Hacking Local Search: Influencing Local SERPs With GMB Reviews
Hey there, we’re here, and I’ve heard a lot of discussions that reviews can influence local rankings in various online communities and industry forums. So we set about creating a case study to determine if we could strategically use reviews and review responses to improve the local maps rankings of selected Google My Business listings.
To prepare for our case study, I sought out professional marketers that both claimed to routinely use reviews to influence the map results and those that claimed reviews had zero correlation to increased map rankings. The sides were equally adamant and had equally reasonable explanations for their positions.
Additional Maps Ranking Study Materials And Resources
The Hypothesis For Our Review Case Study
After talking to a few local SEO experts who were claiming to see a correlation between Google Map reviews and increased rankings we developed a testing process which we believed would allow us to put this claim to a test.
Our methodology included eight Google My Business listings across different niches, using real accounts located near the targeted businesses, each listing that we chose had at most 1 review to start, and we alternated between two different keywords for each of the listings.
The process of the actual reviews involved randomizing our IP location and devices used to post the reviews, alternating the keyword that we targeted, and ensuring that each review that was left included at least a few sentences and the keyword was inserted naturally into the sentences. Additionally, we only used listings that had no current Google My Business SEO or link building being actively performed.
The Exact 60 Day Process We Used
We started our case study by selecting eight listings to test on. These were in the following industries: painter, roofer, lawyer, online marketing, locksmith, automotive, plumber, and appliance repair.
Each listing received 10 to 12 reviews spread across two months. We started placing reviews on November 22nd and finished in January. Again, we selected listings that had a maximum of 1 review and had our reviewers place their reviews from a random mix of locations and devices using real personal Google accounts.
Four of the accounts we had access to post responses as the owner, the other four we did not but one of those four did respond to most of the reviews that were left. The responses that we posted also included variations of the keyword that we were targeting and contained at least two sentences.
Each of the reviews we posted was handwritten and unique and contained three to four sentences, some were slightly longer. The targeted keywords were used in the reviews and were placed naturally and most of the reviews were 5 stars with a scattering of 4 stars added in for randomness.
Case Study Results At The Halfway Point
By December 22nd the listings each had six to eight keyword rich reviews, and five of them had responded to the reviews (four of the five used keyword variations in the responses).
When I analyzed the results at the halfway point I was deeply disappointed by the rankings I saw. And considered completely abandoning the test but decided to continue onward and see it through to the miserable end.
Here are the beginning and halfway rankings for the keyword terms. The location has been withheld on purpose to protect the identity of the listings and the accounts used to place the reviews.
As you can see these are less than impressive results, and noticeable SERP increases were only around 30% and then the average increase was only a single position, while the SERP decreases from the same period were closer to 40%. Hardly an effective use of resources and a less than auspicious start to our case study.
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The Final Results Of The Google Maps Review Case Study
In my opinion, this isn’t a horrible return on investment. And now I am wondering, what if I would have doubled or tripled the amount of keyword rich reviews we had used? Could we have increased the percentage of positive ranking increases even more? Hard to say as we had reached our capacity by using real personal accounts from the area the businesses were located in. If I were a black hat optimizer I might consider the investment of some high-quality Google reviews and see if I could duplicate the results we saw from using real accounts, and maybe use twenty or thirty reviews instead of a dozen.
Guest Contribution: Ranking In The Map Pack Using Reviews
As most of you know, ranking in the map pack is very important. So what’s the best way to do it?
There are many ways of doing it. This is a short list of some of the tricks that I use.
• Obviously, add your site to GMB
• Make sure you have a page on your website with the title, H1 or a page with the keyword. Best is to have a page surrounding the keyword
• Make sure the NAP (Name, Address, Phone) matches other listings
• Add images to the listing
• Any field you can fill out in the GMB listing, fill it out
• Social media accounts (Google wants to see an actual company)
• Add links to site
• Add reviews
This article is mainly about ranking with reviews. So what’s the best way to go about it? Do a quick search for the keyword you want to rank with. Google will pull up companies in the map pack. It will also bold the keywords in the reviews that it thinks you will want to see. Make sure you use those keywords and even add some more. Copy those keywords and enter them into an excel sheet so you know for future reference what keywords Google wants to show users in a review.
Obviously, Google is trying to rank what the customer most cares about. Prices, food, service/staff and parking. Google will put in bold the keywords they are looking for. Just make sure the one who leaves a review adds the keywords into the review.
Google does this for most companies that are in GMB. I have a huge excel list of dozens of industries of keywords that Google puts in bold. I make sure when the reviews are being placed, the keywords are in the review.
So how do I get reviews for my clients? There is a major problem with reviews. People leave a review if they hate the service but don’t leave one if they like it. You can always ask customers to leave a review, or…. write the reviews yourself. Now, this is a touchy subject for a lot of people about ethics… at the end of the day, they don’t write you a check, your client does.
So, let’s talk about reviews. It is best if your client gets reviews naturally, but sometimes its hard and you want to rank now!!!
Step 1. Create Gmail accounts. Google will let you create about 5 before asking you to confirm with a phone number. That’s when you buy a monthly service plan for $25 with just calling and texting from AT&T. Then you can create about 10 more emails using that number. Google won’t let you use an online texting service.
Step 2. Drip reviews. Leave about 2 reviews a week. Don’t make it too obvious, so leave reviews for other companies as well. The best part is, Google doesn’t remove reviews if they all come from the same IP address. But just to be safe, use different IP addresses or leave some from your phone.
Step 3. Make it look natural. Don’t just use keywords that are in bold.
Step 4. Add images to the reviews. Google loves that!!! They usually rank before the other reviews.
Step 5. Upvote the other reviews.
Step 6. Downvote negative reviews, and report them. Saying it’s a competitor. Or fake account.
Step 7. Don’t just leave 5-star reviews, add some 4-star reviews. But add a crazy reason why it is not a 5, for example, write “I was put 3 minutes on hold”
Step 8. ALWAYS respond to all reviews. Positive or negative. When responding to a review, don’t just copy and paste the same response, make it personal.
Step 9. Sometimes Google will pull reviews from Facebook and Yelp, make sure you do the same tricks as mentioned above.
Step 10. Have a lot of reviews. Usually, the way it works is, the companies with the most reviews (usually better ratings) get in the maps. Some can argue, but I’ve done a lot of testing on this.
Step 11. Get as many addresses as you can, submit it to GMB, and do the steps above all over again. The more listings the better.
These are just some of the tricks you can use to use reviews to rank in the map pack. But the best way is to just give amazing customer service where the clients are just dying to give you 5-star reviews and hopefully they put in the keywords you want in the review.
About Guest Contributor Motti Eliyahu:
I am a volunteer firefighter and medic. I have been doing SEO full time for 7 years. I love SEO and take it as a challenge. I don’t back down until I win. ww.mattismarketingusa.com
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