Google Now Uses Carousel for Local Business Reviews 

For local business owners, Google updates can be daunting. Still, there’s no need to panic about the newest carousel format for local business reviews. Recently, a digital marketer noticed this new format in the Knowledge Graph area, which gives more visibility for reviews. If you own a business and aiming to boost your online reputation, this small update will prove useful to you.

When did the carousel first appear? 

Well, it was first noticed in the first weeks of December by Aneel Badyal, a digital marketer. Also, a Google spokesperson confirmed that they indeed have a new format for the local business reviews.

Aside from that, the Q&A section within Google My Business is also transformed into a carousel. This is just a small detail, but with a catch.

Why should we care about the carousel?

It’s just a format, why should we make a big deal about it? Yes, it’s only a change in format, but here’s the catch: only businesses with high-quality reviews will get this. So if you have poor reviews from customers, you’re stuck with the old format where customers still have to click “See All Reviews”.

Aside from that accessible scroll format, the reviews are now elevated right after the business name. This falls above-fold, or in the area visible to the internet user without scrolling. This way, your business will have a better online image. Also, customers are less likely to jump into another option when they see the enhanced review portion.

Besides, this new visibility of good reviews helps your customers in making a purchasing decision. Somehow, it may push them to enter your sales funnel.

How to achieve the carousel format? 

According to Google, the only way for the carousel format to show up on your Knowledge Graph is to get high-quality reviews. So if you don’t follow-up when your customers leave a review, now is the best time to do so.

Aim to get at least 4-star reviews, but for a higher chance of getting the carousel, try to get 5-star reviews. However, make sure that the reviews are authentic and not just staged for the sake of online reputation. Google will detect this spammy technique, which will get your business listing penalized.

What if a customer left a negative review? Bad publicity is a fact of life when you own a business. What you can do is to offer a solution. Reply to your customer and offer an initial resolution. If they are happy, they may edit the review to a positive note.  If they are still looking for a solution, you can consider offering another fix. However, you should be careful of scammers who will try to get free stuff by leaving negative reviews.

Final words

Google has been releasing major and minor updates continuously. As for the carousel reviews format, it’s just a small detail on top of the algorithms they have changed this year. It’s not an urgent matter, but it surely is a big plus if your business has it on the Knowledge Graph.