How to Get Star Ratings in Google

Star ratings on Google are an effective way of signaling to search engine users that your website is a valuable resource. A Google star rating also helps you to stand out on search engine results pages (SERPs). Those two factors combined mean that having a Google star rating is a quality motivator when it comes to improving your site traffic. Being seen on search engines is a core component of digital marketing, but while additional factors like SEO and content value are often the key considerations for improved SERP performance, a Google star rating is often overlooked. It can take time to develop a website that has a star rating embedded on Google, but the right step-by-step process might be able to achieve this far more easily than you think.

Step 1: Reviews

To get your Google star rating you will need to have customer reviews. Google has some clearly defined rules for which sites they will include for reviews. Your reviews will have to:

• Relate to a specific service or product
• Be available to find on your site
• Not be about an adult-related product or service
• Contain valid reviewer names
• Come directly from your website

This means you need reviews on your website, and those reviews need to be clearly visible. It’s not enough to have reviews on Yelp or even Google Business. Do not make the mistake of loading up fake reviews, as Google is particularly good at identifying these and will penalise your website if they believe that you are doing so. Once you have started collecting reviews, make sure that you adopt a star rating display, as this will make the markup process much easier.

Step 2: Schema Markup

Google needs to know that you now have reviews on your website. You will need to have some basic markup knowledge for this, although there are apps that can do this for you. Adjusting your schema markup will require some coding knowledge, and you will need to know how to use specific HTML tags. If you try to display and mark up your reviews by hand, then that can mean a lot to remember. If you fail to do this, though, then Google will not be able to read your review.

You should also make sure that your website contains basic information about your business. This includes address, phone number, and sector. Ideally, you want this info as a footer on every page of your site.

Step 3: Learn Best Practices

Following the first two steps doesn’t mean that you will immediately get your Google star rating. It can take time for Google to implement your ratings, and they may not include it at all. You can make it more likely that they will use your reviews if you:

• Know Google’s Rules: The fact is that if you break the rules of Google, then you will be penalised for it. Make sure that you understand their guidelines for review snippets.
• Avoid the Homepage: If you showcase your reviews on your homepage, then you will confuse the search engines. That’s because they will view those reviews as being about your business as a whole rather than an individual product or service. You might think that this is great news, but Google doesn’t like this, and it will have a negative effect on your schema markup as well. Make sure that your reviews are only on your product/service pages.
• Update: The more regularly that you update your website, the more times that Google will have to scan through it. That will mean that they will be able to update your star ratings. This is very valuable, certainly for newer businesses. The majority of consumers aren’t just going to look at a Google star rating and decide to buy. They will want to know how many people have left a positive review, so the more reviews that you can upload the better. The more frequent your updates, the more likely that you will get your Google star rating.
• Become an Authority: This is easier said than done and will certainly take time to get right. The more authoritative your brand is, the more likely that Google will reward you with a star rating. Authority is all about how much Google places value on your site. Building authority will mean:
  • Backlinks from established high-authority sites
  • High-quality content
  • Positive social sharing signals
  • SEO

Of course, these four things alone can improve your digital marketing effectiveness. However, by focusing on them, you will be proving your authority to Google and making it far more likely that they will reward you with a star rating.

People want to have their needs satisfied, and social proof is an effective way of showing your value. If lots of people like your product or service enough to leave a positive review, then others will be more likely to see what you offer. Make sure that you take the time to build a bank of reviews as well as that vital trust and authority. Get the foundations right, and you will be more likely to be granted that all-important Google star rating.