Achieve better Google visibility with rating stars

Achieve brand awareness with aggregated rating stars

Displaying evaluation stars in Google search results isn't new. It's a clear sign for the users that this result deserves more attention than the others, and clicks respectively increase. But you may not know that the increased number of clicks has an additional advantage. Click rate is a decisive criterion for Google.

The Google algorithm includes various factors to generate the best result for a survey. The most important rating factors appear in the graphic below.

Number one is Click Through Rate: This result users choose when they search using the keyword “shoes”. What Google is trying to do is clear: The search engine wants to offer the best search results and is learning by observing those who search. If a search result deviates from these average click rate values, this influences its position in the search results. This means that when a search result has better click rates than the average, this result will appear higher on the list.

Optimise click rates with rating stars

Therefore, it should be a goal to improve click rates for your website. Optimization of page name, meta descriptions and URL (which is used by Google as a preview in the search results) are all part of search engine optimization. Below, the page name is displayed in blue, the URL in green, and the meta description in gray.

For some time now it is also possible to display your ratings in Google alongside natural results. These ratings stars provide multiple clear advantages:

• Stand out from competitors who have no ratings
• Draw attention with orange rating stars
• Create trust right in the search results

The effect of the ratings stars in Google is immense. When we added them to our agency's website sensational-marketing.de, our click rate increased by 5%. The effect of this click rate increase are even further reaching, because higher click rates result in higher Google positions. In addition, studies show, ratings influence shopping behavior of potential customers. 78.3% of those surveyed confirmed that their decision to buy was influenced by ratings.

How does one receive stars next to the search result?

The expense is comparatively low, you have to simply integrate a code into your website to generate ratings profiles. ProvenExpert.com also offers a code snippet and instructions (ed.: this can be found in the internal profile area) for embedding. Google will find the rest on its own, as soon as it crawls through the site again. You can check for yourself whether the ratings data is being found by Google by testing the Structured Data Testing Tool from Google:
https://search.google.com/structured-data/testing-tool

In the Testing Tool simply enter a subpage to test and click “Run test”. Google will check your web site for micro data and returns the result on the right side:

The “Review aggregate” should appear as in the illustration above if the code from the ratings portal has been used properly. The lines have the following meaning:

• Review aggregate: your personal URL for ProvenExpert or another ratings portal
• itemreviewed: The name of the company or website
• count: The number of ratings on the ratings portal
• value: The current ratings value
• best: The best rating to date

Rating stars: More than just an eye-catcher

Ratings stars bring clear advantages. But only a few understand just what potential they have. Use this knowledge!