The Google Knowledge Panel is an important part of your business’s online presence. This information box lets prospective customers know that you’re a legitimate business while providing an overview of your operation—from your address and phone number to your business hours and driving directions. Another important part of the Knowledge Panel is that it collects and displays online reviews. Recently, Google made a change and now includes third-party reviews into the knowledge panel.
Google Reviews vs. Reviews from the Web
There are two separate review areas on your Google Knowledge Panel. The first is located directly under the business name. Here, reviews from Google users are displayed and an average star rating (out of five) is given based on all Google reviews for your business. Learn more about the importance of Google reviews for your business.
Lower in the Knowledge Panel is the newer section, “Reviews from the web.” In this area, Google rounds up reviews from different sites and displays up to three aggregated third-party reviews. This is an important addition as it gives potential customers another way to quickly evaluate your business that is based on reviews from a number of different sites.
However, not all review pages are eligible to be included. Sites like Facebook, Houzz, Homestars and even our local BlogTO can be found in the Knowledge Panel while TripAdvisor and Yelp are absent. In addition, many smaller review sites that solicit small business owners—promising stellar reviews on their own directories for a fee—are also not included in Google’s round-up of reviews.
Online reviews are important for businesses, but make sure that you’re spending your time and energy focusing on the right sites.
If you’re overwhelmed with the abundance of online review sites and
are unsure where to direct your time and resources,
contact an idig Marketing specialist today.
idig Marketing is a full-service digital strategy and development firm that generates meaningful website traffic and drives high value leads to your organization. By optimizing organic content with paid advertising our custom methodology is adapted to meet your requirements and to exceed your objectives.
