Star Ratings On Google Can Increase Click-Through By 35%

According to a CXL Institute study, displaying star ratings on the results page can increase click-through by as much as 35%! That’s right! Something as simple as having stars next to your company name increases the likelihood of someone clicking through to your site by as much as 35%. That’s a significant improvement over areas without stars. Okay, stars are essential. But that begs a couple of questions: why do they have such a strong effect, and how do you get stars to show on your site’s search listing? We’ll answer each of them one at a time. Let’s get started!

Why do star ratings have such a strong effect on users?

Star ratings have such a strong effect on users because we’ve all conditioned ourselves to view numbered ratings as a way to determine the quality of the service we’ll receive from a particular business. However, the precise reasons behind why we’re generally all attracted to star ratings on various online resources and shopping sites are incredibly complicated. In short, search users view star ratings as powerful trust symbols, enticing them to trust businesses with stars over ones without. To learn more about why people trust star ratings so much, check out this article on social proof and trust influences. It goes into a little bit more detail on trust signals and what makes review stars so important.

How do you get stars on your site’s search engine listing?

Getting stars on your site’s listing on Google and other search engines is generally easy to provide the correct structured data to the search engine. To do so, you can use various types of schema markup code. What is markup code, you ask? Well, markup code is just computer code that tells search engines what’s on a particular webpage. For example, if you run a plumbing business online, then your markup code tells Google and other search engines things like:

What type of business do you run
Where your business is
What services do you provide
The cost of your services
Your hours of operation
And more!

To learn more about structured data, schema, and markup code, check out our article on just those things! Or, if you’d rather not worry about all that, then contact us, and we’d be happy to help get your website sorted.

Want Help Improving Your Click-Through By 35%? Contact Contractor Advertising

Well, now you know why star ratings on Google can increase click-through rates by as much as 35% and how to help get stars on your site’s search listing. If you’d like help managing your site, earning stars to appear, or with your SEO in general, then contact us here at Contractor Advertising. We’re always standing by to help!