Get Started with Seller Ratings on Google Shopping

Want to increase your CTR in Google Shopping by as much as 17%? Why not try out Seller Ratings? Seller Ratings, according to Google, are a good way through which you can boost the visibility of your Product Listing Ads. This ensures that they stand out in Google Shopping. Seller Ratings are, in essence, all about trust. Once upon a time, people would refer to friends and family before making purchasing decisions. To be fair, they still do, but now they depend more on the feedback that is left across the internet by complete strangers. But what, really, are seller ratings and how do you go about getting them? \

What are Seller Ratings?

Google uses a system of five stars to highlight the feedback that a particular business has received from its customers. These are what are referred to as Star Ratings. Star Ratings can be divided into Seller Ratings and Product Ratings. We are, in this article, going to focus on Seller Ratings. How you get Seller and Product Ratings is, however, more or less the same process.

Where do Seller Ratings Appear?

Seller Ratings appear in Google Shopping and in Google Ads. You are likely to notice them below text ads while carrying out queries on Google.

Why are Seller Ratings Important?

Seller ratings are important for the following reasons;

• They increase your visibility in Google Shopping and in Google Ads. There is something about those five golden stars that gets people to click on your ads and not on your competitors. Let’s face it; Google Shopping can be rather crowded. Seller ratings are one way through which you can boost your visibility.
• People are likely to trust your business more should you have Seller Ratings. It’s an indication that people have already done business with you and they have found the experience satisfactory.
• The internet, it has to be said, can be a rather unsavory place. Most people need reassurance that doing business with you is not going to cost them in terms of loss of financial data and other private information. And what better way of giving this reassurance than through Seller Ratings? Having Seller Ratings in Google Shopping assures people that their peers have already safely done business with you in.

Where do Seller Ratings come from?

The origins of Seller Ratings lie in online reviews. Google (and other search engines for that matter), use the data that is derived from online reviews to come up with aggregate ratings of your business. That is the major reason why all businesses need to start harnessing the power on online reviews.
If you still need convincing, just consider the fact that today, around 90% of people will first look up a business online before making a purchasing decision and you will understand why online reviews are so important.

How do I get Seller Ratings?

So, how do you get Seller Ratings in Google Shopping? Well; there are a number of ways through which you can get Seller Ratings in Google Shopping. As we have already noted, Google uses data from online reviews for Star Ratings.

1.Google Customer Reviews
This is the first place from which you can get Seller Ratings. The great thing about Google Customer Reviews is that it is completely free of charge. In Google Shopping, people have the option of leaving feedback after making purchases. To get started, you need to have a Google Merchant Center account. You also need to make sure that your account is verified, and to opt into Google Customer Reviews.
2.Google Consumer Surveys
Google also uses data that it collects through Google Consumer Surveys for Seller Ratings. Google Consumer Surveys is used to gather data for certain businesses and domains.
3.Reviews on your domain
You can also get Seller Ratings based on the feedback that is left by your customers on your own store domain.
4.Licensed Review Aggregators
This is, perhaps, the easiest way through which you can get Seller Ratings in Google Shopping. Google has licensed, as at the time of writing this article, 30 companies to collect and syndicate the data that is used in Star Ratings. So, all that you need to do to add Seller Ratings to your ads in Google Ads is sign up with any of these companies. Once that is done, the companies will manage the collection of online reviews on behalf of your company and they will also aggregate your feed to Google for use in PLAs. The following are just a few of the companies that are licensed by Google to syndicate data for use in Seller Ratings in Google Ads;

• Bizrate
• Ekomi
• Feefo
• PowerReviews
• ResellerRatings
• Shopper Approved
• Trusted Shops
• Trustpilot
• Verified Reviews
• Yotpo.

The great thing about signing up with any of these and the other companies is that you don’t have to do the hard work yourself. However, these companies charge a monthly fee, unlike Google Customer Reviews, which is free. If you need a detailed guide on how to get star ratings in Google Shopping and in Google Ads, feel free to refer to the detailed article from Planet Marketing in the provided link.

When do Seller Ratings Show?

Most people wish to know whether or not they will automatically get the all important Seller Ratings as soon as they have opted into Google Customer Surveys or signed up with one of the approved online review aggregators. The answer to that is no.
Google will only begin showing Seller Ratings in your Google Shopping listings once you have collected at least 100 unique reviews from a particular country. You also need to have collected an aggregate review of 3.5 stars or higher.
Finally, another thing that you need to take note of is that your reviews are country specific. What this means is that if you have operations in several countries, you will need to collect the requisite number of unique reviews from each of these countries before getting Seller Ratings.