 Welcome to The Journey. Today we're going to talk about how customer reviews can help your SEO. So business owners and operators, they need to know what the customers think about their store, right? And so whether it's a brick-and-mortar or an e-commerce business, it's helpful to know what your customers are thinking about your products and your services. And then knowing what your customers actually think, it can help you to better shape your business and your products. But did you know that your online customer reviews and your search and optimization go hand in hand? Let's take a look at how those tiny little stars can actually improve your SEO for your business. So why do customer reviews matter for SEO? Well, online customer reviews have emerged as one of the most important digital marketing tools, especially for small businesses that want to compete with those larger corporations. The best part is your company doesn't have to do a ton of work except for encouraging your customers to leave their favorable impressions about your business on one or more of the leading customer review sites. And if you still aren't convinced that online customer reviews matter for promoting your products or services, let's take a look at a few statistics to seal the case for receiving those online customer reviews. Yeah, customer reviews drive buying decisions. I know they help me out whenever I'm looking for a new product or service. In fact, nearly 95% of shoppers rely on online reviews and read them before making a purchase. And there's 72% of people in a recent study that I read that won't take action until they've read reviews about a business. And I use reviews to really determine my eating decisions. I'll go on Google and take a look at reviews of a potential restaurant to see if it's worth it. And I'm going to trust a lot of the reviews that I do find on those review sites and it influences my decision on where I'm going to eat that night. Totally. I mean, I did the same for when I moved to San Diego, I needed a dermatologist and I was a little hesitant about where to go, but once I read patient reviews for one of these particular doctors, it made me feel reassured and I just gained immediate trust before even making an appointment with this particular dermatologist. And if there's ever been a time in history where online reputation mattered most, it's right now. In a pandemic, when consumers have been spending more time at home figuring out what they need to improve their quality of life, reviews matter. Yeah, whether you sell pizza, coffee or yoga sessions, your potential customers are online now more than ever. And they want to see positive reviews from your happy customers before they'll actually consider opening their wallet and spending money with you. And now we talked about why they're important, but how do customer reviews improve SEO? So Google has dominated the search engine market for years, no surprise. The company has recently placed much more emphasis on how its algorithm calculates search engine results. So although YouTube videos and social media have gained more prominence in how Google ranks businesses, the company's own customer review site has morphed into one of the most important search engine ranking factors out there. Yeah, and the typical local business compiles 39 Google customer reviews with local businesses showing up on the highly coveted local SEO results acquiring an average of 47 Google customer reviews. That means local businesses average 4.4 out of five stars on Google My Business. All just 5% of local businesses have an average review rating of fewer than three stars. So consumers are typing into search engines like Google and they're expecting the best possible company with the highest rated products and reliable services out there to show up in their results. And if these consumers expect the best companies to show up, then wouldn't a search engine like Google need customer reviews to determine if a business deserves to be in that top spot? In fact, multiple search studies have found that collecting and replying to customer reviews is critical to your local SEO. Yeah, so we've established the importance of reviews, especially on Google My Business, but you might be wondering what's the best way to ask for reviews. So we have a list of possible ways to ask for reviews starting with, you know, when that customer is in a state of joy or delight, maybe right in front of you. Don't be shy when it comes to generating reviews. Don't sit back and wait. You got to be proactive about this. You can't just wait for them to roll in. Few businesses are lucky enough to have that. But for the most part, yeah, you got to get out there and ask, catch them in that moment that customer is happy. And as I say, you catch more flies with honey, but get that review while your product or service is top of mind for them. So the next thing you do is remind customers and your email signature. So you should already be sending an email prompting customers to leave a review that automatically delivers the email to the customers a few days after their purchase. But you can also plant the seed early if you're communicating with your customers frequently before your purchase. And instead of inserting a quote or other information down at the signature, use that space as an opportunity to ask them for a review for your business. You can even link directly to the place that you prefer your reviews the most like Yelp or Google My Business or any other review site online. Great point, Stanley. You can also create your own review landing page. Ever think of that? But don't make customers, you know, search to find the right place to leave your review. One of the most effective ways to collect reviews is through a custom branded review landing page right on your website. And it includes links to the pages and platforms where, you know, you'd like to generate more reviews. So for example, if your Google My Business page needs more reviews, direct them to that. And this will also boost your website's SEO. And when you receive new reviews, be sure to respond to them right away. We can't stress enough how important customer reviews are for your ability to show up when someone is searching for your product or services. So get out there and grow these reviews. All right, that's a wrap. You just learned how customer reviews can help your SEO. Be sure to leave us a comment below. Oh, don't forget to subscribe to our channel. And hey, ring that bell to get these episodes first. This is The Journey. We'll see you next time.