Fresh, new content is vital to any business looking to improve SEO. However, it can be tricky to develop enough new and interesting content for your site on a regular basis. So how do you overcome this?

User generated content is a great method for pleasing the search engine gods, particularly when this content comes in the form of a review or rating.

It’s not just search engines that utilise reviews either; 90% of consumers will seek out reviews and testimonials about a company before making a decision. What your customers and clients say about you not only affects your reputation, but also your website’s authority.

Below, we’ve listed the top reasons why you should invest in reviews and how this can improve your SEO efforts.

1. Word of mouth is so powerful

Depending on your industry, it’s fair to say most SMEs rely on word of mouth and referrals for new business. Most people will research your company online and seeing strong reviews encourages them to get in touch. For example, your friend recommends a local restaurant that you’ve been thinking about visiting for your birthday.

After searching for them on Google, you can see that they have a high rating out of 5 stars, with over 40 reviews and great feedback from previous customers. They’re also featured on TripAdvisor, which will show strong review signals to search engines and offer a solid backlink.

Copy that is written by the consumer or client is perceived as being more trustworthy and authentic than copy written by your company. Seeing that a company has received predominately positive feedback, with some negative reviews, is far more believable than a company with no negative reactions at all. Hiding bad feedback can be more damaging than allowing the internet to view it; addressing these reviews and showing how well your company deals with problems is a much better approach.

2. Reviews make specific products more visible

If you’re an ecommerce site and are looking to improve your online presence, product-specific reviews are ideal. Searchers tend to use the same type of words and phrases that reviewers include within their testimonials, which means that not only does your website have a chance of ranking, but so do your reviews.

3. They will increase conversion rates

Google Shopping reviews allow consumers to gain a quick insight into a specific product before they’ve even visited your website. Even the laziest of buyers can see the credentials of the kettles below.

As Google pulls through these stats, it means your potential customers don’t have to trawl through the internet to find ‘real’ reviews. The customer journey is shortened and thus they are more likely to convert.

Click through to AO.com and you have their own review system in place, offering further confidence that this is a good product to invest in. Offering product testers the chance to review honestly, with video input, creates even more content, adding further authority to the page. The customer has already seen a strong signal that the kettle is a great product before they’ve even reached the website. AO’s on page reviews increase the customer’s trust and confidence in the company, increasing the chance of a sale.

4. Reviews will improve your backlink profile

This is probably one of the most natural ways to increase volumes of quality backlinks to your website. Customer review sites, such as TripAdvisor, Trustpilot, Amazon, Which?, and Yelp, offer great opportunities to link back to your website.

5. Don’t forget to ask!

Ensure you have a proper review strategy in place. This way you can measure the amount of reviews you’re receiving, how and when you receive them, and if you need to address any negativity that might come your way. Asking for reviews is also a great tactic, which many companies ignore. Whether you do this via email marketing (like New Look below) or via social media, giving customers that nudge to say something is often to most effective way.

Offering incentives for reviews, such as ‘10% off your next order’, could persuade someone to offer their insight, giving you more information about the product or service and ultimately, helping to improve SEO.