Google reviews provide useful information to potential customers and help your business stand out from the competition.
Reviews show up next to your Business Profile in Maps and Search and should be considered a crucial component of your local SEO strategy.
So why do reviews matter? And how do you get more Google reviews for your business?
Verify your Google Business Profile
Setting up your Google Business Profile makes your business information show up on Maps, Search, and other Google services. To request and respond to customer reviews on Google, you must have a verified business.
With Google Business Profile, you can:
- Add your business information to Google Maps, Search, and other Google services
- Create or get access to a Business Profile on Google
- Manage how your business information shows up across Google
Here’s how you add your business to Google:
- On your computer, sign in to Google Maps.
- You can add your business in 3 ways:
- Enter your address in the search bar. On the left, in the Business Profile, click Add your business.
- Right-click anywhere on the map. Then, click Add your business.
- In the top left, click Menu
Add your business.
- Follow the on-screen instructions to finish signing up for your Business Profile.
Simple as that! Now your business has been added and verified by Google, it’s time to get some reviews from happy customers!
Share a link to leave a review
You can create and share a link for customers to leave reviews. To get customers to use the link:
- Include it in thank you emails.
- Add it at the end of a chat interaction.
- Include it on your receipts.
- Log in with the account you used to sign up for your Business Profile.
- Search on Google for your exact business name. You can also search for “my business.”
- Select Customers
Reviews
Share the link with your customers directly or use the sharing options provided.
Encourage customers to leave reviews
You can request reviews from customers by sharing a URL specific to your business.
You can encourage your customers to spread the word about your business through Google reviews with these best practices:
- Remind customers to leave reviews: Let them know it’s quick and easy to leave reviews. Business owners shouldn’t offer incentives to customers to leave reviews. You can also get customers to leave reviews if you create and share a link.
- Reply to reviews to build customer trust: Your customers will notice your business values their input if you read and reply to their reviews.
- Value all reviews: Reviews are useful for potential customers when they’re honest and objective. Customers find a mix of positive and negative reviews more trustworthy. You can always respond to a review to show the customers that you care and provide additional context.
I WANT TO GROW MY BRAND!
Why do google reviews matter?
Google reviews are the preferred customer testimonial by the search engine giant (duh!) and are prominently displayed on Google maps and location specific searches. If you want your business to appear in the top 3 on Google Maps, you’ll need a healthy supply of Google reviews.
Excerpts from customer reviews (either positive or negative) often show up alongside your maps listing, which can help increase visibility and engagement with your business on Google Maps. We’ve seen some of our clients rank for highly competitive keywords simply due to what their customers say about them!
Reviews influence your customers’ decision making process. When a potential client is at the stage of reading your business’ Google Reviews, they will usually have decided your business could potentially fulfil a need they have, whether it be a product you sell or a service you provide. As they proceed to the point of making their purchase decision, Google Reviews can wield a powerful influence (for better or worse).
Google reviews offer great user generated content for your website. What could be better proof of your business’ expertise than word of mouth referrals from satisfied customers? We’ve written an excellent article on why you should include reviews on your website, but essentially reviews sell your products or services for you Simple!
Still unsure if proactively asking for Google reviews could be beneficial to YOUR business? Want more information or web design & online marketing advice? Speak to Warrnambool’s website design experts at WestVic Web!
