Let us face the truth—customers are not interested in a company’s testimonial page. How this gap (which is created by making the testimonial page redundant) has to be filled? The answer lies in customer reviews. Now, read how customer reviews will help businesses to raise their fortunes. However, first, read up on some SEO tidbits that were 2015’s highlights.

What 2015 brought?

In the previous year, Google had done away with its 7-pack; and with its recent update, Google Plus has successfully removed each and every piece of local information from its business pages. Until Google gives some concrete update for benefiting local businesses, a business’s listing completely depends on Google Maps.

This sudden shift on Google Maps has brought business reviews in the limelight. To improve the searcher’s experience, the page carries no photos or company description. As of now, the customers will only see three elements when they will make a local research on Google Maps:

• Business name
• Phone number
• Business address

With so minimal information on display, prospects/customers will search for a business’s reviews.

Why the shift is from testimonial pages to independent reviews?

Here is the low-down—prospects read reviews about a business’s previous customers, but they do not like reading them on a business’s website. If a business checks its website’s Google Analytics, it will see for itself that most of the visits to its testimonial page is made by its own staff.

Everyone knows that a business always manipulates its testimonial page; this page only carries the top five reviews. In short, you will find all positive stuff. (And, honestly, there is no website presently that will carry negative reviews on its testimonial page.)

The fact is that customers wish reading truckloads of honest, unbiased reviews but on the third-party sites. So the best thing to do is to have a review/feedback/testimonial page and link it to third-party reviewing sites.

Nowadays, there are many vertical directories that can carry business reviews. (Choose only those directories that the customers frequent.) Positive review generation and reputation management come under SEO services only. So if a business suffers from defamation on the web, it should contact a leading digital marketer offering SEO outsourcing services right away.