Search Engine Optimisation - Search Marketing Group®

How to get 5-star reviews for your business

July 5, 2022

We all want to be recognized for our hard work. For businesses, that recognition comes in the form of the coveted 5-star rating.

Everyone wants five stars to call themselves a 5-star business. Who wouldn’t? But unfortunately, it takes more than being good at what you do to get there.

If you’re wondering why you haven’t got more reviews or how to get 5-star reviews for your business, look no further. In this guide, we’ll show you exactly how to get 5-star ratings on Google, Facebook, and any other review platform.

Let’s get started!

The power of 5-star reviews

You know that five stars are good and 1 star-reviews are bad. And while it’s easy to take it personally as a comment on the quality of your business, reviews have far more power than we often realize.

It all boils down to this:

Humans are inherently social creatures. Therefore, we care A LOT about what other people think.

This is so ingrained in our psyches that 48% of people won’t even look at a business with less than 4 stars.

Of course, there is a delicate balance. Having all 5 stars can look too perfect, meaning businesses want to aim for a 4.7 or 4.9 average. It also means that the odd one or 3-star review won’t kill your business, so you can take a breath if you’ve been worried about that negative commenter who seems to have it out for you.

But at the end of the day, the more 5-star ratings, the better. So we’ll show you how to start bringing those reviews in droves.

How to get 5-star Google reviews

Not only do reviews account for 15% of your local SEO ranking, but they are also apparent.

As you can see below, our Google rating appears under our business when a potential customer searches for the ‘Search Marketing Group®.

Thankfully, we’ve brought in quite a few stars with our commitment to service. But if your customers are a little less happy…

…Well, it’s safe to say that your future customers will know about it.

So how can you make sure you get positive ratings? Here’s how you can get more 5-star Google reviews.

Keep doing what you’re doing – excellent work!

A quick note: before you can get a 5-star review, you need to give the customer something worth reviewing. You’re already delivering amazing products/services and customer service, so you should be covered.

But just in case, do a quick assessment of your business. Are there any areas where you could improve to generate more positive feedback? Have you received negative feedback on certain aspects of your business that you could take into consideration?

Of course, you’ll want to be careful with this. Many bad reviews out there tend to be fake, but it’s always worth considering the opinion of someone expressing genuine concern or letdown.

Ask every customer for a review.

What is the most reliable way to get 5-star reviews? Just ask.

Well, you can only ask for A review. But chances are you have a lot of satisfied customers who just aren’t taking the time to leave a review after their experience.

In fact, 70% of customers will be thrilled to leave a review for a business when asked.

So how do you go about it?

If you sell online or collect emails, simply send a follow-up email. Depending on the type of business you are in, you may want to send one immediately, or you may want to give people time to try and love your offering first. The choice is yours.

You can also put the call out on your social media accounts and display your request in-store.

Make it easy for customers to give you reviews.

Sure, most customers are happy to give you reviews. But they won’t jump through hoops to do it, so you want to make the process as easy as possible.

You can do this in several ways, including creating a custom link that sends customers straight to your reviews. Here’s how to create a custom Google review link.

You may also want to create a custom QR code for people on mobile devices and display these in your store, marketing material, and packaging.

Respond to reviews – even the negative ones.

Responding to reviews allows you to show appreciation for those who have left reviews and encourage others to follow suit.

And who knows? You might transform that 2-star rating into a 4 or 5-star with excellent customer service!

Apart from getting you more 5-star reviews, responding to reviews also helps boost your SEO, so this is a must.

Provide incentives

Some customers may love sharing their opinions or want to show their support, but others may need more prompting. There is a range of incentives that have been proven to work on customers, including:

Receiving a product free of charge. While this may not be ideal for small businesses, perhaps you have a small item in stock that you could use or a service you could add on top for a customer.
Receiving a product before everyone else. Those willing to give reviews are often your biggest supporters. Tempt them with a new item in stock that hasn’t been sold to your general public yet, and they’ll feel unique and valued.
Discounts with your store or brand. Everyone loves getting a deal. This is one of the most typical incentives businesses use – for good reason. You get a review and another purchase, with hopefully more to come. Consider offering a 5-10% voucher for anyone who gives you a review or something like free shipping.
Loyalty points with your store or brand. This may be the most doable for small businesses, as it doesn’t require you to give away stock or price things lower. And it is quite adequate, with 59% of consumers saying they’d be happy to leave a review in exchange for loyalty points. Not to mention that a good loyalty program is a great way to keep customers longer!

How to get 5-star Facebook reviews

As with Google reviews, Facebook reviews are essential to the buyer’s journey. Not only will they be seen by people looking up your business on Facebook, but Facebook pages also often rank on the results page whenever anyone searches for your business.

We can see below that our Facebook page is the second result when searching for Search Marketing Group® our Facebook page is the second result.

And under that result? Our 4.6-star rating.

Now, it is possible to disable ratings for your Facebook. However, this is an excellent opportunity to build trust with your customers and show them that others have received value from your business.

Provided that you can get those 5-star reviews, of course.

Most of the tactics we explored with Google reviews also apply to getting 5-star Facebook reviews. However, some other ways you can get reviews that are more specific to Facebook are explored below.

Make sure your reviews are set up.

Turned your reviews off at some point? Here’s Meta’s guide to turning on Facebook page reviews and ratings.

Ask customers to check in.

Facebook prompts people who have checked into a place to leave a review. So if you have a brick-and-mortar store, encourage your customers to check in while visiting – either verbally through your employees or with a reminder in-store.

This lets Facebook do the heavy lifting for you and means you can get reviews without asking!

Create a Facebook post asking your customers to leave reviews

As we explored above, many people just need to be asked in order to leave a review. Create a Facebook post asking for reviews and a link to your reviews – chances are, your followers will be happy to comply.

Keep your Facebook updated.

People will be far more likely to engage with you on Facebook – including leaving you reviews – if you’re active. Make sure you’re posting on a regular basis and give your customers fresh, exciting content that augments their experience with you in the real world.

Don’t have time to keep up with your socials? Our social media marketers can take care of everything for you. Book a free consultation today.

Wrapping up

We’ve shown you how you can get 5-star reviews for your business and boost your online reputation. While we only focused on Google and Facebook, the same principles apply to TripAdvisor, Yelp, Trust Pilot, and any other review site.

So go forth and get those stars!

For more digital marketing advice, check out our Blog . You can also reach out to our team of digital marketing strategists – we’ll be happy to chat about how you can improve your online reputation.

Our SEO Agency Ballarat, SEO Agency Bendigo, SEO Agency Adelaide, SEO Agency Sydney, and SEO Agency Brisbane services are planned and executed with the highest level of precision and thoughtfulness, leading to excellent results and satisfaction for the clients.

Why Keywords Are Vital For Your SEO Campaign

January 20, 2020

While keywords aren’t the only aspect you need for effective search engine optimization, they are essential.

Keywords are the foundation of your campaign and make all the difference in your results. This reason is why keyword research is an important stage of your SEO strategy.

You might think your business-related keywords are apparent, but using online tools to find exactly what people are searching for within your niche will help immensely. Not to mention, keywords are competitive, so you’ll want to focus on the most beneficial words for your business. By doing this, you’re preparing for a much better choice of keywords. This research will influence your website traffic well into the future, so preparing these foundations at the beginning is crucial.

Once you’ve found the right keywords, your next step is working them into your website’s metadata. Metadata contains descriptions of the site’s contents and keywords linked to the content. The use of strategized metadata on web pages is crucial because they have keywords related to your content, which is critical for SEO purposes.

Twitter lists make it easier to filter the content on your social media account. You can easily ignore content and people you’re not interested in following, and you can navigate your way toward information and people you want to engage with. These lists can save you lots of time on unnecessary searches.

If you want to find your influencers, they are listed. If you are looking for social fun, simply tune in to your friends’ lists. If you want to promote a new product, then all of your prospective customers are on your easy-to-access list.

Once you’ve worked your keywords into your site’s metadata, your next step is to add plenty of high-quality webpage content based on your selected keywords.

You should also track the website’s performance and use tools to discover which keywords are working.

It’s possible to see what people searched for when they found your website, so using this information is most beneficial. You can then change or add new keywords as your SEO campaign develops.

Imagine you own an electrical shop in Melbourne, for example, and you think the keywords’ electrical shop Melbourne’ and ‘light fittings Melbourne’ might be helpful. If you check an online tool and discover that many more people are typing ‘lights Melbourne,’ this is a highly significant difference.

Furthermore, you might discover from the back of your website that people are finding your site with unexpected search terms. This means you can focus on these keywords in your site’s content and further strengthen your SEO status.

The keyword process is an ongoing one and should be natural organic growth. This process also works well for a business’s image, as people like to see this kind of growth. The keywords are quietly working away in the background of your website’s success and remain an essential part of your overall SEO campaign.

Super Keywords and How To Find The One Which Works For You

When it comes to search engine ranking, the usage of proper keywords is an inescapable aspect. So, you need to know the keywords which work with your industry and how to find them.

The importance of keywords for a business

Keywords are not solely about SEO. They can boost your marketing campaign too. The keywords you choose show the uniqueness of your products.

For instance, if you own a graphic designing company in Melbourne, Australia, think about your service’s specialty.
If it’s affordability, your keyword should portray that correctly; “affordable graphic designers Melbourne” is a sample keyword.

So, this keyword itself links your business and visitors who are searching for affordable graphic designers in Melbourne.

How to find the correct keywords for your business

Use ‘key phrases’ instead of ‘keywords

Although we’re used to saying keywords, you must use key phrases — otherwise known as long-tail keywords.

Suppose you sell pet food in Melbourne, Australia.

How will you get potential buyers to find you? What is the single word you’re going to use? Words ‘pet’ or ‘food’ will not work alone.

Each word is too broad.

But, how about a phrase like “best pet food Melbourne”?

Such a key phrase contains the specialty of the product you sell and the geographical location. This phrase narrows down the results and exposes your website to those who live in Melbourne and are interested in buying top-quality pet food.

Observe what your competitors do.

TIf you sell a product or service with high demand, you will have competition in the industry. This likely means your competitors are already using prominent keywords to get better traffic. Study the aspects like meta tags, page titles, and type of content they use. So you can plan your campaign accordingly.

Use Google Trends

Google Trends is an excellent online tool that allows you to find highly essential keywords related to your niche.

This website is a user-friendly tool, and you can find a large variety of keywords and compare them for effectiveness. Such an approach allows you to pick the most effective keyword of all and maximize the efficiency of your campaign.

Regardless of the strategy you use to find keywords, it’s essential to integrate them wisely with your website. This integration is when effective content creation comes to play. Clever usage of keywords within the content on your site makes your campaign successful.

This strategy is why most business websites incorporate a blog page. So you have several individual pages on which you’re able to include keywords without having your essential ones with too many words. Because if you’re like most people when first arriving on a website, you want the necessary information, fast. No one wants to get bombarded with thousands of words on a page.

Meta Keywords and SEO, How They Work Together

It’s important to know you can read plenty of conflicting information when it comes to what works in search engine optimization or SEO.

These conflicts are because the internet constantly changes and evolves, and different ideas and patterns emerge. If you set up a website and decide meta keywords are unimportant, or you have a fixed idea of SEO based on something you’ve read, you won’t have much chance of success.

Your Twitter profile needs a lot of links. You should link your profile anywhere with strong keywords in the anchor text. You can also encourage others to link to your Twitter profile to improve the authority it receives from search engines.

The correct implementation of meta keywords within your SEO Perth is essential, along with many other aspects.

If you’re seriously developing and building an SEO strategy that works, you want to take advantage of every possible positive impact.

For example, you might read ‘Google doesn’t use meta keywords,’ and imagine using them is pointless. However, there are plenty of other reasons you should keep utilizing every strategy you can.

Don’t forget other search engines and social media searches look for meta keywords. With a focused SEO strategy, you want to leave no stone unturned.

If you’ve discovered, for example, your chain of chocolate stores in Melbourne is not ranking highly for a ‘chocolate in Melbourne’ search, then you’ll focus on inserting this search term in as many relevant places as you can. This will be worked into the content of your website, but also behind the scenes in the meta tags. Together this strategy will work with off-site search engine optimization, including listings in local directories that include the exact search term and social media pages.

All these factors influence internet searches, and it’s harmful not to implement them.

Keep in mind when it comes to building successful websites, as with building a successful business, everything matters.

And finally.

What are your keyword questions? Please post in the comments below and let us help you out. Or share any other keyword implementation strategies which work for your business.

Oh, and if you like this post, don’t forget to share it with your friends and tell us which point from above you found most beneficial for your business.

What is Better for Your Online Presence – SEO or Adwords?

June 25, 2018

Any business, website, or platform knows the importance of an online presence. If you’re one of the many looking to increase this presence, you might wonder whether SEO or Adwords is the best option.

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) allows you to increase your organic traffic and organic rankings in Google and other Search Engines. In contrast, Google Adwords allows you to buy this traffic instead of getting it for free.

Below, we’ll tell you about both tools and which is better.

Paid Ads

Let’s start with Google Ads, which you might have heard of as Pay Per Click. The great thing about this tool is that you can be exposed to many people relatively quickly. All you have to do is create your ads and have them running to get a return on your investment.

Another benefit of using Adwords is that you can gather a large amount of data while your ad is running. Using Google’s Ads portal and Google Analytics, you can see how your ad is performing and what people are searching for when they find your ad.

One of the only real downsides of this tool is that you have to pay for every single click, and if you’re in a competitive field with competitive keywords, it can cost you big bucks per click.

Therefore it is essential to find an experienced Google Ads partner to run your campaign so you get a great return on investment; otherwise, you can lose a lot of money very quickly.

Why SEO

The main advantage of SEO is that the traffic from Search Engines to your website is accessible. Search Engine Optimisation can be the best investment for your business if you find a talented company that can understand your business and knows what they are doing.

SEO is complicated, and you need a team to pull it off. You need SEO Strategies, a skilled content writer, a web developer, and a link builder to work together towards a common goal for your business.

The benefits of SEO are long known, and businesses that have done it right enjoy the benefits of free traffic and getting a fantastic return on investment from Search Engines like Google. If you want to take advantage of SEO Perth, you should release content onto different parts of the internet; that means you should create content across many other platforms and connect it back to your main website.

With Adwords, there’s limited space regarding the number of ads you can create; but you don’t have these limitations with SEO. Since it uses targeted search terms, you can be easily found on Google by anyone who’s looking for the content you’re providing.

The downfall of using SEO is that you have to work hard and long before you see results. Once you do, though, it’ll be like a snowball effect.

While you can’t see exactly how well you’re doing with SEO like the way you can with Adwords, if you have a better understanding of SEO, you’ll be able to increase the chances of increasing your traffic and ranking on Google.

Conclusion

If you’re one of the many who want to improve their online presence, you should consider whether you want to invest in Google Adwords or SEO. Overall, Adwords might be better for people looking for short-term solutions; however, SEO is best for those who don’t want to pay for their advertising and are comfortable with seeing their ranking improve slowly in Google.

If you want to find out more information about Google Adwords, otherwise known as Pay per Click, or about SEO Melbourne, then read our above guide.

Should Google+ Still Be a Part of Your Marketing Strategy?

June 11, 2018

A couple of years ago, Google+ was the social platform that every brand and business was trying to get on. Building circles and social profiles on the platform was an essential aspect of marketing strategy, and every effort was geared towards making the most out of the platform.

That was until Facebook and Twitter made additions to their platforms which led to massive migrations. The monstrous numbers of users on Facebook and Twitter have made them the social platforms of preference and most if not all brands are scampering to optimize their marketing strategies for these platforms.

The big question since the advent of Facebook and Twitter has remained to be if it is worth the effort to incorporate Google+ in your marketing strategy and every indication shows that you should be just as vigorous on Google+ as you are on Facebook and Twitter marketing. Here’s why;

Google+ in Google

No matter how you look at it, Google+ is still a large part of Google, and your presence on the platform will significantly influence your rankings on Google. Your Google+ posts are integrated into search results. For instance, when logged in to Google, you can see your Google+ profile on the far right, and a the same time, you can also view posts from people you follow. Simply put, even with what Google+ lacks, your presence and activity on the social media platform will profoundly influence your SERPs on Google.

Google Collections Feature

One of the recent changes to Google+ allows you to create a page within a page and customize it with a header image and name. You can use this page to discuss and post about specific topics under one roof. For a business, this is a great way to organize your content and ensure that your audience only accesses what they need without going through all the posts.

The private collection feature allows you to share posts in that collection which is easier to access, and you can create multiple private collections. For content marketing strategy, this can be a helpful feature to have.

Google Hangouts

Google Hangouts is still essential to Google+ and will also be important for your brand. The application allows you to record and host webinars and share them on your YouTube channel. The Google Hangouts feature is going to be especially critical if webinars are a part of your content strategy.

You can invite guests and influencers for guest appearances that can help you reach new audiences and cement your authority in the industry. You can then repurpose the content to maximize effectiveness and improve your marketing strategy.

Website Traffic

One of the most significant strengths of Google+ is that the posts show up in search results. This is a great way to drive and build organic traffic to your website. If you include links in your posts, Google+ will redirect the traffic to your website. This makes Google+ an essential social network tool and, more importantly, a great tool to drive and boost your organic authority.

Google Local Reviews

Another helpful feature of Google+ is the Google+ local pages. It is a crucial tool for local businesses because the pages are integrated into Google’s search listings, mobile apps, and maps. This dramatically improves traffic to your site and visibility and helps in conversions.

If you thought it was time to ditch Google +, you might want to rethink your marketing strategy. It is still a vital social media and marketing tool with many features that are invaluable to any business.

AI is Changing the SEO Game – Should You Be Wary?

September 27, 2017

Artificial intelligence is an inevitable concept. As technology rapidly evolves, we are becoming more and more reliant on computer-spawned innovation as a convenient and efficient alternative to human labor.

“AI” is a blanket term that actually covers many types of technology, from self-driving cars to personal assistants like Alexa to online customer support systems. And now, the topic is on the lips of every person working in Internet-based fields, as AI is changing the world of Search Engine Optimisation and digital marketing as we know it.

Artificial Intelligence is a double-edged sword, as the risk of wholly automated content could make our jobs irrelevant. But as threatening as it may seem, it can also be very beneficial for digital marketers.

Here are a few ways that AI technology can help boost your SEO strategy:

It makes search engines more “human.” As we’ve previously noted, searches are now utilizing Latent Semantic Indexing (LSI) to search for content rather than keywords, which allows web searches to match the user’s intent.
As a result, this makes for better content that reads and flows more naturally. Without keywords stuffed at every turn, you can write in a more organic tone while still trusting that search engines will pick up what you’re putting down.
AI provides more reliable predictive analytics. This gives marketers a better idea about which audiences will likely become customers or which customers will become repeat customers based on past information. It helps narrow our target demographics and look at our campaign history to speculate future leads.
If anything, AI makes our jobs more critical (and our campaigns more successful) because we now have an opportunity to appeal to people on the computer, NOT the computers themselves. If searches are becoming humanized and more intelligent, our likelihood of reaching the right audience improves.

With that in mind, quite a bit of strategy is still required when crafting digital content in AI.

Here are some considerations when developing your web presence and SEO tactics:

Make sure to answer questions better than competitors. Search results are your chance to stand out from your competition, but only if you provide the information that users are searching for. So be sure your content answers the right questions in the right (read: easily understandable and straightforward) way.
Put more focus on visual content. The juxtaposition of quality graphics and text fares well in the current system of search engine rankings. Articles with images and videos will be your friend when you try to get your content seen amongst all the other competing material.
Get back to basics. What attracts people? How would you find your voice if you were creating content for a magazine (or some other platform with no need for SEO as we use it)? What tone would you embrace, and what content would you highlight? When crafting content filtered by knowledgeable and “human-like” systems, these questions are highly relevant.
Avoid black hat tactics like the plague. Using such “unethical” methods is inadvisable, but AI integration makes the process even more demanding (and therefore less appealing). As search engine algorithms improve, they will also become more adept at understanding and stopping black hat methods.

Until machines start creating all content independently and AI spawns its search algorithms, we’ll continue to tell ourselves that AI’s place within seo company melbourne is positive.

So don’t be scared just yet– embrace the power of Artificial Intelligence if you want to boost your web strategy. And for even more help, contact Search Marketing Group® today!

Voice Search is changing SEO. Here’s Why

February 17, 2016

For those who checked out our “What does 2016 have in store for SEO?” blog post, we touched on the growing influence of voice searches. The growing use of Siri and Google Now means that people, more than ever, are conducting searches with their mouths rather than their fingertips.

What are voice searches?
Apple’s Siri and Android’s Google Now are the prime leaders in the new age of voice searches. These audio commands are designed to make things easier for clients with straight and effective search results. You ask the question that you want and get the response and search results right after.

The popularity of these audio commands has forced search engines to alter the way that commands are interpreted. There is an ongoing process in which this is happening, and search engines are constantly evolving to the changes. This has forced businesses to think along the same lines.

Voice searches will shape the future of SEO Melbourne techniques and will put pressure on businesses and marketers to alter their search engine marketing approach. But how to stay on top of it all? Here’s how:

Natural language will set the groundwork.
The critical difference between typing a search as opposed to voicing a search is the nature of the language used. In comparison, you would merely type “coffee Melbourne city,” you would ask: “Where to go for coffee in Melbourne?”. Voice searches do not rely on classic keywords, and it is here that marketers and business owners have to alter their approach to how customers find them. Business owners have to think about what kind of questions and simple words will be asked and how their site has to respond to them.

Questions, not words, will lead the search.
The focus here will be on integrating “who, what, where, why, and how” into marketing campaigns. Questions are natural when it comes to voice searches, and it is crucial that business owners now focus on bringing up questions in their searches as opposed to merely just keywords. A marketing campaign involving “who, what, where, why, and how” will see a higher return in search results and visitors.

Content in a natural voice.
Voice searches also influence website content. Formal and focused content will not be exposed as vibrantly as conversational content. Business owners and marketers must make sure their content and brand sound more like “everyday” language instead of more formal voices. Picture the language your customers will use and build your content from there.

Don’t worry. There is still time.
Do not fear that you are behind the eight-ball. Voice searches are on the rise, but you still have time to ensure that your online marketing can make the alterations it needs.

Why Small Businesses should be using Google Place Listings

November 22, 2015

One underused and often neglected method to draw online traffic to your website is the optimization of Google Places Listings. Many local business owners of all industries (from labor to white office jobs) often ignore creating and developing a Google Place Listing because they figure it is time-consuming, inefficient, and less effective than other online strategies.

In fact, by neglecting the promotion of your business on this precious Google asset, you are potentially losing profits, damaging your reputation, and falling behind the competition. Optimizing your Google Places Listings is essential to maximize your business and its online potential.

What is Google Place Listings, you might ask? It’s a unique Google service that provides businesses with the platform to share vital information about themselves, including their services, products, and, most importantly, the location of its store or stores. Essentially, this Google asset aims to expand the audience and customer base of businesses, boutiques, and retail stores that sell their products in person and online.

These are, of course, the significant benefits of Google Place Listings. There are, of course, PLENTY of benefits:

It’s free. That’s right; you won’t spend a cent on it.
You don’t have to be tech-savvy to use the service. It’s easy, and you’ll know what to do once you’ve started.
Thanks to mobile phones and the Google app, you can manage, edit and promote your Google Places Listings anytime and anywhere.
You’ll connect with millions of Google users. It’s the number one search engine in the world (and the driver of all online marketing campaigns and algorithms), so you’ll be missing out on plenty of customers.
Streamlined analytics means your business will be found easily during searches.
Your online and offline reputation will increase if your service and information are well presented.
Your customers will be satisfied with your business, and that is vital to establishing reliable connections.
Potential to extend your brand online to new buyers.
Seamlessly integrates with your overall online marketing campaign.
Connects with customers through simple mobile phone use.
Your visibility increases thanks to the connection to Google Maps.

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