It’s a well-observed fact that reviews affect your business’s rankings in local searches. But nobody has told you how or in what manner. And you may believe that the more reviews your business has, the higher its ranking gets.
But is that actually true?
Well, Google has cooked up some algorithms for it, and we’ve uncovered everything for you!
In a recent study by Sterling Sky on local ranking, we found that once a business or practitioner garners 10 reviews on listings, Google’s algorithms boost its ranking in local search results.
But that’s not all there is to it. After some time, the boost does not continue as you get or pump in more reviews. This reminds us of the law of diminishing returns, and in this case, it’s there.
To help you with an example, here’s an image for you.
As you can see in the image above, when the reviews went from 3 to 16, there was a ranking increase. But when the reviews increased to 31, not much happened.
Many business founders stated that 10 could be a “magic number,” as they observed a sudden increase in ranking but not much later.
Rankings Are More Than Just Reviews:
Reviews are just one piece of the puzzle. Getting a ton of them does not mean you’re going to rank well. What’s important is that you have to have at least 10 reviews for a better listing. And having them also helps in building trust and getting conversions.
Recency Matters:
While numbers tell their own story, the recency of reviews also matters. We found that when businesses got reviews from time to time, their rankings surged. But as the stagnancy settled, there was a decline. Therefore, by setting up a system that regularly updates your ratings, you can enjoy being on top for a longer time.
Length Can Make All The Difference
The above-mentioned scenarios lead us to the third one – length matters! The more genuine, longer, and wordier reviews your business gets, the better it will perform in search rankings. So encourage your customers to express their opinions freely. Haven’t you noticed that one-star reviews are longer because the customer is genuinely writing about something that he didn’t like? Persuade your customers to do the same for positive reviews.
Key Takeaway
The bottom line here is that reviews can make or break your rankings. No matter how many or how long they are, reviews matter for your business – to become a trusted brand, a company that people genuinely talk about and a reflection of how well it’s doing. Businesses that listen to their customers will always stay among them. And you can do so by asking your customers to express themselves!
As CEO and founder of The Ruby Marketing Agency, Lynn Ruby is a polished and knowledgeable marketing consultant, presenter, teacher and trainer having spoken for over 1,000 groups and thousands of attendees.
With a unique talent for understanding both the strategic and technical sides of marketing, Lynn knows how to not only create a compelling marketing message, but also how to translate that message onto online/digital platforms such as email, social media, video and websites, and offline platforms such as face to face interactions, hard copy printed publications, and in person group settings.
During her 20 year career focused on developing marketing initiatives for professional services firms, she produced and presented at more than 400 in-person workshops, seminars and keynote presentations, published and edited over 200 industry focused hard copy newsletters, trained dozens of professionals in networking, presentation and business development skills, designed and implemented 2 international intellectual property conferences and an industry focused salary survey.
Since founding The Ruby Marketing Agency in 2008, Lynn and her team have worked with hundreds of corporate owners on increasing their potential customer base by up to 140% with smart, keenly focused marketing initiatives and programs.