I think most of us understand that online reviews are crucial to a business’s SEO strategy, but it looks like more and more your ratings from Google+ local reviews are weighted heavier by (you guessed it) Google. In a UK Study of search Engine Ranking Factors it was determined that Google+ reviews have possibly the most important impact on local search results. This makes sense – if your business is rated well by others then it’s likely a reputable company and Google will want to put your site higher in the rankings. Of course Google+ is not the only ranking system out there and the others do have an effect on your site’s online reputation and ranking. However, Google knows it’s ranking system and knows it’s pretty hard to cheat it so of course Google gives higher credibility to its own system.

Unfortunately few people and even fewer businesses use Google+ consistently. Quite a few businesses have a G+ page, but it’s rarely updated or cared for and rarely is it used to ask others for a review. It is critical that you maintain your Google+ business page and solicit reviews from you (happy) customers as often as possible. It’s not terribly hard to maintain your Google+ page but it does take time and it’s usually an afterthought or a task you push back until it’s ultimately forgotten.

If it’s not obvious, we specialize in local SEO including creating and maintaining local social media profiles including Google+. Call us today for advice on how you can use your social media more effectively or learn how inexpensive it can be to let our SEO experts handle some or all of your social media campaigns.