Do You Answer Your Reviews?
Do you want to improve reputation management and SEO with one effort? We’ve written about the importance of a) getting reviews, b) the management of a negative review, as well as c) how the law sees a business that fakes its reviews, but what is rarely discussed is having a discipline for d) responding to reviews. SEO signal and reputation management opportunities exist when responding to reviews, good or bad. A business must understand that when dialogue stems from a review it demonstrates an appreciation for that persons’ business to the entire public of prospective buyers. And because review content can draw consumers when they search, it only makes sense that the Google algorithm looks at & counts keywords in this exchange of information.
How we respond matters to more than just a reviewer, good or bad, so let’s look at some best practices for maximizing the benefits of a review.
Tips For Responding To Reviews
1. Acknowledge The Reviewer In A Response
– By using a reviewer’s name the business owner not only grabs that reviewers’ attention, but it acknowledges her personal thoughts. It simultaneously demonstrates accessibility to the public and is likely appreciated by both!
2. Acknowledge Details In A Response
– By acknowledging details of the review in response, the business demonstrates a genuine interest in what that person thinks. By taking the time a business also shows a reviewer, as well as the public, commitment to customer service.
3. Offer Advice Related To The Review In A Response
– By offering advice based upon details of the review in response, the reviewer and the public may become aware of other options. It’s possible that advice will generate more and future interactions, if not transactions.
4. Use Target Keywords In A Response!
– According to Moz’s 2017 survey of local search ranking factors, reviews are a signal that influences how businesses rank locally. Being we all know Google uses reviews as one of their (200) signals for ranking companies and their content, it’s good logic they are reviewing the keywords in that content as well. While we cannot control what our reviewer says, we can leverage keywords when we respond! Note: a rule we should all live by with SEO is ‘the content needs to be good enough for humans to be good enough for search engines. So when writing a response, be careful to use keywords in a context related to the review exchange. Do not ‘keyword stuff’ and be sure that you- yourself would trust that response before publishing it.
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Any questions about reviews, reputation management, or genuine outsourced web support, please do not hesitate to get in touch. And ask us about Local SEO best practices – increased visibility, traffic, and better lead capture performance!
