For any business, customer reviews are important. Not only can they give you important feedback about how you are doing and how you can improve, but they also build credibility for potential customers.
When it comes to online reviews, there are multiple places where people might find reviews about your business, including specific review platforms such as Trust Pilot or Trip Advisor (if your business is within the hospitality space). However when it comes to searching, it’s Google Reviews that will be a key part of someone’s research about your business.
If you think about a typical person’s online behaviour, when they hear about a business (perhaps someone has recommended it), their first step, nine times out of ten, would be to pick up their mobile (or open their laptop), go to their web browser and search on Google for it.
Google displays the business profiles prominently within its search results – either at the top of the results typically on a mobile device or on the right-hand side of the results on a desktop device – so it’s often the first thing people will see. Also anyone searching via Google Maps, for example because they are looking for a hotel near to them, will also see Google Reviews on your business’s map listing.
A key part of the business profile are Google Reviews, which display with a very visual gold star rating and summary of the number of reviews.
Users can then read all of the reviews (good or bad) and use this information to help them make a more informed choice about your business. In many cases, this feature alone would make someone decide whether or not to visit your website to learn more, call you, visit you etc.
Social proof is a critical factor in helping someone decide very quickly as to whether or not you are trustworthy and offer good services or products. This means having good reviews is important, and this is something you need to work on with how you (and your staff) operate as a business. However you also ideally want to have a good amount of reviews, as this helps to demonstrate your credibility.
But how do you gain more Google reviews from your customers? Here’s some tips on how you can increase yours:
1. Verify your Business Profile
This is the first thing to ensure you have done on Google, in order to ensure you can respond to any reviews placed by users. If you haven’t yet verified your business, then follow these steps.
2. Ask customers to leave a review
Relying on customers to leave a review unprompted is not the right approach. Even if someone has had a great experience, they then have to make the time to leave a review, which often means they forget or get busy. So instead, you need to ask them to leave you a review and remind them if necessary.
Here’s a few ways in which you can do this:
- Add to any ‘thank you’ emails and as part of any automated email follow-up journeys you have
- Promote it regularly on your social posts
- Add it to any receipts or invoices
- Mention it on your email newsletters (include some examples of recent good reviews)
- Have cards, stickers or other point of sale materials to give out physically (if that is relevant to you).
We suggest thinking about all of the different touchpoints your customers will have with your business, both online and offline, which will help you come up with more ideas.
Also, make it as easy as possible for them to leave a review, by sharing a link that takes them directly to the right place (see below). This means it’s quicker for them and they are more likely to leave one.
3. Monitor and reply to your reviews
It’s also important to keep a check on your reviews and respond to them in a timely manner. Doing this shows people that you care about your business and what is said about it.
Make sure you respond to all of the reviews, both good and bad. Even if someone leaves a bad review, you have the chance to provide further information to them, which to other people shows you are listening and wanting to make changes (if this is what is needed).
To reply to your reviews, log in to your Google Business Profile and click ‘Manage your reviews’.
If you feel a review is not following Google’s posting guidelines (e.g. it includes misinformation or harassment), then you can submit a request for it to be removed. Note though that you cannot request this just because the review is bad!
How to share a link to leave a review
To create a link that takes people straight to the right place to leave a review of your business:
- Log in to your Google Business Profile
- Click Read Reviews and then Get more reviews
- Copy the link and then use it across your online marketing activity.
Need more advice on Google Reviews or any other aspect related to improving your Google Business Profile or Local SEO? Contact us today and chat to one of our experts.
