7 local SEO wins you get from keyword-rich Google reviews
Keywords in reviews are generally believed to help local rankings, although their impact is still actively debated within the local SEO community.
Regardless of where the truth on ranking impact ultimately lands, keyword-rich reviews can still provide meaningful value for local SEO beyond pure rankings.
Below are seven reasons why you should still encourage keyword-rich reviews.
1. Review justifications
If your reviews consistently mention a keyword related to your business, the likelihood that your Profile will get a Review justification in search increases.
This visibility can boost click-through rates. Higher engagement may lead to a secondary improvement in search engine rankings.
2. Place Topics
Google creates clickable Place Topics from keywords in your reviews. These topics:
- Highlight your specialties.
- Filter reviews for customers.
- Can boost your Profile’s engagement.
3. Review snippets
Google bolds frequently mentioned terms in three review snippets on the Business Profile. This draws users searching for those terms to your Profile, hopefully increasing click-through rates.
4. Menu Highlights (restaurants)
The Menu Highlights are generated from customer reviews and photos, similar to Place Topics.
Recent analysis from Claudia Tomina showed that:
- The menu highlights section impacts rankings.
- Keywords in reviews impact the Menu Highlights section.
- Therefore, when you get a menu highlight for a term mentioned in your reviews, you should rank better for that term.
5. AI editorial summaries
Google’s AI-generated business summaries pull concepts from reviews (e.g., “cozy”) to describe your business.
While Google’s AI summaries aren’t something you can edit, encouraging customers to include specific keywords in their reviews could influence the AI to emphasize aspects most beneficial to your business.
6. AI review summaries
Google’s AI generates review summaries by analyzing common sentiments and tips from customer feedback.
If your customers mention the right keywords in their reviews, your review summary will appear more compelling.
7. Ask Maps about this place feature
Google is phasing out the old Q&A section and replacing it with an AI-powered feature that pulls answers from customer reviews.
This means reviews with detailed info (and the right keywords) are more valuable than ever.
How do you get keywords in your reviews?
It does not make sense to directly ask your customers, “Can you please add [keyword] to your review?” It’s unnatural and weird and will leave the customer wondering what your deal is.
But that doesn’t mean you have no options.
To encourage customers to naturally include relevant keywords in their reviews, begin by upgrading your review request templates.
Miriam Ellis recently wrote a helpful guide all about how to get keyword-rich reviews, which also includes three review request templates to make it extra easy for every business owner.
These templates guide customers on what to say, encouraging longer, more detailed, keyword-rich reviews — and can even prompt them to add photos to their reviews.
Here are three of those templates:
Scenario 1: Requesting reviews of specific products
| Hi [customer name], I’m [your name and job title] from [company name], and I’m writing to check in with you on your purchase of [product]. It’s my job to be sure you’re satisfied, and I wondered if you would be willing to provide your feedback in a review at [link]? I’m enclosing a photo of [product] for your use in your review if you don’t have your own photo, and I’d be so grateful if you could review your experience with: – The features of this product that stand out most to you– What you like or dislike about it– How you’ve been using the product since you purchased it If there’s anything we could have done better for you, please feel free to contact us directly at [phone number or feedback form link]. I want to be sure you’re fully satisfied and we’re so grateful for your business. Thank you very much if you can take the time to tell us about your personal experience in your review. [review us here link or button] Sincerely,[name, job title, business] |
Scenario 2: Requesting reviews of specific services
| Hello [customer name], This is [your name and job title] from [company name], and we were so happy to [service provided]. It’s my job to be sure you’re satisfied, and I wondered if you would be willing to provide your feedback in a review at [link]? I’m enclosing a photo of [the service that was provided] for your use in your review if you don’t have your own photo, and I’d be so grateful if you could review your experience with: – Whether the service met your expectations– What you like/dislike about the service– How we did with our customer service If there’s anything we could have done better for you, please feel free to contact us directly at [phone number or feedback form link]. I want to be sure you’re fully satisfied, and we’re so grateful for your business. Thank you very much if you can take the time to tell us about your personal experience in your review. [review us here link or button] Sincerely,[name, job title, business] |
Scenario 3: Requesting reviews when you’re not sure what a customer purchased
| Email template |
| Hello [customer name], Thank you for being our customer. I’m [your name and job title] from [company name], It’s my job to be sure you’re satisfied, and I wondered if you would be willing to provide your feedback in a review at [link]? I’m enclosing a photo of [the business premises] for your use in your review if you don’t have your own photo, and I’d love it if you could review: – Whether you found our customer service helpful– What you like/dislike about our store– Why you chose our store If there’s anything we could have done better for you, please feel free to contact us directly at [phone number or feedback form link]. I want to be sure you’re fully satisfied and we’re so grateful for your business. Thank you very much if you can take the time to tell us about your personal experience in your review. [review us here link or button] Sincerely,[name, job title, business] |
Now, make it work for you
By implementing a few simple improvements in your review requests, you will receive more detailed reviews from your customers, and their enhanced feedback will provide numerous benefits.
You may even increase your Google rankings for additional keywords, but I can’t guarantee anything. With all the other benefits, rankings shouldn’t be your primary goal anyway.
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