eKourier April 2018

FEATURES Why Online Reviews Matter

T he online review era is well and truly upon us. Once reviews were the realm of niche sectors only. Hospitality and food were the pioneers in the digital review. Initially it was also preserved for vetted qualified contributors. Now everyone can be an author. Anyone can play the role of a raving fan, construc- tive critic, or even resentful critic. Online reviews have been liberated and available to the masses. When it comes down to it, people want to talk about experiences from other people who are like them. Google have embraced reviews too and now see it as a critical component of an online presence. Google is the main game when it comes to search so the rules they set really matter. mysterious as Coca Cola. No one really knows the formula. There is no silver bullet that ensures SEO success but we know reviews are considered the most important local SEO ranking factor. For Google, the volume of reviews is a powerful dimension of search appeal. In addition, the scores proving the quality of a business build on the ranking in Googles algorithm. Importantly, customer feedback is a precious commodity. Good or bad the feedback should be treasured. Where we can fix something, we should do it quickly. ‘ ‘ The Google search algorithm is as

March 2018

Star Rating

Centre

Google Reviews

4.7 4.1 4.9 4.4 4.5 4.4 4.3 4.6 4.2 3.9 4.2 4.7 4.7 4.4 4.3 4.3 4.4 4.4 4.7 4.4 4.4 4.3 4.5 4.5 3.8 3.8 4.3 4.4 4.6 4.1 4.7 4.4 4.3 4.1 4.2 4.2 4.3 4.6 4.5 4.1 4.5 4.6 4.2 3.9 4.3 4.7 4.3 4.6 4.5 4.4 4.6 4.2 4.5 4.7 4.5 4.7 4.2 4.4 4.6 3.9 4.1 3.8 3.6 4.1 4.8 4.1 4.6 3.3 4.9 4.1 3.3 4.8 4.7 4.8 4.3 4.4 4.8 4.8 4.7 4 4.1 4 4 5 4

Wellington Waterloo

88 48 37 36 31 29 29 29 27 25 24 24 23 23 23 23 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 21 21 20 20 20 19 18 18 17 17 17 17 17 17 16 16 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 14 14 12 12 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 10 10 10 10

Port Melbourne Camperdown

Abbotsford1 Flemington Moore Park

Prospect Auburn Preston

Hoxton Park Parramatta Fyshwick Homebush

Macquarie Park

North Lakes

Campbelltown1 Castle Hill Huntingdale Kingsgrove Thebarton Wollongong North Melbourne Burleigh Heads Wetherill Park Campbelltown

Vermont Mt Eden

Panorama Gladesville Three Kings Artarmon Newstead

Rozelle Ultimo1 Ultimo2

Tauranga Chermside Abbotsford Chatswood Klemzig

Frenchs Forest

Petersham

Wentworthville West End Centre

Yeerongpilly Marrickville

Virginia

Bankstown

Pymble

Artarmon2 Guildford Maribyrnong

Milton Penrith

Springvale St Marys

Browns Plains Fortitude Valley Maroochydore

Warriewood

Hornsby Ivanhoe Mayfield

9 9 9 9 8 8 8 8 7 7 7 7 7 7 6 6 6 6 6 5 5 5 4 3 1 1 1

Palmerston North

Cardiff

Newcastle West

Sandgate Thornleigh Belmont Brookvale Miranda Mittagong Hastings Hawthorn Kunda Park Mona Vale Rydalmere Erina

Warana

Caringbah

Murarrie

Napier

Kirrawee

Seaford Meadows

5 5 5

Chullora

And, we should always engage online.

Warrawong Onekawa

Con’t Page 5

4 Kennards Kourier April 2018