Keywords in Google Reviews Help Your Rankings

We’re big on Google reviews as they are important for rankings and building trust and credibility. But not all reviews are equal. In this post you’ll learn:

  • how to get more reviews
  • how to supercharge your reviews to increase rankings

We focus on helping our clients get more Google reviews as it’s a way to help rank better in the Google maps and build trust and credibility. But not all reviews are equal. Before I get into that, read this post on how to get more Google reviews.

Not All Reviews Are Equal

Getting reviews is not easy but when you do, you want to ensure the review can help boost your rankings. You’ll want to take the instructions in this post and apply it the post I just linked to on getting more Google reviews.

Here’s an example of a review from Rakhi Madan that is awesome – and one that we appreciate greatly!

meaningful-marketing-victoria-bc-Google-Search

But an even better review, and one that can boost your rankings, is when the client mentions keywords tied to your services and people who helped them out. Here’s an example of a review from Dave Stephens at Lida Homes.

dave-stephens-reviews

Although Dave doesn’t mention my name, he mentions “SEO” and goes into great detail talking about their rankings improvement. What could have been better is if he said something like “We started using Jordan and Meaningful Marketing 6 months ago for SEO in Victoria.”

How Keywords in Reviews Help Local Search Rankings

The MOZ local search ranking survey mentions ‘Product/Service Keywords in Reviews” as:

  • the 14th most important factor in Google Maps rankings
  • 5th most important factor in Competitive Difference Makes

This local SEO rankings study from 2017 shows a connection between keywords in reviews and higher rankings. This makes sense as Google is always learning more about a business and the services you offer. If Google sees reviews where the reviewers mention the specific service they received, it will signal to Google what services you offer and that lots of people are talking about those services.

An Email Template

Now that you’re on board with this, here’s an email template you can use you help your clients add keywords into their reviews.

Subject Line – “Hey [name], a small favour to ask”

Body – “Thanks so much for being such a great client.

Google reviews are a great way for new clients to find us. I’d greatly appreciate it if you could take a minute and write us a quick review here[insert link to your Google listing].

If you are unsure what to write about, here are some questions that should give you some ideas about what to say:

  • What service did we complete for you?
  • Which location did you have this service at?
  • How did we do overall?
  • Did you work with any specific people you’d like to mention?

I understand you might not have much time, but the more detail you provide, the better. ”

Feel free to tweak this to your language but it should help generate more views. A good goal is to send this to one person a day if you have time. Over the course of one month, that should have drastic results on the amount of reviews you receive.

If you need help with your local SEO or with gathering more Google reviews, contact us to learn more about our services.