Earning more reviews is among the least technical yet best ways to boost SEO.
Fake reviews are a big problem though, just like fake news. A product or service nowadays almost requires a minimum review quantity & quality to survive. When you have no one in your network to provide recommendations, social proof is powerful.
Someday there’s going to be a reckoning in which review standards greatly increase. Authority reviewers, or those supported by programs like Amazon Vine, Google Local Guides, and Yelp Elite, are leading the way here. At least their identity & reputation can be verified to improve trust.
Thought leaders within local SEO believe that expert reviews are weighted more heavily. So, if you find a client or customer participating in these programs, nudge them to publish a review. Maximize their value by asking questions that encourage keyword-rich context like what did they like most about your product or service?
As Google states in its Search Quality Rater guidelines, which inform its algorithm, that, “When the website says one thing about itself, but reputable external sources disagree with what the website says, trust the external sources… Use reputation research to find out what real users, as well as experts, think about a website.”