Get Ratings for Google’s Reviews From The Web With Vocalreferences
You can now find a ratings summary of your Vocalreferences reviews and testimonials and a link to the those reviews right from Google’s ‘Reviews from the web’ section in the Google Places display. Below you can see the ratings in the right hand box for Solarus USA
As displayed in the image to the right, when you search for a specific business, Google will display on the right hand side a summary of the business information and any reviews that may exist for that business.
In order to have your business show up on this right hand pane you will need to create and complete a Google Places business profile.
If you are interested in collecting testimonials with VocalReferences, simply create an account and start collecting. All reviews which are collected by premium VocalReferences users will be submitted to Google for review indexing.
Background
There is always much flex in the world of search and specifically with Google. The search giant is always trying to stay relevant and is therefore trying various formulas. To those who rely on Google Places to drive traffic to their site, keeping on top of these changes is a must.
For those of us who simply want to find a business, Google now offers multiple ways to get to the information you are looking for.
Integration of Organic Search and Local Search
One of the recent tweaks Google introduced is the integration of Google Places/Local Search/Maps with organic search results. In the past if someone included a location in the Google search box, Google assumed you were interested in performing a local search. As a result, they would present you with a Local Search result page. This page listed businesses which are similar to the one you searched for and a map of the area of the business. Clicking on place markers on the map send you to the business listing.
If you searched for a business without placing the location of the business, most times Google would present an organic search result page; displaying relevant results about the business without all the local information.
With the new integration, when you search for a business, even if a geographic location is not provided, Google will present a hybrid result page. On the left of the page is the Organic result listing and on the right side of the page the content of the business’s Google Places profile, with a Google Map will be displayed.
Importance of filling out your Google Places Profile
In order for Google to display a Google Places section for a business, the business must first claim/verify their business in Google Places. The more complete your Google Places profile is the more information will be displayed when people search for your business. Some even speculate that one of the factors that Google uses to rank a business within a local search is the contents of the Google Places profile.
For many SMB’s the Google Places search is a great way to drive traffic, leads and even calls to your business.
Google Reviews & Reviews from the web
Another move that Google introduced a few years back is business reviews for Google Places.
A business can direct their customers to their Google Places page. On the Google places page they can record a star rating and some comments. The Google Places reviews is an important factor in ranking the business within a local area.
Most recently Google expanded upon it’s reviews function and now displays a summary of other review systems. These reviews are grouped under “Other reviews from the Web”. In this section you can find reviews from Facebook, Yellow Pages and VocalReferences.
The reviews on the web are organized in a scoreboard. The scoreboard displays the number of reviews and the number of 5 star reviews received by the business. This display puts further pressure on a business to work hard to collect reviews and testimonials from their customers.
How to collect testimonials & Reviews with VocalReferences
VocalReferences makes it easy to collect video testimonials from your customer. You can either add a vocalreferences capture button or link to your website; enabling customers to record a testimonial straight from your web site. You can send the customer a link via email, SMS, Whatsapp or any other communication method. When the recipient clicks on the link they will be taken to a testimonial capture form to record a testimonial. Finally you can download our Andorid or Ios app which enables you to collect testimonials from your mobile device.
