How User-Generated Content Affects SEO
What's the best content you've created so far? We can all agree that some written material performs better than others in terms of traffic or conversions. But what many businesses overlook is that the best content doesn't come from inside the company. In fact, your users are creating the best content right now.
What's the best content you've created so far? We can all agree that some written material performs better than others in terms of traffic or conversions. But what many businesses overlook is that the best content doesn't come from inside the company. In fact, your users are creating the best content right now. It's the new word of mouth. User-Generated Content, also known as Customer-Generated Content or UGC, can be defined as any kind of content created by and for users about a brand. Followers, supporters, customers — we're all part of it. Power to the people! This content can be published in many formats: blog posts, photos, videos, testimonials, tweets, product reviews, and more. The truth is, none of this is new. UGC first started appearing around 2005, but it wasn't until recently that brands began to seriously consider integrating it strategically as part of their marketing campaigns. Even so, online marketing experts recommend User-Generated Content as a complement to and support for a wider content strategy. So today we're going to talk about the benefits of this content from the point of view of an online review platform, like Revi — now a Google (Product Rating) Partner.
Benefits of user-generated content
Surveys show that consumers who engage with this kind of content are 97% more likely to make a purchase. User-Generated Content (in any format) is a marketing asset valued by brands and organizations for several reasons:
- User opinions and testimonials about a product carry far more impact and credibility than any message put out by the company itself.
- This type of content needs no planning or upfront investment. It's genuine and it's free.
- It makes it easy to connect with your audience.
- It boosts user engagement.
- It opens the door to building a community of brand ambassadors around this content.
- The content itself holds real value for other customers.
- User-Generated Content increases customer loyalty.
Here's how Revi makes it work:
- Google Rich Snippets: the well-known Google star-rating system shows up when someone is searching for a product in your online store.
- SEO Reviews: reviews are published on your website. That means original, constantly updated content for your site — which helps you rank better on Google.
- SEO Plus: reviews stay on your own website. The result is content that keeps getting fresher and better SEO for Google.
- Product Reviews: display your customers' product reviews in a strategic spot. It increases conversion, improves SEO, and encourages the buying decision.
- Follow link: Revi automatically generates a direct link to your website. It's a follow link — one of Google's favorite signals for improving SEO.
Types of User-Generated Content that affect SEO:
- Case studies
- Blog posts
- Social media content
- Reviews
- Questions and answers
- Video content
How does User-Generated Content impact SEO for your ecommerce store?
Content always has an effect on SEO. More and more, search engines focus on ranking pages that match search intent. With that in mind, can user-generated content have a different kind of impact on SEO? Absolutely.
SEO is content. Producing excellent content is a key factor in how you rank against your competitors. There are plenty of technical aspects involved in SEO, but the focus comes back to creating, optimizing and making content accessible. When it comes to online reviews, we know that users value written opinions more than star ratings alone — and online reviews help your SEO in ways star ratings can't on their own. A study by Fan and Fuel found that 73% of users prefer a written review over a simple rating.
Revi is one of the best-optimized and most affordable SEO platforms: no contracts and no extra fees like our competitors charge. Built from the ground up over the past few years with the goal of creating a better user experience, through a new content-based SEO strategy.
This content created by users contains keywords that Google uses for ranking your website. If you want to dig deeper into the connection between reviews and ecommerce SEO, the image below highlights words that feed into the keywords Google favors when ranking a page.
Turn the negative into a positive
There's one thing users are learning about reviews: a perfect 5-star rating most likely means one of two things. Either 1) the product has no reviews, or 2) the owners or employees are generating fake reviews. What's more, getting a negative review — or one that's not as positive as you hoped — isn't a bad thing for your brand. It's an opportunity to understand your customers better and fix potential weaknesses in your business; and even more, a real chance to earn customer loyalty. Of course, a negative reply is not the answer to those negative reviews. The key is to respond professionally and resolve any problem. Show your professionalism and your problem-solving skills. Ignoring a negative review can make it look like we don't care about our customers' opinions. Avoidance and/or silence are two surefire ways to break trust — something that can cost you reputation as a brand. Another reason to take reviews seriously is Google. Yes, the giant of the world wide web takes into account the responses you give to users when ranking your website on Google Business Profile. And you don't need a big budget to do it well — there are plenty of free SEO tools for ecommerce that help you stay on top of it. Being part of the solution in a professional way, and staying close to your customers' concerns, will likely attract other customers too. It's content, and it's SEO. Start making the most of UGC to grow your SEO!