Occasionally, you may notice that the review count and rating score displaying against your website in natural search results is not an exact match of what is being displayed in your widget. This is because Google displays the review count and rating score that it found on your cached pages the last time it was indexed.
What are cached pages?
Each time Google indexes your site, it saves a snapshot or version of each page as a back-up. This cached version is then used to match your pages with user queries. The rate at which Google indexes sites is varied – some websites are cached daily, whereas others are indexed weekly or even less often.
How to view the cached version of a page
To see the cached version of a page, you first need to find the page in search results. Then, click on the three dots next to the URL.
Then, click ‘Cached’.
The cached version of the page will then open, and you are able to see all of the information that was on the page when Google last visited. The date at the top of the page also tells you when Google last visited the page.
How Does This Impact Stars in Natural Search Results?
The overall review count and rating score displayed against your listings in natural search results are updated each time Google indexes your site and saves a new cached version of the pages.
This can mean that if you have collected reviews since your page was last cached, they will not display against your listing in natural search results until your page is indexed again.
Can I Force Google to Index my Pages?
To encourage Google to look at your pages again, and update the review score/rating count displayed in natural search results, you can submit them through Google Search Console. Once a page has been submitted, it can take anywhere from a few hours to a few days for the page to be indexed again.
To submit your pages to Google, please head to https://search.google.com/search-console/ and click ‘Start now’. You will then be prompted to login to your Google Search Console account.
If you do not have a Google Search Console account, there is information on how to create and verify one here – https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/6332964?hl=en&ref_topic=4564315
Once you have logged in, ensure that the correct property is selected in the top left corner of the screen. If the correct site is not selected, click the small arrow next to the URL and select the correct property.
Then, enter the URL of the page you would like to submit in the text field at the top of the screen.
Click ‘Request Indexing’. You may be prompted to complete a Google CAPTCHA.
A message will then appear telling you that your page has been added to a queue to be indexed. You can then click ‘Got it’.
If you would prefer that Trustist index your pages for you, please get in touch and we can send you information on how to give us access to your Google Search Console account.