How Great Google Reviews Improve Your Local Service Ads

Every business has the same goal: to attract as many customers as possible and to leave them satisfied so they’ll keep coming back. However, the hard part is figuring out the precise combination of factors that would make your business stand out among the rest. Everyone tells you different things, and it’s difficult to pinpoint one specific path to guaranteed success.

However, there’s one constant that will always help boost your business: great Google reviews. It’s very satisfying to see good reviews roll in, but did you know how much of an impact positive Google reviews can make? It may be more than you thought.

Google Reviews: An Easy Way to Gain Trust

Obtaining a good Google rating seems like a no-brainer for any business striving to come out on top in today’s digital age, but you should make it a priority.

Of course, it’s harder to attract a lot of customers until you have a trove of good Google reviews for them to comb through. But once those reviews roll in, they make a world of difference. It’ll be easier to gain those reviews once your business is Google certified, so make sure to complete that application as soon as possible.

A study from UK-based search agency BrightLocal found that 49% of customers wouldn’t use a business that had a rating of less than 4 stars. That’s nearly half your potential customer base! They also found that a staggering 85% of customers treat an online review like they would a word-of-mouth recommendation.

More Than Meets the Eye

So, the goal might seem to be to gain as many reviews as possible, but that’s not the case. While Google’s specific local service ad algorithm isn’t available, we do know that Google reviews play a big part.

Google lists reviews as one of the five factors that weighs into its LSA rankings the most. But it goes deeper than that. Google doesn’t simply look at the rankings themselves. It also takes into account how recently the rating was given – both of these factors heavily into the algorithm behaviors.

Simply having the most reviews won’t catapult you into the top spot for your area, but a higher rating will.

Another survey from the folks at BrightLocal found that there were a few common denominators among the businesses that performed better than the rest.

• They discovered that local businesses in the top 3 ranking had an average of 47 Google reviews, and that they had an average rating of 4.5.
• While we mentioned above that simply gaining more reviews shouldn’t be the goal, it still helps. BrightLocal’s study found that businesses in the top 3 spots received, on average, 7 more reviews than businesses ranked 4-6, and they got an average of 9 more reviews than businesses ranked 7-10.

Looking for Ways to Boost Your Google Reviews?

These Google reviews matter now more than ever, and you can’t afford to ignore them if you want to beat out competitors. That’s where VitalStorm comes in. Our comprehensive marketing plan is tailored specifically to your business, and we’ll do what it takes to help you reach the next level.

Still interested? Watch the webinar we hosted with Podium, a leader in helping businesses reach their full potential, called “Drive More Customers to Your Business with Google Local Service Ads.”

Call VitalStorm at 1-877-311-5695 for more information!