As you probably know, reviews are one of the best ways to improve your Google rankings. It's one of the 5 pillars of your visibility we discussed.
But how many reviews does it really take to make a difference?
The answer is simple: forget the total number. It's freshness that counts.
1. Freshness beats the total
Good news if your competitor has 200 reviews and you have 50. You don't need 150 reviews to catch up.
Google doesn't want to know who was the best in 2022. It wants to know which business to recommend to a customer today.
- Scenario A (your competitor): 200 reviews. The last one is 3 months old. Signal sent to Google: "This business was popular. Is it still?"
- Scenario B (you): 50 reviews. You received 3 this month. Signal sent to Google: "This business is active, operating, and satisfying customers now."
The rule is simple: regularity is proof of activity. The total number is just proof of seniority.
2. What is the right pace?
Look at the number of recent reviews your competitors have, their last 10, for example.
How long did it take them to get them? Three weeks? Six months?
If your competitors are getting an average of 5 new reviews per month, your goal is to get 6 or 7. By doing this, you send a strong signal to Google: "I am the most dynamic and relevant business in this area right now."
3. What you must do (and stop doing)
Stop:
- Setting an unrealistic numerical goal ("I need 50 reviews before Christmas").
- Launching big "review campaigns" once a year. This creates a suspicious spike, followed by a long silence.
Start:
- Integrating review requests into your process. Make it a habit, not a campaign. Ask every satisfied customer for a review.
- Aiming for consistency. Better 2 new reviews every month for a year than 24 reviews in one week and then nothing.
- Responding to all your reviews. This is the ultimate proof of an active and attentive business, and a Google recommendation.
But beware, reviews aren't everything and distance can sometimes take priority...
Analyze your competitors easily
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