How to Get Ratings for Local SEO: The Must-Do List

Online reviews are important. They improve customer confidence signals, provide social proof that your brand is what it says it is, and can even help with SEO efforts.

While the focus on reviews in SEO is usually on how reviews affect rankings, rankings are only a small part of why reviews are important to local SEO.

The benefits of a healthy review profile include increased leads, social evidence, customer support opportunities, and increased customer loyalty and engagement, to name a few.

Both great and terrible reputations spread rapidly. While you don’t want to be known for a bad reputation, you also don’t want your brand to get lost in random selection.

Reviews are a free way to generate brand recognition, reputation for responsiveness and excellent customer service, positive exposure, SEO benefits and influence on purchasing decisions with potential customers.

Even negative reviews offer an opportunity – showing potential customers how you react to frustrations or how you deal with them (all reasonable clients know that things can go wrong from time to time) and give you free feedback on what aspects of your business you can improve.

Use critical reviews to improve your offer and customer experience. This will show up over time in your overall review profile and instantly in customer satisfaction. If all your customers hate coffee in your lobby, change it.

Getting reviews for a local business

So how do you get reviews?

One of the most common questions we get from customers when it comes to reviews for their local businesses is how to encourage their customers to leave reviews without annoying them or risking negative feedback from the public.

Here are some of the best tips on how to secure reviews for local SEO.

The Ask

It seems simple, doesn’t it? You ask, and you will receive. But

The “Person You Already Know” Ask

Good sources of online reviews include:

This is a great way to get reviews because if you ask someone you know and are comfortable with, you probably have an established relationship with them and they are more likely to leave a great review.

Although Google does not allow reviews from non-users, Facebook does not limit reviews to paying customers and customers. Industry partners, your neighbor and even your postal operator are totally welcome to leave a review.

However, don’t ask them to lie, because authenticity is key here. If it is not a client or customer, instead ask the reviewer to talk about your integrity, professionalism, personality, or character as opposed to brand-specific experience.

The “Verbal” Ask

Like a person you already know, a verbal question allows you to decide if someone would be a good candidate for a positive review.

You can ask a passing customer or even pick up the phone and call him. If you call them, it’s often best to start the conversation by thanking them for their work and asking for feedback to let them know you care about their experience with your brand before you ask them to do you a favor.

The “Digital” Ask

The digital query allows you to choose from whom you want to get a review. The digital query can be delivered via email, text message or even directly on your social channels.

Not everyone you ask will take the time to review their experience with you. However, this is a great way to catch some positive fruit hanging.

The “Passive” Ask

Your reception, flyers and other printed materials offer a fantastic opportunity to provide a QR code that directly links to your reviews.

Add some social proof, such as a picture of one of your top reviews, a star rating, or a few words about why you want to scan the code to encourage participation.

Review Request Tips

A variety of review management tools can help you request, compose, and respond to online reviews.

Be careful if you use a third-party tool to search for or respond to reviews to make sure they are not engaging in questionable tactics for displaying or managing review content.

Review management platforms have recently come under fire from the FTC for “avoiding collecting or publishing negative reviews” in violation of FTC guidelines.

Mike Blumenthal of NearMedia follows recent FTC cases and policy updates and does a fantastic job explaining them on the Near Media blog.

Strategies to Ensure a Positive Review Profile

What Not to Do When Seeking Reviews for Local SEO

Online reviews for local business: The bottom line

Both great and terrible reputations spread rapidly. While you don’t want to be known for your bad reputation, you also don’t want to get lost in random selection.

Reviews are a free way to generate brand recognition, a reputation for quick response and excellent customer service, positive exposure, SEO benefits and, of course, influence on purchasing decisions with potential customers.

Even negative reviews offer opportunities. It shows potential customers how you react to frustrations or how you deal with them (all reasonable clients know that things can go wrong from time to time) and gives you free feedback on which aspects of your business you can improve.

Use critical reviews to improve your offer and customer experience. This will show up over time in your overall review profile and instantly in customer satisfaction. If all your customers hate coffee in your lobby, change it.

Remember, online reviews help build potential customers, have SEO benefits, show you what your customers really want and expect from your business, inform you about areas of your business where there is room for improvement, and help drive conversions.

The opinions expressed in this article are those of the guest author and not necessarily Search Engine Land. Employed authors are listed here.

New on Search Engine Land

About The Author

Erin Jones has been working in digital marketing and SEO since 2005. She specializes in local SEO, social media and brand reputation. She works at Sterling Sky and is also a professor at a local university. Erin is passionate about the community and loves helping brands connect with their ideal audience both online and in person.

What are the most effective local SEO tips for beginners?

15 Most Effective SEO Tips for Beginners

• # 1: Create content that people love to read and share. …
• # 2: Reengineering the SEO strategy of your competitors. …
• # 3: Do a thorough keyword research. …
• # 4: Optimize the elements on the page. …
• # 5: Fix technical issues with SEO. …
• # 6: Improve the user experience. …
• # 7: Improve your feedback profile.

How local SEO is done?

How does local SEO work? At a high level Local SEO works like a “normal” Google search. When someone searches, Google scans your index to provide the best results for that person’s query. What makes local SEO unique is that Google uses a different set of ranking factors to rank local search results.

Why would I opt for local SEO services? Simply put, local SEO is improving the search visibility of businesses serving the local area. Better visibility means more engagement and revenue.

Who should use local SEO?

Any business that has a physical location or serves a geographic area can benefit from local SEO. If you search Google for any important keyword related to your business and a 3-listing folder (also known as a folder pack) appears below it, then local SEO can help you grow your business.

Why You Should Do local SEO?

Local SEO helps your business stand out – even if you don’t have a website – and helps drive more traffic to your premises through potential online clients. Since these potential customers come from people who are specifically looking for products or services offered by your business, they are likely to give you a high conversion rate as well.

Who benefits from local SEO?

With local SEO, your business becomes more visible because it is found by the right people who are interested in your product and at the right time. When your business is more visible, it means more profit, sales, and even relevance.

Is local SEO still relevant?

SEO remains relevant and vital in 2021 if you want your business to have an effective online presence.

How much does it cost to put my business on Google?

Yes, it’s free to create a business profile on Google. Create your profile for free and manage your business with Google Search and Maps to reach more customers.

Why are local listings important for SEO?

Local ads are important to SEO because: They provide valuable information about your business to potential customers. Increase the visibility of your business in local search. Increase your chances of outperforming your local competitors.

Why is local business listing important? Business listing will make it easier for local customers to find your local business. Business management is local listing directories that make it easier for your customers to find your business. You can give as many quotes as possible.

Why local SEO is important for SEO?

Local SEO helps your business stand out – even if you don’t have a website – and helps drive more traffic to your premises through potential online clients. Since these potential customers come from people who are specifically looking for products or services offered by your business, they are likely to give you a high conversion rate as well.

Who benefits from local SEO & Why?

With local SEO, your business becomes more visible because it is found by the right people who are interested in your product and at the right time. When your business is more visible, it means more profit, sales, and even relevance.

What is local SEO and why it is important for SEO?

Simply put, local SEO is a place you focus on to improve your ranking and visibility in local search results such as Google Map Pack / Local Pack. Organic SEO is a way to improve the ranking of websites in organic search. The way your website ranks in these organic results can also positively affect the ranking of your local package.

Who benefits from local SEO & Why?

With local SEO, your business becomes more visible because it is found by the right people who are interested in your product and at the right time. When your business is more visible, it means more profit, sales, and even relevance.

Why local SEO is important for local businesses?

A successful local SEO campaign will help your business because: Local SEO increases the ranking of your website in search results and in the local package. Receives the highest conversion levels of all local advertising channels. Increases your visibility online, especially with neighboring customers.

Who should use local SEO?

Any business that has a physical location or serves a geographic area can benefit from local SEO. If you search Google for any important keyword related to your business and a 3-listing folder (also known as a folder pack) appears below it, then local SEO can help you grow your business.

What is a benefit of using a local SEO strategy?

One of the benefits of local SEO is that it brings potential customers to your site and improves your conversion rate. According to Joel House Search Media, 28% of local searches result in sales. So, there is no denying that local SEO results in a better conversion rate – increased traffic flow results in increased sales.