Publishing online reviews can be a useful way to boost SEO, but in spite of the fact that this is the case not all reviews are treated equally. A developer advocate at Google by the name of John Kent recently revealed that reviews linking to multiple sellers are going to get prioritized in the SERP over reviews that only link to a single seller. Kent also went on to confirm that single seller reviews will reduce rankings for websites.
With all of that having been said and now out of the way, it is important to note that linking to numerous sellers is a strong sign that your reviews are actually going to be helpful to some extent or another. It can make it clear that you are being objective in your reviews. Alternatively, linking to a single seller can make it more likely that you are being biased than might have been the case otherwise.
Websites often link to a single seller because of the fact that this is the sort of thing that could potentially end up helping them earn affiliate income. This makes it unlikely that their reviews are unbiased, so its pretty obvious that objectivity is something that Google is trying to encourage with all things having been considered and taken into account.
Review writers would do well to take heed of Google’s advice. Affiliate programs are huge revenue earners for websites, but they can inhibit the dissemination of useful and factual information which is why Google is trying to crack down on this sort of thing.
Many sites that were relying on a single seller will have to switch things up lest their rankings get impacted. Affiliate earnings can dwindle if a site is relegated to a lower search engine ranking, and Google’s announcements will have a definite impact on the state of online reviews moving forward.
Attempting to clean up its SERP has been a top priority for Google these days. Showing users relevant content is the only real way to get them to trust the search engine results that they are seeing.
Read next: What Countries Offer the Cheapest Mobile Internet?
With all of that having been said and now out of the way, it is important to note that linking to numerous sellers is a strong sign that your reviews are actually going to be helpful to some extent or another. It can make it clear that you are being objective in your reviews. Alternatively, linking to a single seller can make it more likely that you are being biased than might have been the case otherwise.
Yes. If there were two great sites with similarly great content, the one with reviews linking to multiple providers might get a small boost. But more often is the content quality will be different and dominate.
— Alan Kent (@akent99) January 10, 2023
Websites often link to a single seller because of the fact that this is the sort of thing that could potentially end up helping them earn affiliate income. This makes it unlikely that their reviews are unbiased, so its pretty obvious that objectivity is something that Google is trying to encourage with all things having been considered and taken into account.
Review writers would do well to take heed of Google’s advice. Affiliate programs are huge revenue earners for websites, but they can inhibit the dissemination of useful and factual information which is why Google is trying to crack down on this sort of thing.
Many sites that were relying on a single seller will have to switch things up lest their rankings get impacted. Affiliate earnings can dwindle if a site is relegated to a lower search engine ranking, and Google’s announcements will have a definite impact on the state of online reviews moving forward.
Attempting to clean up its SERP has been a top priority for Google these days. Showing users relevant content is the only real way to get them to trust the search engine results that they are seeing.
Read next: What Countries Offer the Cheapest Mobile Internet?