.” These reviews will help the search engines determine your relevance in the local listings and will strengthen your local business profile. The volume of reviews also has an enormous impact on rankings in Maps. Although it can be time consuming to collect and upload recommendations from you clients, investing the time will help drive search engine traffic to your businesses website.
It is important to make sure the information you provide Maps is accurate. Artificially generating reviews to achieve a higher ranking in Google maps is not user friendly for consumers. It does not create a better map listing it simply creates a lot of busy work to spam/manipulate the map rankings. Invest the time getting legitimate reviews from your clients and uploading them or asking them to review you on Google themselves.
Sometimes putting something as simple as “please review me on Google” in the signature of your email with a link to your local listing can help get those recommendations. Fake reviews are easy to spot on Google, and you may lose business because of it. I recently saw a listing in California, where an insurance agent had written 24 reviews for himself in one day. A consumer noticed this and gave him a bad review commenting on his obvious self placed recommendations.I am sure this has only negatively affected his business.
The good news is if you feel that keeping up with the work that is necessary to achieve and maintain the tops spots in Google maps we are here to help. As with most local and small businesses, your time is limited and your expertise does not lie in the management of internet marketing of your business. Let the experts help you!
Article written by Danielle Cameron. Copywrite Imprezzio Marketing 2010.
Great article Danielle. I know I use Google reviews before purchasing products. I believe understanding and using these tools are becoming more and more important in our industry.