User-generated content (UGC) is a marketing tactic that is becoming very popular in the B2C sector. From social media posts to product views, user-generated content has become a powerhouse for businesses to drive brand awareness and engagement. UGS can have a major impact on your SEO efforts.
Did you know that YouTube and TikTok are becoming search engines? This means that SEO goes far behind a Google search these days, which means your content has become more important than ever before.
User-Generated Content and SEO
One of the major advantages of UGC is that it improves your SEO rankings, when it is done properly. User-generated content can impact your SEO in a number of ways:
- Increases time on site – when users engage with UGC on your website, they spend more time on your site, watching a video or reading a review. This increases your engagement signals with search engines, showing your site is relevant and valuable, in turn, this can improve your ranking in search engine results pages (SERPs)
- Increases search rankings – surveys show that seventy two percent of SEO professionals rely on unique content to boost rankings in SERPs. Reviews and ratings are essential to local search engine rankings, after link signals and Google My Business signals. This means if you have high quality UGC, including positive views, you can climb your way to the top of search results
- Improves Click Through Rates (CTAs) – customer reviews and social media posts can increase the chances of customers clicking through to your site. Ninety one percent of consumers read online reviews, while eighty four percent trust online reviews as much as they do personal recommendations
- Create a Good Backlink Profile – Backlinks are a key ranking factor and user-generated content is a powerful way to generate more backlinks.
- Increased social engagement – social media signals are becoming more important to your SEO ranking. When you encourage user-generated content on social media, you improve your engagement on social media platforms, showing search engines that your brand is relevant and active.
Adding User-Generated Content to Your SEO Strategy
Now that you understand how important user-generated content and reviews are to your SEO efforts, you will want to incorporate it into your strategy, this can be done by:
- Encouraging customer reviews – encouraging your customers to leave reviews on your website or an independent website, such as Google My Business or Yelp, improves your ranking in SERPs. At the same time, any negative reviews can be seen as useful and valuable feedback. Helping you improve your business
- Use Social Media to your benefit – encourage your followers to create user-generated content on social media. Share and engage with user-generated content to improve engagement, while boosting your brand visibility
- Incorporate user-generate content on your website – display customer reviews, user-generated images or videos, also include customer blog posts to improve time on site and boost click through rates
- Offer incentives – offer your customers discounts and other incentives when creating organic user-generated content, building loyalty with your customer base
Conclusion
User-generate content and reviews has a major impact on your SEO rankings, especially if you update the content regularly. When you incorporate UGS into your SEO strategy, you boost brand visibility, rankings in SERPs, while improving engagement. If you want to improve your SEO efforts, you can harness the power of user-generated content and reviews.