How reviews affect SEO?

Gone are the days when all a business had to do was throw their [keyword] all over their website to score high in local search rank. For this, we’re all thankful.

There are tons of factors that affect search engine ranking (SERP factors) and many of them include reviews. Some of those are:

• Diversity of third-party sites on which reviews are present
• Authority of third-party sites on which reviews are present
• Quantity of Reviews by Authority Reviewers (e.g.Yelp Elite, Google Local Guides, etc)
• Positive Sentiment in Reviews
• Overall Velocity of Reviews (Native + Third-Party)
• Quantity of Third-Party Traditional Reviews
• Product/Service Keywords in Reviews

Aside from SEO on Google and other search engines, Yelpers can filter their search options to include “highest rated” and “most reviewed.” If local businesses lack reviews, they won’t show up as a local fave here. Consumers are declaring their purchase intent—71% of searches on Yelp came from mobile devices, meaning that while customers are on the move and ready to buy, they’re checking reviews.