YOUR WEBSITE SCORECARD: PART 1
Our years of experience in optimizing websites to rank better in Google have provided us with valuable insights. In the next few weeks, we are going to review the results of these years of research that we’ve put into a Best Practices Scorecard for our clients. It lets them see what the top performers do that helps them improve their website’s performance. In this newsletter we’ll share this with you, starting with:
GOOGLE CUSTOMER REVIEWS
- TRUSTWORTHINESS: This is one of the cornerstones of Google’s new Helpful Content Update. They reward Trustworthiness in ranking websites, and we know from our years of experience with hundreds of sites, it is extremely important.
- GOOGLE REVIEW STAR RATINGS: Your prospective customers pay attention to this. Don’t highlight your reviews unless they are in the “4s.” Ratings of 4.7 to 4.9 out of 5 stars have the most credibility. Believe it or not, a “5-star rating” can hurt you. Nobody believes any company or person is absolutely perfect. Visitors question it.
- NUMBER OF REVIEWS: The more reviews the better. Again, it helps with Trustworthiness as the more reviews mean more opportunity for a prospective customer to have greater confidence in your business. We think it’s another ranking factor for Google as well.
- LOCAL MAP PACK: This is at the top of the Google Results Page showcasing 3 websites. While not specifically noted by Google, there is reason to believe Google prioritizes businesses with strong reviews in local search results.
- OFFERS INSIGHTS INTO CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE: Not only the positive reviews, but how the business answers its negative reviews, gives the potential customer valuable knowledge of how you do business.
- SELF-IMPROVEMENT: Not only do your potential customers learn valuable information about your business, but you learn valuable information about how they rate your business. These reviews are a two-way street.
We can’t stress enough how much these reviews influence Google…and your potential customers. Next week we’ll move to item #2 on our Best Practices Scorecard.
Onward & Upward!
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