Tahseen, Author at Improve My Search Ranking https://www.improvemysearchranking.com/author/tahseen/ Improve My Search Ranking Thu, 14 Nov 2024 09:26:29 +0000 en-GB hourly 1 10 Online Review Statistics You Should Know in 2023 https://www.improvemysearchranking.com/10-online-review-statistics-you-should-know-in-2023/ Wed, 18 Jan 2023 09:27:47 +0000 https://www.improvemysearchranking.com/?p=21677 In the digital age, online reviews are becoming increasingly important for businesses. Reviews offer potential customers valuable insight into the quality of a business’s products and services and can ultimately decide their success or failure. Statistics show that an overwhelming majority of consumers trust online reviews and take them into account when making purchasing decisions. […]

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In the digital age, online reviews are becoming increasingly important for businesses. Reviews offer potential customers valuable insight into the quality of a business’s products and services and can ultimately decide their success or failure.

Statistics show that an overwhelming majority of consumers trust online reviews and take them into account when making purchasing decisions.

In this article, we will provide 10 online review statistics to illustrate this point. In addition, we will conclude the article by highlighting 5 lessons you can take away from these online review statistics and a few resources that can help you improve your online reputation management.

10 online review statistics you should know

  1. As of 2021, 87% of consumers read online reviews before making a purchase, according to a survey by BrightLocal. (Source)
  2. According to a survey by ReviewTrackers, 97% of consumers read online business reviews. (Source)
  3. A survey by Podium found that 92% of consumers read online reviews for local businesses. (Source)
  4. A study by Spiegel Research Center found that products with more reviews have a higher chance of being purchased. (Source)
  5. A survey by Dimensional Research found that 90% of consumers say their buying decisions are influenced by online reviews. (Source)
  6. A survey by Trustpilot found that 85% of consumers trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations. (Source)
  7. A survey by Bazaarvoice found that 63% of consumers are more likely to purchase from a site if it has product ratings and reviews. (Source)
  8. A survey by PowerReviews found that 72% of consumers will take action only after reading a positive review. (Source)
  9. A survey by OpenReviews found that 88% of consumers trust online reviews written by other consumers as much as they trust recommendations from personal contacts. (Source)
  10. A survey by Reevoo found that 92% of consumers read online reviews before making a purchase. (Source)

5 lessons and takeaways

  1. The majority of consumers read online reviews before making a purchase. This highlights the importance of businesses having a presence on review sites and actively managing their online reputation.
  2. Positive reviews can have a significant impact on a consumer’s purchasing decision. This demonstrates the value of businesses investing in strategies to encourage satisfied customers to leave positive reviews.
  3. Online reviews are trusted by consumers just as much as personal recommendations. This shows the power of word-of-mouth marketing in the digital age.
  4. The number of reviews a product or business has can impact a consumer’s purchasing decision. This underlines the importance of businesses getting as many reviews as possible.
  5. Online reviews can influence a wide range of consumer decisions, from local businesses to e-commerce products. This means that businesses of all types need to be aware of the impact of online reviews and take steps to manage their online reputation.

Resources

You can learn more about online reviews, their impact, and how to get customer reviews online here:

In addition, don’t forget to check out our comprehensive guide to local SEO. This guide covers everything you need to know about setting up your website for local SEO success in 2023.

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Google’s Dec. 2022 updates are still rolling out in Jan. 2023 https://www.improvemysearchranking.com/googles-dec-2022-updates-continue-in-jan-2023/ Mon, 09 Jan 2023 10:34:22 +0000 https://www.improvemysearchranking.com/?p=21668 In December 2022, Google started rolling out two updates that would affect search engine rankings for a lot of websites. Those updates were: December 2022 link spam update December 2022 Helpful Content update Usually, such updates roll out completely in two weeks. However, the timing of these two updates coincided with the 2022 Holiday season. […]

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In December 2022, Google started rolling out two updates that would affect search engine rankings for a lot of websites. Those updates were:

  1. December 2022 link spam update
  2. December 2022 Helpful Content update

Usually, such updates roll out completely in two weeks. However, the timing of these two updates coincided with the 2022 Holiday season. As a result, the two updates were slowed down or temporarily paused.

According to the latest statement by Google’s Search Liaison, Danny Sullivan, the two updates are still rolling out and are expected to complete in one to two weeks. However, Danny’s tweet comes up with a disclaimer that this time frame is not guaranteed, and “timings might change.”

Google-december-2022-update

The delay

As we mentioned earlier, the reason why these two updates were delayed was because of the Holiday season. This was also confirmed by Danny Sullivan:

“Both the updates are continuing to roll out. Normally these types of updates would have concluded by now, but rollouts can slow or pause when we get into the holiday periods.”

What’s the takeaway?

As of January’s first week, the updates are still being rolled out. And they may take up to a couple of weeks to roll out completely.

During or immediately after this period, you may see a change in organic rankings and traffic for pages on your website. It is important to keep a close eye on your website’s analytics and see if you notice any substantial changes.

At the same time, however, it is important to let these updates roll out completely before implementing any big changes.

Here’s a quick refresher on what the updates are about:

1. The December 2022 link spam update

The December 2022 link spam update aims to detect spam directly, identify websites that engage in buying and selling backlinks, and nullify the effects of unnatural links by utilizing Google’s AI-powered spam-prevention systems.

2. The December 2022 Helpful Content update

The December 2022 Helpful Content update aims to further improve the identification system of the Helpful Content introduced by Google in August 2022. The system rewards web pages that are created for people instead of search engines, add unique value, and are genuinely helpful to readers.

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Google rolls out October 2022 spam update https://www.improvemysearchranking.com/google-rolls-out-october-2022-spam-update/ Tue, 25 Oct 2022 10:50:36 +0000 https://www.improvemysearchranking.com/?p=21620 Google has confirmed that it started rolling out a new spam update on October 19, 2022. This spam update is rolling out globally and, therefore, will affect search engine results worldwide and in all languages across the globe. The initial estimate by Google is that the update will be fully rolled out in a few […]

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Google has confirmed that it started rolling out a new spam update on October 19, 2022. This spam update is rolling out globally and, therefore, will affect search engine results worldwide and in all languages across the globe.

google-spam-update-twitter

The initial estimate by Google is that the update will be fully rolled out in a few days — around a week.

The last spam update before this was the November 2021 spam update.

What are spam updates?

Google rolls out spam updates quite regularly. However, details of what an update is about are not as common.

In some cases, the update targets one specific area. For such instances, Google shares more specific information on the targeted update and the best practices for content publishers and website owners.

One such example is last year’s link spam update that started rolling out on July 26, 2021. In that update, Google re-assessed search results for websites that took part in link spam.

But what are spam updates?

This is how Google defines spam updates:

“While Google’s automated systems to detect search spam are constantly operating, we occasionally make notable improvements to how they work. When we do, we refer to this as a spam update and share when they happen on our list of Google Search ranking updates.

For example, SpamBrain is our AI-based spam-prevention system. From time-to-time, we improve that system to make it better at spotting spam and to help ensure it catches new types of spam.

Sites that see a change after a spam update should review our spam policies to ensure they are complying with those. Sites that violate our policies may rank lower in results or not appear in results at all. Making changes may help a site improve if our automated systems learn over a period of months that the site complies with our spam policies.”

What to do?

At this stage, there isn’t much to do because Google hasn’t shared many details about the October 2022 spam update.

However, keep an eye out for your website’s search engine rankings and organic traffic. If you notice major changes, you may have been hit by the spam update.

And in that case, you know that you have work to do.

The first step would be to review Google’s spam policies. Next, audit your website to identify where and what the problems are and start moving away from spammy practices.

If you need help auditing your website for SEO or just general improvements in search engine rankings, feel free to contact us.

 

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How to Improve Click-Through Rate https://www.improvemysearchranking.com/4-ways-to-improve-click-through-rate/ Tue, 18 Oct 2022 09:58:35 +0000 https://www.improvemysearchranking.com/?p=21510 Interested in increasing your organic click-through rate? A higher organic click-through rate has many benefits: It can increase organic traffic — despite ranking at the same position on the SERPs as you’ve been ranking on. More traffic may lead to more conversions, sales, and revenue. And consistently high organic click-through rate (CTR) can eventually send […]

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Interested in increasing your organic click-through rate?

A higher organic click-through rate has many benefits:

  • It can increase organic traffic — despite ranking at the same position on the SERPs as you’ve been ranking on.
  • More traffic may lead to more conversions, sales, and revenue.
  • And consistently high organic click-through rate (CTR) can eventually send positive signals to Google and improve the search engine rankings of your web page.

In this post, we share 4 proven ways you can improve the organic click-through rate.

Let’s begin by first describing what organic click-through rate or CTR actually is:

What is the organic click-through rate?

The organic click-through rate or organic CTR is the percentage of users who click on your web page in the search engine results after seeing it.

For example, suppose that someone searches for a keyword on Google. Google shows them 10 pages on the first page — including your web page. 100 people see your web page, but only 8 users click on it. The rest of the 92 people either quit searching or clicked on another web page.

That means the organic click-through rate for your web page was 8%.

4 ways to improve the organic click-through rate

Now, here are 4 proven ways to improve your organic click-through rate.

1. Optimise your web page to rank higher on the SERPs

It’s easier said than done, but that’s how it works.

The higher your web page in the SERPs, the higher the organic click-through rate normally would be. That’s just the way of the search engines — top pages get the most clicks.

That’s why, your primary focus should be on optimizing your pages as best as you can. This includes optimizing your web pages for the right keywords as well as driving relevant and high-quality external and internal backlinks to your pages.

Both these methods can help you optimise your page to rank higher and, therefore, drive higher organic traffic.

2. Optimise for Featured Snippets

Have you ever noticed Featured Snippets in Google search results?

You may have also noticed that the page that appears in the search snippet isn’t necessarily the one that ranks in the first position on the SERPs. But because it appears in the featured snippet, it leapfrogs every other page on the SERP and often gets the most impressions and clicks.

Here is an example.

Optimise for Featured Snippets

Although backlinko.com ranks #1 for the keyword “featured snippet”, support.google.com’s definition ranks in a featured snippet and gets more eyeballs and clicks.

That’s why, another proven strategy is to focus on creating content and pages that are more likely to rank in Featured Snippets.

This is achieved by:

  • Creating question-based content and answering those questions comprehensively and concisely
  • Creating high-quality and helpful content
  • Using structured data to make your pages and content eligible for rich results like Featured Snippets

3. Optimise meta titles and meta descriptions

Meta titles and meta descriptions play extremely important roles when it comes to organic click-through rates. They are a window to your article’s contents.

No matter how good your content is, it doesn’t matter if nobody reads it. And most search engine users will make the decision whether to click on your web page or not by looking at the meta title and meta description.

Create optimised and engaging meta titles and meta descriptions that accurately describe what your content offers. That’s one of the easiest ways to improve the organic CTR.

Tip: If you’re struggling with this, see what other pages on the SERP are doing. You can get a sense of their traffic percentage by analysing the SERPs with a tool like SEMRush or Ahrefs.

In the following image, you can see that sendinblue.com and bigcommerce.com drive proportionately higher traffic than some of the other pages, despite ranking for a similar number of keywords. Perhaps their meta content is worth investigating.

Optimise meta titles and meta descriptions

Shortlist 3-4 competing pages on Google’s first page and see if you can find a pattern or success formula in their meta content. If you find something, replicate it and test if you get better results.

4. Match the keywords and search intent

Last but not least, always try to match the keywords and search intent in your meta content.

When search engine users search for something, they have a particular goal in mind. It could be either finding an answer to a question or buying a product. In the world of SEO, we call this “search intent.”

If you want to increase your organic CTR, it’s important that you understand and match that search intent. For example, check out the following screenshot.

Match the keywords and search intent

The search intent of the keyword “WordPress guide” is that the searchers want to understand WordPress and how to create a WordPress website. Moreover, they also want a fully detailed guide on the topic — as reflected in the search query.

The WPbeginner.com article successfully matches all those search intents and, therefore, ranks at the top after WordPress’s own website.

Conclusion

As mentioned earlier, improving the organic CTR can have many benefits: from increased traffic to higher search rankings to more sales and revenue.

Use these four proven tips to improve your organic CTR and drive more traffic and potential customers to your local business website.

If you have any questions, let us know.

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The Manifest Celebrates Improve My Search Ranking as London’s Top Reviewed SEO Agency for 2022 https://www.improvemysearchranking.com/the-manifest-celebrates-improve-my-search-ranking-londons-top-seo-agency-2022/ Tue, 18 Oct 2022 09:34:07 +0000 https://www.improvemysearchranking.com/?p=21501 Search engine optimization may look easy at first glance but don’t be fooled by online tutorials, it’s an intricate process that can quickly catch you off guard. Here at Improve My Search Ranking, we’re devoted to providing companies with strategic and proven SEO services. Our solutions allow our clients to boost their online visibility and […]

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Search engine optimization may look easy at first glance but don’t be fooled by online tutorials, it’s an intricate process that can quickly catch you off guard. Here at Improve My Search Ranking, we’re devoted to providing companies with strategic and proven SEO services. Our solutions allow our clients to boost their online visibility and organically increase their traffic.

The-Manifest-Celebrates-Improve-My-Search-Ranking

Because of our great work for our clients and their success, we’ve unlocked a fantastic award from a trusted industry resource. According to the latest The Manifest Company Awards, Improve My Search Ranking was officially named as one of the best recommended and reviewed B2B leaders in London! In the platform’s esteemed report, our team was hailed as a trusted partner for mobile SEO this 2022!

This award is genuinely big for us. It’s truly humbling to know that we have strong connections with our clients who are also supportive of our journeys. Seeing them succeed and conquer the digital realm validates our hard work.

Improve My Search Ranking-London’s Top-SEO-Agency-2022

Moreover, The Manifest is an independent B2B news resource that provides business tips about the IT, marketing, and business services spaces. The site’s very first company awards highlight the incredible partnerships built by service providers with their clients. The awardees from different categories were selected based on the number of stellar testimonials and ratings they’ve earned over the past twelve months.

Thank you so much to all of our amazing clients, stakeholders, and team members. Of course, this award is a collective effort. We wouldn’t be celebrating this moment without everyone’s continued confidence and support.

We’re extremely excited to welcome more opportunities. Looking for a team that guarantees superb results in 90 days or less? Look no further because Improve My Search Ranking is here for you. Connect with us and let us know what you need.

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5 Tips: Content Marketing for Law Firms https://www.improvemysearchranking.com/5-content-marketing-tips-for-law-firms/ Wed, 12 Oct 2022 10:23:14 +0000 https://www.improvemysearchranking.com/?p=21236 Content marketing is essential to any local business’s success. It is used to: Drive a consistent stream of relevant organic traffic, Create brand awareness, Establish brand authority, Generate highly-qualified leads, and Increase conversions/sales and revenue. However, not every local business seems conducive to the concept of content marketing and organic traffic and lead generation. Local […]

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Content marketing is essential to any local business’s success. It is used to:

  • Drive a consistent stream of relevant organic traffic,
  • Create brand awareness,
  • Establish brand authority,
  • Generate highly-qualified leads, and
  • Increase conversions/sales and revenue.

However, not every local business seems conducive to the concept of content marketing and organic traffic and lead generation. Local law firms seem to be one of those businesses that don’t normally do very well when it comes to content marketing.

However, it doesn’t have to be that way. Your content does not have to be boring.

And because most local law firms aren’t leveraging this medium very successfully, that leaves more opportunities open for your business.

To help you, here are a few content marketing tips for your local law firm’s website.

1. Create content for each step of your customer’s legal journey

Unlike many other niches, the law industry has a lot of potential for creating relevant content for each step of the user’s journey.

For instance, if you deal with divorces, you can create content for the awareness stage that’s titled “X signs that your partner is considering a divorce.”

Then for the next step of the user’s journey, you can create a blog post on ‘X things to take care of when filing for a divorce.”

After that, for the last stage of the user’s journey (at the bottom of the funnel), you can create a content page that’s optimized for the keyword best divorce lawyers [in your city].

By doing so, you keep your website visitors engaged and provide value to them at each step of their journey. In addition, if someone goes through the entire process with you, they are more likely to convert and become a customer.

2. Create timely content to keep it fresh and engaging

Sometimes, some high-profile legal cases get a lot of attention on the internet. In that case, it is wise to create timely content to keep things fresh on your blog as well as keep your readers engaged.

The recent Johnny Depp vs Amber Heard trial is a good example of leveraging high-profile trending cases.

3. Leverage case studies

Not many local law firms leverage case studies as well as they should, and that means missing out on important opportunities.

A law firm is usually as good as its results, and good results speak for themselves.

If you have won a few cases, create written case studies on them and publish them on your website. If you have lots of case studies, divide them into thematically-related categories, e.g., divorce case studies, adoption case studies, financial fraud case studies, etc.

Case studies can not only be optimized for certain keywords (to drive organic traffic) but they can also be used for lead generation and lead nurturing.

You can gate a few case studies for lead generation. Similarly, you can also use case studies to warm and nurture leads when they are close to making a decision. That helps you convert more organic visitors into paying customers and contribute to the success of your organic content marketing strategies.

4. Create FAQ content

Law isn’t always easy to understand by the general public. Many people have questions about specific terminologies, legal jargon, or processes.

These questions can be strategically used to drive traffic with the help of FAQ content.

With FAQ content, you can target the entire keyword in a question. The answer is more likely to be ranked in SERP featured boxes, which can propel your local law firm’s website to the top of the rankings. Additionally, your FAQ answer can also become the de facto answer for voice searches.

5. Create glossaries

Not everybody is familiar with all the acronyms and words that are used in the legal industry. That presents an opportunity to create a glossary page where you define every acronym and word that people may have questions about.

These glossary pages are a great source of traffic and backlinks — which can pass link equity throughout your website and push other pages on your site higher on the search results pages.

What’s next?

We hope you found these 5 content marketing tips for local law firms helpful. For more such local SEO content, stay tuned to our blog.

If you need help with local SEO, feel free to contact us.

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How Much Duplicate Content is Acceptable for Google? https://www.improvemysearchranking.com/what-equals-duplicate-content-google/ Wed, 05 Oct 2022 09:55:56 +0000 https://www.improvemysearchranking.com/?p=21211 It is estimated that approximately 25 to 30 percent of all web content is duplicate. That’s because different quotes, case studies, and tips are shared across the Internet on different websites. But that’s usually considered “duplicate content” that should be penalised by Google. It’s important to look at that in full context. However, if you […]

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It is estimated that approximately 25 to 30 percent of all web content is duplicate. That’s because different quotes, case studies, and tips are shared across the Internet on different websites.

But that’s usually considered “duplicate content” that should be penalised by Google. It’s important to look at that in full context.

However, if you do duplicate content with the idea of plagiarising it, that usually leads to Google penalties. In addition to plagiarism, creating content that’s not unique to each page on your own website can also lead to the same problem.

The second scenario is something that local businesses often run into.

When local businesses have to create different product or service pages, or different location-specific landing pages, they run into the potential problem of duplicating content.

The general rule is that such duplicate content must be avoided.

But … what percentage equals duplicate content for Google?

Is it 10%? 20%? 50%?

This was the question that Bill Hartzer on Twitter recently asked Google’s John Muller.

“Is there a percentage that represents duplicate content?

For example, should we be trying to make sure pages are at least 72.6 percent unique than other pages on our site?

Does Google even measure it?”

Google’s John Mueller responded that there is no fixed percentage or number that Google uses to measure duplicate content.“There is no number (also how do you measure it anyway?),” replied  John Mueller.What percentage equals duplicate content for Google

So, how does Google detect duplicate content?

If there is no specific number, how does Google exactly detect duplicate content?

We have 2 quotes from Google search experts that may share some insights into it.

The first bit of information came from Matt Cutts in 2013. According to Matt:

“[When Google finds bits and pieces of duplicate content on a web page, they] try to group it all together and treat if it is just one piece of content.

“It’s just treated as something that we need to cluster appropriately. And we need to make sure that it ranks correctly.”

Matt also explained that Google first (1) chooses which pages to show on the SERPs for a specific query and (2) then filters out duplicate pages so the user experience can be improved.

The second bit of information came from Gary Illyes in 2020 during the Search Off the Record podcast, while discussing if duplicate content detection and canonicalisation are the same things.

Gary Illyes explained:

“First, you have to detect the dupes, basically cluster them together, saying that all of these pages are dupes of each other, and then you have to basically find a leader page for all of them.

And that is canonicalization.

So, you have the duplication, which is the whole term, but within that, you have cluster building, like dupe cluster building, and canonicalization.“

Then Gary Illyes explained how Google detects duplicate content:

“So, for dupe detection, what we do is, well, we try to detect dupes.

And how we do that is perhaps how most people at other search engines do it, which is, basically, reducing the content into a hash or checksum and then comparing the checksums.”

You can read more about checksums here.

Here are a few resources on detecting duplicate content:

More importantly, however, local businesses should focus on avoiding duplicate content in the first place.

Here are a few tips to help you with that:

  • Organize your content in thematically related topic clusters with unique H1 headings and meta titles.
  • Redirects duplicate pages if you only want to keep one version.
  • If you want to keep both versions on your website for some reason but want Google to only index one page, use canonicalization.
  • For the master versions, always use a self-referential canonical tag.
  • Avoid parameterized URLs as Google can index parameterized URLs on the SERPs in addition to the main URL, creating duplicate versions of a page in the Google index.

 

Related Posts:

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5 local SEO tips for hotel owners https://www.improvemysearchranking.com/5-local-seo-tips-for-hotel-owners/ Fri, 30 Sep 2022 09:20:13 +0000 https://www.improvemysearchranking.com/?p=21206 Do you know that 46% of all Google searches include local intent? There is a huge market for local businesses like yours to get yourself on the map and get traffic and customers. The potential is huge — especially if you are in the hotel industry. In this article, we share 5 local SEO tips […]

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Do you know that 46% of all Google searches include local intent?

There is a huge market for local businesses like yours to get yourself on the map and get traffic and customers. The potential is huge — especially if you are in the hotel industry.

In this article, we share 5 local SEO tips for hotel owners to help them grow their search visibility, improve traffic, and increase bookings.

1. Accurate information

It is reported that customers are 2.7x more likely to consider a business reliable if their Google Business Profile is complete and has accurate information.

Is your hotel’s Google Business Profile up-to-date and 100% accurate? If not, now is the time to update it.

Accuracy and recency of business information are crucial for search engines. Besides, you also want to make sure that the NAP information is not just accurate but also consistent across the internet.

Learn more about NAP consistency and why it’s so important.

This is especially important for hotel businesses because people rely on the information you present via Google Business Profile. Most of this information is readily available to search engine users through the Google Knowledge Box. Imagine the confusion if the price, availability, or check-in hours are different or incorrect there.

It would lead to an extremely poor user experience, and that’s not something that Google wants.

Therefore, at least check the following information and whether it’s correct and up-to-date in your GBP profile:

  • Name of your hotel
  • Your hotel’s address
  • Your hotel’s contact number (this is usually the reception)
  • The website URL
  • Check-in timing
  • Check-out timing
  • Price

Unless you get this right, you will find it extremely tough to consistently rank higher on the search engine results pages.

2. Amenities

The above information is quite basic, and every hotel owner should add and keep up to date. However, you should not stop there.

Remember, the idea is to provide the best user experience and the most amount of information to Google’s search engine users. The best way to do that is to list all the amenities and facilities your hotel offers.

This will allow you to create and display more helpful information for potential customers (and search engine bots). In addition, it may also lead to more customers.

Some of the facilities and amenities that you can highlight are:

  • Concierge
  • Laundry
  • Housekeeping
  • Health attributes
  • Safety attributes
  • Pet-friendly
  • Smoking area
  • Gym
  • WiFi
  • Paid breakfast
  • Parking
  • Outdoor pool, and more.

Pro tip: Check what your competitors are doing. A quick review of their profiles and websites can give you plenty of ideas of what information to include and how.

3. Location-specific web pages

If you have multiple hotels in different locations, it can be quite helpful to create location-specific web pages.

Location-specific pages allow local businesses to target different search queries and serve search intent more effectively.

It doesn’t always make sense to follow this tactic, but if you have different hotels in different major cities, it’s good to follow this tactic. That’s because it’s common for people to search with a city modifier, e.g., “best hotel in London” and “best hotel in Bristol.”

4. FAQ content

We recommend creating an FAQ section on your website and using it to rank high in the search for important keywords.

In the hotel industry, FAQ content usually demonstrates transactional intent. If you do this strategically — by targeting keywords with high commercial intent — you are more likely to provide helpful information to readers as well as get more bookings.

5. Reviews

Reviews are an extremely important part of the puzzle for local SEO. According to BrightLocal, 98% of online consumers read reviews for local services.

During or after shortlisting a few hotels, people are very likely to read online reviews on your Google Business profile. As you can imagine, they can have a huge direct impact on how many bookings you get.

Moreover, Google reviews can also directly affect your search engine rankings. The more reviews you have — and the better reviews you have — the better chances you have of ranking higher on the search engine results pages.

Here are a few tips for you:

  • Always respond to reviews — positive or negative.
  • Email customers after their stay and seek reviews.
  • Especially focus on repeat customers who haven’t left reviews yet. They are more likely to leave positive reviews.
  • Make sure to personalize your emails/messages when sending out review requests.
  • Always provide a direct link when requesting reviews. Make it as easy as possible for people to leave Google reviews.
  • Leverage the social media platform to get reviews on your Google Business Profile.

We hope you enjoyed this article and found it helpful. If you want to learn more, check out our most comprehensive guide on Local SEO.

If you need help in improving search engine rankings for your hotel business, give us a call.

 

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Google rolls out September 2022 product review algorithm update https://www.improvemysearchranking.com/google-product-review-algorithm-update/ Wed, 28 Sep 2022 09:19:41 +0000 https://www.improvemysearchranking.com/?p=21203 The September 2022 product review update is now rolling out. As confirmed by Google, the update started rolling out on September 20, 2022, and will take up to a week to roll out completely. Usually, these product review updates take two weeks to fully roll out. However, this time, it will take less than a […]

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The September 2022 product review update is now rolling out. As confirmed by Google, the update started rolling out on September 20, 2022, and will take up to a week to roll out completely.

Usually, these product review updates take two weeks to fully roll out. However, this time, it will take less than a week.

“For awareness, the September 2022 core update has not fully completed, but it’s mostly done. We expect it will be fully complete within a week and will share on our updates page when it is done,” announced Google.

Note that this is the fifth update in a series of updates that Google rolled out to target low-quality online reviews.

This product review update was expected to go live last month in August 2022, but it was delayed. Instead of this product review update, we saw the Helpful Content update in August by Google. You can find all the details you need to know about the Helpful Content update here.

Product review update vs Core update

The timing of this product review update is not necessarily a good one. Because multiple updates have been clumped together, it may create some difficulty for people trying to ascertain what hit them.

To remedy that, Google mentioned the following guidelines:

“If you see a change and wonder if it’s related to the core update or the product reviews update:

  • If you produce product reviews, then it’s probably related to that.
  • If not, then it might be related to the core update.”

To that end, Google’s Danny Sullivan also shared his thoughts on the timing of these updates. According to Danny, Google does its level best to keep updates as separate as possible, so as to make it easier for website owners to determine which update might be affecting their search rankings.

“We’ve worked very hard to keep updates separated from each other, or as little overlap as possible, to help creators understand more.

So no, not a coincidence. We’re due a core update but said let’s wait on that until the helpful content update has rolled out,” said Google’s Danny Sullivan.

What is the product review update?

In case you need a refresher, the product review update specifically targets — as the name suggests — online product reviews.

The aim is to reward higher-quality reviews that share personal expertise, in-depth research, and unique content.

On the other hand, the update also penalizes reviews that have thin, unoriginal content that is mostly rehashed from the manufacturer’s website or other reviews online.

Google wants to rank those reviews higher in the search rankings that demonstrate personal experience with the product. This can be done by adding original product photos, videos, first-hand observations, and unique takes.

If you are a local business that also reviews products, this update is for you. On the other hand, if you only sell products that customers can review on your website, this update does not apply to you.

For more local SEO news, tips, and tricks, stay tuned.

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Google prohibits bribing customers to remove negative reviews https://www.improvemysearchranking.com/google-prohibits-bribing-customers-to-remove-negative-reviews/ Tue, 20 Sep 2022 10:23:02 +0000 https://www.improvemysearchranking.com/?p=21146 Has this ever happened to you? A customer leaves a bad or negative review about your local business. You reach out to them, try to make amends, and offer them a discount or free goods to make them happy. As a result, they modify or remove the negative review. Seems like an excellent idea, right? […]

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Has this ever happened to you?

A customer leaves a bad or negative review about your local business. You reach out to them, try to make amends, and offer them a discount or free goods to make them happy. As a result, they modify or remove the negative review.

Seems like an excellent idea, right?

Not anymore, unfortunately.

Google has updated its Google Maps review guidelines. According to this late update, incentivizing customers to modify or remove negative reviews is now prohibited by Google.

The guidelines say, “Content that has been incentivized by a business in exchange for discounts, free goods and/or services.”

Now, Google has added the following line of text to the guideline, which makes it prohibitive for local businesses to use incentives for modifying negative reviews:

“This includes merchant requests for revision or removal of a negative review through offered discounts, free goods or services, or other incentives.”

Fake Engagement |Deceptive Content

In “Fake engagement”, under the “Deceptive content” section, Google has the following guidelines.

  • Paying, incentivising, or encouraging the posting of content that does not represent a genuine experience.
  • Content that is not based on real experiences and does not accurately represent the location or product in question.
  • Content that has been incentivized by a business in exchange for discounts, free goods, and/or services. This includes merchant requests for revision or removal of a negative review through offered discounts, free goods or services, or other incentives.
  • Content that has been posted by a competitor to undermine a business or product’s reputation.
  • Content that has been posted from multiple accounts to manipulate a place’s rating.

The idea of these guidelines is to ensure that Google Maps reflect a genuine experience of a business or place.

You can read the full set of guidelines regarding prohibited and restricted content here.

The takeaway for local businesses

If you have a local business listed on Google Maps, it may be tempting to incentivize people who left negative reviews and ask them to modify their bad reviews.

Don’t.

It is now explicitly prohibited by Google and goes against the user-generated content policy that Google has for Google Maps.

In addition to this, remember that incentivizing or encouraging content that does not represent a genuine experience is also against Google’s policies. Similarly, encouraging or incentivizing people through free goods/services or discounts in exchange for positive reviews is also prohibited.

Learn more about how to ask and get more positive customer reviews.

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