Earlier this month, we started to see a trickle of brands slowly being able to display their star reviews on paid search. This time last year, Google had introduced a similar way for brands to manage their business locations in AdWords by linking their Google My Business accounts and offering an upgrade to location extensions. While these may seem like slight updates with review accessibility, the implications this can mean for your paid advertising are significant.
Historically, using Adwords Express was the singular way of getting stars in a brand’s local advertisements. These stars would come as a result of Google Plus reviews from Google Plus. Advertising on Google through Ad Express express was a less costly way to advertise without manning the reigns of AdWords. Ad extensions, when enabled, serve as additional links to advertisements that AdWords uses to enrich the customer experience, and star ratings are just another way to do that.
Since Google My Business listings now appear in your ads if location extensions are enabled, your advertisements could be all the more valuable to consumers. Consumers so closely rely on the opinions and reviews of fellow shoppers, and this sort of intel embedded within advertising will be useful to users if your reviews are good and plentiful. At this point, having five quality star reviews is enough to get these extensions to show in your locations’ ads.
Now that brands are warming up to enabling ad extension to add the value of a star review, the next frontier is branded search. As of now, Mike Blumenthal suggests paying for branded keywords on competitor turf will not give you the clicks you seek through reviews. However, if you are to focus on improving and enabling these stars reviews in your own paid search efforts for your own branded keywords, CTR will increase and maximize the money you are putting in.
In a time where consumers are looking for the quickest, most accurate and reputable information, star reviews are a powerful resource for brands with locations across the country. The visual impact that star reviews give can reinforce your presence. However, before your customers start leaving 5 star reviews, you must ensure your listings on Google are owned and claimed by your brand. This will not only allow you to add star reviews to your extensions but also ensure that the NAP data is correct.
Find out how accurate your listings are on Google for free with Brandify.
Topics: Local Advertising
Social Media Specialist at Brandify. Home is where the Wifi is.
