Do review sites like consumer affairs negatively affect SERPs?
-
Hey all,
So when googling the name of our site we see consumer affairs pop up around 5th with a 1 star rating. These negative reviews are mostly spammy (competitors, etc.) since we have an awesome support team that deals with all unhappy members very effectively. We reached out to CA and they came back asking for $10k+ (highway robbery) to "help us improve our rating."
My question is: do poor ratings on review sites like these negatively affect your SERPs? And if so, how can we work to combat their effect?
Thanks in advance,
Roman
-
Roman,
Here are my thoughts:
1. Can we PM our followers on twitter or facebook and directly ask? As long as you stick to people you know would be a brand advocate for you, I don't see why not.
2. Which medium is generally most successful? We've generally only done email, but primarily because that's how we communicate with them on a normal basis anyway.
3. What if we tweeted something like: "we need your help, anyone that leaves an honest review on yelp will get _____ (money, gift card, appreciation, etc.) - I know it's tempting and seems logical to make offers like that, but it violates Google's guidelines. Even if it's not for Google reviews, they might get wind of it and discount those reviews. Reviews are supposed to show a reflection of your business, not what you've offered in exchange for good reviews.
4. Which review site is the best for improving reputation and SERP- google plus, yelp, bbb? Those 3 are the top ones I'd stick to.
5. Would you recommend sending people to consumer affairs to try to offset the bad rating or to just focus on all the other review sites and have them usurp consumer affairs' position? Definitely try to get some better ratings on CA to cancel out the bad.
-
Patrick,
Thank you for your response. I was hoping I could also get some input from you. So we're going to up our efforts for getting positive reviews. I was curious to know if you had any insight into what's acceptable practice and what isn't. For example:
1. Can we PM our followers on twitter or facebook and directly ask?
2. Which medium is generally most successful? Email, twitter, facebook
3. What if we tweeted something like: "we need your help, anyone that leaves an honest review on yelp will get _____ (money, gift card, appreciation, etc.)
4. Which review site is the best for improving reputation and SERP- google plus, yelp, bbb?
5. Would you recommend sending people to consumer affairs to try to offset the bad rating or to just focus on all the other review sites and have them usurp consumer affairs' position?
Thanks again for your help!
Roman
-
Logan,
Thanks for your response. So we're going to up our efforts for getting positive reviews. I was curious to know if you had any insight into what's acceptable practice and what isn't. For example:
1. Can we PM our followers on twitter or facebook and directly ask?
2. Which medium is generally most successful? Email, twitter, facebook
3. What if we tweeted something like: "we need your help, anyone that leaves an honest review on yelp will get _____ (money, gift card, appreciation, etc.)
4. Which review site is the best for improving reputation and SERP- google plus, yelp, bbb?
5. Would you recommend sending people to consumer affairs to try to offset the bad rating or to just focus on all the other review sites and have them usurp consumer affairs' position?
Thanks again for your help!
Roman
-
Hello,
You may respond to ALL negative reviews and encourage your customers to post reviews on this site. And try to get a lot of reviews from trusted sources like Yelp, Google Local, ... You can also use service like GetFiveStars to improve your rankings and get rich snippet for your home page or product page.
-
Hi Roman,
According to Google's Search Quality Raters Guidelines, third party reviews can have a negative impact on your organic visibility. Google is actively pursuing reputation information from third party sites and factoring that into the way they determine the "best results" for a query.
The best thing you can do to curb this, and hopefully improve your overall ratings, is to get some new good reviews to overpower the bad ones. My suggestion would be to start by picking a handful of customers you know have been happy with your products/services and reach out to them. If you've (or the client if you're not in-house) got some staff internally that interact with these customers, have them do it. People are much more likely to be responsive if they're asked by someone whom they've dealt with before. The message should be very candid, but not canned, people see right through that.
And as Patrick mentioned, always follow up on bad reviews. The only thing worse than a bad review, is one that goes unaddressed.
Hope that's helpful!
-
Hi there
While it may not hurt you in a lower search ranking, it will hurt you in the user's eyes. What I would suggest doing is adding a review feature to your website, focus on Yelp! or Google Reviews, and certifications like the BBB or other relevant industry certifications. These are usually where Google and other search engines will pull from and they are usually harder to manipulate. I would focus on reviews there and getting established on those sites.
Also, whether a legit review is good or bad, always follow up, thank the person, and see where you could be of more service. It's a good look for your brand and company when doing so.
Let me know if you have any other questions or comments, good luck!
Patrick
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Really, what are the benefits of creating a Google Brand page for an e-commerce site?
We have a jewellery store client who already have a Google My Business page set up for its store front business. Should we also create a Google Brand page for its e-commerce site (which has a different business name to the jewellery store)? This client already has a pretty robust Facebook profile. Is it worth it maintaining a Brand page then - since it targets Google plus users?
Branding | | Gavo
And what are the chances of a Brand page appearing on search results when you're not a Nike or a Calvin Klein? Thanks heaps in anticipation of your response.0 -
Google+ SERP Visibility For Non Branded Keywords
Hi, I've noticed that a competitors Google+ box is appearing on the right hand side of the Google UK SERPs for a non-branded keyword (open air balustrade). Please see attached image. I've always thought that the Google+ box would only be displayed in the SERPS for branded keywords. How is this Google+ box appearing for non-branded keywords? How can we improve our chances of our Google+ box being shown instead? Many thanks in advance, Lee. vDm914D
Branding | | Webpresence0 -
Site Architecture for Sub-Brands
I am working on launching a few industry specific sub-brands for our marketing agency and am trying to figure out the best way to deliver a tailored user experience using subfolders instead of subdomains, if this is indeed the best option... Since I am trying to provide separate experiences, I looking at housing microsites in sub-folders - say /technology or /medical. Each with its own navigation, home page, and industry specific content/blog/portfolio. A couple things I am considering: Will my microsite "home pages" and site pages rank as well in a sub-folder versus if they were actually the primary pages on their own sub-domain? Will separate Wordpress and theme installs and separate primary navigations have any affect on SEO if they are in sub-folders of the same site? Thanks in advance for any input. I really appreciate it!
Branding | | Alaniz0 -
Effects of a long-term holding page/503 http code whilst site is being rebranded?
We have a client who is adamant that during the rebranding of their company and website, a holding page is put in place from August 5<sup>th</sup> till go-live date on August 21<sup>st</sup>. They don’t look like budging on the matter, therefore we are looking to set up a 503 HTTP code on the holding page to tell Google the site is down for maintenance and redirect all pages back to the holding page. The general consensus is that implementing this for such a long period of time will see Google de-index all pages and the site will lose masses of traffic as a result for a substantial time afterwards. It would be great to get some insight on best practice for this situation, how Google will determine the situation and the consequences of such actions. If you have any case studies of similar situations or have firm knowledge of how this scenario would affect the site, I would be delighted to hear from you!
Branding | | AndrewAkesson0 -
How do I improve the ranking of a site, which already receives huge volumes of traffic?
I have taken over the SEO campaign for one of our largest clients. They already receive over a million visits a year due to the brand itself. However, I'd like to start targeting some new search terms to diversify the incoming visitors. Any advice on this type of situation, beyond traditional SEO best practices? Thanks in advance!
Branding | | underscorelive0 -
Has anyone had success with product page rel=author? Can I protect the content but dump the face on the SERPS?
Hi, Is there a way to get the benefits of rel=author for protecting site content but to disconnect that from the face photo on the SERPS? We added rel=author to our unique and individually written product descriptions and reviews. This has led to a decrease in click thru thus far. I suspect this is because when searching for a product to buy the user sees the face and thinks "review" or at least "not corporate". I don't nec. want to dump rel=author in the sea yet for our ecom pages, has anyone had success with product page rel=author? Four our keywords, we are the only company of 10 well known travel sites that have the face in the SERPS, far from improving our CTR, it has trashed it. Any ideas?
Branding | | xoffie0 -
Do cuss words on social media sites affect ranking?
This is a hard one, I'm sure. In regards to search, I've read that Facebook pays close attention to verbs and that Google takes into account related words close to anchor text and search terms. Now I have the unique opportunity to work as the internet sales and marketing consultant for a company in serious need of brand reputation repair. The company has experienced a terrible fallout from a recent product recall. Unfortunately in this case, the company site has really strong reach, which means that our blog posts, product descriptions, and twitter comments can be found copied on hundreds of websites hours after they are posted. The most recent incident has associated our brand name with words like cheaters, scam, phoney, copycat, and other words that will certainly get filtered here. All my attempts to assure unconditional refunds and offer phone support get labeled as a desperate attempt to save the brand. No doubt, the company has issues but will surely overcome them in time. SEO Question: Should I close the Facebook page and set strong filters on a new page to delete the onslaught of negative comments or should we spend the time to clean up the current page? This is a difficult decision, as I know many companies like Hubspot, Mailchimp, and Rackspace actually look at Facebook pages to qualify business leads (no fans, go home). Damage control suggestions also welcome, but the crux of this issue here is how our brand name and product names will be associated with cuss words or negative terms and how this will affect our ranking in SERPs.
Branding | | kwoolf1