Is It Beneficial to 'Like' My Clients Google Reviews?
-
I have a client who is insisting that all of us in the office 'like' his positive reviews on Google.
My boss & I are fine with doing this, but due to the industry the client works in, my staff is questioning doing this or not because they do not want to be associated with his company outside of work.
Is there any SEO benefit to us liking his reviews or is this more for him to feel better that people are reading them? Does my staff have anything to worry about if they do 'like' his reviews?
-
Intriguing question. In short yes there is a benefit - in so far as the three-panel reviews that appear are often manip[ulated by likes. So your liking a positive review may push a negative review off the SERP.
However, should your staff write false reviews, 100% not, that would not good from an objective perspective? In Australia it would be a disaster for staff and the business moral, effectively it is imposing your views on your staff on possibly private gmail assets and asking them to publish your views.
-
As far as I know, although aggregate review ratings themselves can be used by Google in terms of GMB / Google maps rankings, 'likes' don't factor at all and will make zero difference
It looks weird anyway, I would think that it would be very rare for people to take the time to 'like' reviews. Maybe if it was something they were passionate about (a book they read, then they saw someone's review and really vibed with it. Or a big brand with an extremely innovative product...)
- but to see liked reviews for drier SMB stuff, would seem a little contrived (just my 2pence)
-
Hi there, it certainly won't harm anything, unless you work in a large office & everyone does it around the same
-
Good Afternoon, Justine,
This is an excellent question. There is no documentation regarding SEO benefits from the presence of thumbs-up activity on Google reviews. They may have some impact on the order in which reviews are displayed, but I have never seen any study undertaken as to whether they have any impacts beyond that.
Because of this, I would treat the topic, in general, as one of low priority/low concern.
However, we've waded into something deeper here with this scenario of a client trying to pressure an agency to thumb up his positive reviews. I'm assuming he's doing so because he believes it will benefit him in some way, but your question deserves a thoughtful answer.
So far as I know, Google has never released formal guidelines for the use of the "like" function on reviews since they rolled it out in 2016. They don't specify who should use that function (owners, the public, etc.) or whether they would consider any particular use of it spammy. But what we do know is this: Google is very big on the concept of reviews being honest and transparent and sourced directly from customers. Anything that resembles manipulation is forbidden.
The "like" button isn't the review, of course, but it's associated with the review. Does it strike you that what this client is asking you do is to manipulate his review corpus? After all, you are his marketer ... not a customer. Google's position is weak here, because so far as I know, they haven't released specific guidelines. In that environment, I could certainly make a case for your client interpreting the "like" button as something he should use when he receives a review he's grateful for. He could respond to the review and hit the "like" button as a thank-you. But when the owner begins bringing in his marketers to do the same ... marketers who are not customers but are, in fact, paid contractors, does this not seem to be crossing a line from gratitude to manipulation?
Another way to look at this: how would the business owner feel if his competitor hired 100 people who did nothing all day but like his reviews? Would that feel fair or honest to him?
So, as I said at the outset, I would consider this a low-level priority given that I have no documentation indicating that likes impact rankings, and I can't even fully quantify the level of impact they have on review ordering because you will commonly see reviews with multiple likes being outranked by reviews with no likes. This isn't the biggest issue in local SEO, but your client's attitude could prove troubling if he is inclined toward manipulation. I've never had a client try to order me to do something, and that that seems odd, too.
If it were my agency, I would say "no" and talk with the client about the need to earn his reputation rather than try to fake it in any way. That kind of approach seldom pays off in the long run, and I'd hate to okay a client engaging in any practice that I was even remotely worried might be perceived by Google as spam. You'll need to make a decision on this at your agency, and then present it to the client. Good luck, and I hope my thoughts on this are helpful!
-
Hey Justine!
Great question, as far as I understand, Google does NOT actually use “liking” reviews or marking them as “helpful” as any ranking factor. However, I believe it does use them to rank which reviews to show. Similar to how Yelp shows reviews.
In regards to your team, they shouldn’t have any problems if they decide to Ike the reviews. That being said, liking the reviews is just patting your client on the head, but not actually majorly affecting his rankings.
I suggest sharing that with him, he may not find it as important if he knows. On the flip side, if it makes him happy, your team shouldn’t have anything to worry about. I wouldn’t suggest liking every review simply because not every review is ”helpful” some might be truly more helpful than others,
I hope that answers your question!
Here is an article that shares a little bit of info: https://contractorcalls.com/7-things-didnt-know-google-reviews/ see point 6.
If that didn’t answer your question, Mozzer Miriam Ellis might have more insight.
Best,
Alex Ratynski
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
-
How can I improve my rank on Google Local?
I am bringing this topic up again. Last year, I suddenly stopped ranking for Google Local search results. I tried backing away and hoping it would correct itself, but it has not. When I do a search for myself, I rarely show up in the results anymore, and this image shows AFTER I've zoomed WAY in just to find myself. I think it has something to do with many fishing charters having the same address. I read the Moz article about which signals are most important, but to be quite honest, I don't think any of these competitors really bother with SEO or even have filled out their Google My Business in its entirety. They all have way less reviews than I do as well. I really try to do everything right, but it doesn't seem to help. Is there something small ad obvious that I am missing. Any ideas on what to do?
Reviews and Ratings | | CalicoKitty20000 -
Snap Pack & Yelp/Angie's list Page authority
Hey gang, First off thank you for any advice. I know we are all busy trying to make our money so I really appreciate everyone who chimes in. Links to studies and articles are also much appreciated. So. I am by no mean an SEO expert, I prefer to dabble in outreach and authentic link building campaigns. So you can imagine my frustration when I pull off a successful campaign, get about 4 or 5 great real links, raise in organic, but don't budge on the maps. I have noticed something. 1. My competition's yelp page has a couple more reviews than me (btw it's a locksmith site, I know it's a rather spammy industry, I don't do black hat...) BUT their yelp Page Authority is like 46! Same thing with their angies list, BBB, etc etc. MINE IS 1 across the board. Now I know the internet is changing. There is usually no reason for a locksmith site to have a viral blog. Google is looking toward more Citation based authority for local ranking factors. (Or at least that's what they say, I feel like their algorithm is not yet advanced enough to catch all the spammers.) So I am going to have an ethics meeting with my company and make sure we are alwyas treating our customers fabulously as well as sometimes intentionally asking for a review, not just on google, but across all of our web 2.0 platforms. BUT How do I get MY page authority on these directories higher? By back linking to them? DO you guys think these companies actually had campaigns to get links to these directories? Did they just PBN em'? Am I stuck in 2013!? Much love guys.
Reviews and Ratings | | Meier0 -
Why Isn't Product Schema Showing Up for my Ecom Site?
Hello, I work with two ecommerce sites and we've implemented product and review schema back in mid-May. Since implemented, I've seen some of the product prices and review stars start to show up in Google, however, now it seems to be long gone. I've tested sample URLs in Google's rich snippet testing tool and no errors come up and it looks like we have all the required components needed for each schema type. I know Google doesn't for sure show schema, but these sites are a decent size and trustworthy enough where I think they would be showing it. Does anyone have an idea on what I'm missing? Have you experienced something like this? Thanks in advance.
Reviews and Ratings | | OfficeFurn0 -
Motivating Clients to leave reviews
We are a bankruptcy law firm and therefore getting clients to post a public review is challenging, as they don't wish to disclose the fact that they filed for bankruptcy. I recently audited our local competitors. Most just have one or two reviews. But 2 firms in particular have 6- 10x the amount of what is "normal" for our practice area, and in addition they are 1.) all 5-star reviews 2.) the only review they had ever posted by that person (seems unnatural that your first and only review is of a bankruptcy attorney). This is the exact same fact pattern for both attorneys, so I am wondering if they are using a special tool or some how incentivizing clients to leave a 5 star review...is there any way to know if they are using unethical practices? So my question: how do we motivate happy clients to leave a public review when they the nature of our practice is a private matter? Is there a helpful tool or method people have found good success with? Is there a way to leave anonymous or first name only reviews on Google Plus? We have a lot of review on the testimonials section of our website, but clients who submit ask us to change their name for privacy. Could we somehow post these on Google Plus for the clients, while still keeping within the regulations of Google? Thanks in advance for your insights!
Reviews and Ratings | | JulieALS0 -
Started using a 3rd Party Review Company for our Website. Do we need to show the reviews or is a widget (badge) with a link back to review company sufficient enough from an SEO ranking point of view?
Hi All, We have started to use a 3rd party review company and now have the choice of either implementing their re-supplied widgets (Java ) on our site showing customer reviews or use their an API to get this information. The widgets (Java) , would be loaded once the page is actually loaded so I am not sure how and if google will read this information if at all? If we use a widget then we won't be able to implement it with Schema.org although we will be able to use rich snippets to it will appear on any PPC (once we have had 30 reviews). If we go down the API route, it's more expensive for us but we can use the review schema.org for this. Does anyone have any experience of what works best for them ?.. We have a choice of having a widget showing latest reviews or just a badge (which is actually a link to the review site showing our reviews). From an SEO point of view, is one better than the other ? Does google actually read the content of the review or is the link back to the 3rd party review company sufficient enough to help with rankings etc. Am I correct in assuming that by linking to a 3rd party review company and showing our reviews on our site , this will help with rankings as even though the content in the reviews doesn't really say much ,. I did see it was a ranking factor on the survey but not sure how google uses this. ? I've read up some information on reviews etc but wondered what the general consensus was with what others found works best for them Any help greatly appreciated Pete
Reviews and Ratings | | PeteC120 -
Why are certain words formatted as bold in Google+ Reviews?
Hey guys, I noticed that certain words within reviews left on Google+ pages are being shown in bold text. The original reviews do not feature bold text, but when shown in snippets they appear. I attached a photo below for a college's G+ page. Any insight would be great! 0ZHfhnP
Reviews and Ratings | | TomBinga11250 -
Customer Reviews & Message Boards
Hi there, Is there any value to responding to negative reviews that are older than this year? I have some that span from 2009 until now, as well as negative message board posts. Another question, to mitigate this, should I have the client respond to just reviews or actually get on the message boards as well and address some issues that have been brought up with the company? Some are specific customer complains, some are just talking about the company in general. Thanks!
Reviews and Ratings | | sarahbeth2191 -
Best E-Mail Service For Customer Reviews
Hello Moz Community, I manage an online wallpaper store. The site is totalwallovering.com We already have a 5 star review form in place on all product pages with rich snippets. I want to set up my own system for e-mailing customers two weeks after they purchase wallpaper from us, in effect asking them leave us a review of the product. Most people are generally willing to do so if they get a reminder. So far in the past 6 months since we have added the review form we have gotten eight reviews. I got a call from Trustpilot last week and I really liked their system ALOT but I am unwilling to pay $600/month. I would rather have all of my reviews on my own website. I literally have thousands of past customers and would like to bulk upload them into the system so that I can generate hundreds of reviews quickly but if that is not possible I can just start with the customers I get today. I am open to any suggestions. Thanks
Reviews and Ratings | | Wesley-Barras0