How Google, TripAdvisor and Yelp can help your business

Jan 27, 2015, 12:00pm EST

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Wendy Taylor, an Internet marketing professional, is president of Strategic Online Marketing.

Wendy Taylor, Guest columnist

There's one key thing Google, TripAdvisor and Yelp all have in common that you need to know for your business: They can enhance your search engine optimization.

Online reviews often are overlooked by many companies for a variety of reasons. Usually the biggest hurdles to getting online reviews are simply:

Who in your organization will ask for them?

What most people miss is the fact that growing their online reviews will help them with their SEO. Online reviews can help you place ahead of your competition in organic search.

For example:

Google Map searches now feature reviews more prominently, this will offer you greater free exposure in organic search results.

According to BrightLocal, 85 percent of consumers read up to 10 reviews before they feel they can trust a business, and 72 percent of consumers say positive reviews make them trust a local business more.

Google continuously works to enhance the user experience, showing the best businesses first. Showing those businesses with the most reviews at the top of the search engine results page will continue to improve the user experience.

How many of us have had a terrific experience with a business? We all have had good experiences at one time or another and probably wouldn't mind writing a review if only we were asked to do so. Whether it's a tree trimmer, restaurant, hotel or lawn care service, all businesses are subject to review.

Positive reviews are like bonus points in the eyes of the search engines. The more reviews you get, the more bonus points you acquire, the higher you may climb in organic search — and this is the free, not the paid positioning.

Wendy Taylor, an Internet marketing professional, is president of Strategic Online Marketing. She can be reached at (407) 341-0582 or via www.strategiconlinemarketing.net.