So how does this relate to reviews and star ratings? Star ratings are also indicators, easy, quick indicators for helping establish Know, Like, and Trust factors. A matter of fact, the next time you are researching a business and you find yourself on Google maps, really pay attention to what your eyes do first. Are they looking at business names or are they scanning star ratings? A lot of studies have looked into the relationship between stars and click through rates. Without going through each study independently, I will focus on the broader results of these studies.

How can I claim that star ratings coincide with currency? Presumably, the more clicks you get through to a business, the more opportunity to create sales that a business will have. Additionally, if click rates go up solely because a star rating difference that caused someone to click, the business with the visit has likely a Trusted visitor examining its business. Here is one of the stats that count. Going from a three-star to a five-star rating has shown to increase click-through rates around 25%. A somewhat surprising piece of data is that your click-through rate will increase between 35% and 40% going from a one-star rating to a five-star rating. I honestly would have expected a larger increase as one-star ratings likely get very few, if any clicks at all.

Another by-product of a higher star rating is "faster" clicks. Meaning, the confidence to click on a business with a five-star rating is higher and the user has less hesitation exploring that business. Most studies I looked at had about the same determination in click-through increases. They also had similar overall conclusions in terms of user behavior and how we react to star ratings. The bottom line, more is truly better.

So where is the currency part of this equation? Truly, much like measuring the ROI of SEO, the real currency comes down to the transaction amount a consumer spends on average with your business as well as an incremental sales factor. Did your business capture a sale because you rated higher than a competitor in your local reviews? If so, what is your average sale? For ease, let us say it's $500. If you capture three closing sales you would normally not have because your star ratings are exceptional, then we could say that increased rating is worth $1500. Let us assume we are comparing a five-star business review next to a three-star. With the above monthly scenario, those two stars end up being worth $18,000 annually to the five-star business. Obviously, the value of the star currency idea is relative, but a strong point can be made in how consumers react to star ratings and how businesses can capture extra sales by having customers rate and review their experiences with you.

One strategy that is pretty consistent for most businesses though, is the opportunity to leverage customer reviews and ratings. One long-standing consumer behavior that hasn't changed over the years is the seeking of Know, Like, and Trust factors. Consumers have used those during brick and mortar dominant days and, that characteristic of seeking out business they feel comfortable with, trust, and eventually like has not changed.

How do we know this? Beyond the click-through rate data on various star ratings in GMB, which we will get to in just a minute, website user behavior can tell us a lot. One page that most website owners overlook or don't understand is the About Us page. It is shocking how often I will find that page in particular near the top of the list of most viewed pages. My only conclusion, seeing it so often, is that consumers and clients want to see and understand who they are potentially reaching out to. They are essentially trying to establish two of the three qualifications, the Know and the Trust factors.

There are a lot of elements that go into a solid, consistent digital marketing campaign. A good campaign is first going to be catered to the business's target market and, few campaigns are identical in strategy or execution. Some businesses may need SEO to enhance their Organic Channel where others could use some Paid Advertising along with some social media.