Ratings & Reviews: How Improved Google Ratings Impact Conversions

When a consumer isn’t familiar with your brand and performs a generic, aka non-branded, search, they are influenced greatly by a business’s Google rating. In the data set that I used, businesses were found via non-branded searches 70% of the time vs. 30% of the time via a branded search. Meaning less than two times the traffic is coming from consumers who aren’t yet sure what business they are going to choose.

Once they saw the results, consumers took action on businesses that had a higher Google rating regardless of the type of search as ratings improved (duh), but they were more impacted by businesses with higher ratings when they performed a non-branded search. Conversion rates for consumers who took action (phone call, click, or got directions) on a Google My Business result were 68% higher vs. 63% higher for non-branded searches for companies with a star rating less than or equal to two vs a five-star rating. Each star rating improvement directly leads to an increased conversion rate.

Accuracy and Responsiveness Are Essential

Google My Business is important. Ensuring that your name, address, phone number, website, hours, etc. are accurate and well aligned across the web. Often using a location data management platform can help improve quality and results.

Soliciting and responding to Google ratings and reviews will help your business improve your ability to convert consumers. There are also software packages available to help improve ratings and reviews for your business. You don’t necessarily need one of these platforms, but similar to location data management they can help scale your marketing prowess.

Read the rest of the article on Search Engine Watch.