Having a portfolio of many positive reviews can help make your business listing stand out among the rest – not only to customers, but to Google itself. Ranking factors Google considers for local search can vary depending on who you ask, but reviews are considered to be essential to any good local SEO strategy. They can be the make-or-break factor between a customer clicking through to your website or to your competitor’s page instead.
Learn ways to get more reviews on Google with these strategies:
How to Get More Google Reviews for Your Business
Utilize the Google Marketing Kit
Encouraging your customers to be vocal and spread the word about your business is the best way to get more Google reviews. Google has a free tool to use for your small business that provides free stickers, posters, social posts and more for business listings. This tool is the best way to showcase your company’s offerings to attract new customers and educate existing ones. You can use the Google Marketing Kit to create marketing materials for your bricks-and-mortar small business that directs customers to leave a review on your business profile.
Reply to Your Current Reviews
Responding to reviews, negative or positive, builds customer trust as well as fosters a connection between your core business values and what customers expect throughout their journey. A BrightLocal study showed 89% of consumers are likely to use a business that responds to its reviews. Negative reviews that are left alone can lead to a bad reputation among future customers and give your competitors an edge in search! With this strategy, you’re trying to attract more customers and bolster your review count.
If you believe the reviews are fraudulent, then consult Google’s guide on how to remove reviews from your business profile.
Create a Link for Google Reviews
Generating a link for Google reviews on your business listing will provide an easy way to ask for reviews. Google can help your business profile generate a link that directly sends users to a form to leave a review for your business. This link shortcut to your Google Business Profile will help you gain additional reviews from your customers and greatly benefit your local SEO rankings.
How to Create a Google Review Link
- Go to the “Home” section of your Google Business Profile.
- Find the box titled “Get more reviews.”
- Click the “Share review form” button.
- Copy the link or share it via Facebook, WhatsApp, Twitter or email.
If you aren’t able to copy the link through your Google Business Profile, but you are the manager of the listing, then you can generate a link through Google Search.
- Search the name of your business listing.
- Click on the Promote button, which is listed between “Edit Profile” and “Customers.”
- In the pop-up, click “As for reviews.”
- Copy the link or share it via Facebook, WhatsApp, Twitter or email.
Post-Purchase Thank You Receipts
Engaging a customer directly after a purchase is the best time to ask for a review because your business is still top of mind. If the customer is happy with the purchase, then recency bias can kick in and provide you a top-notch review that can help separate your business even more in comparison to your competitors. Since post-purchase emails are opened at a rate 17% higher than the average email automation, including a review link here will allow you to capitalize on recent customers.
Email Customers for Feedback
Have a list of past customers? These customers could be an audience that is ready to engage with your business and provide their honest opinion about your products or services. A quick survey or feedback email with a link to your Google Business Profile can garner a couple extra reviews. Some of it might be positive, other times it could be negative. Besides helping your business get found in local search, reviews (good or not so good) help you understand potential customers’ frustrations that you could fix to improve your services.
Customer Support Interaction
Whether it be a Contact Us email from a customer asking a question to an online chat feature, your support team should be the face-to-face contact for asking for reviews online. Every interaction with a past, present or future customer of your business is another potential chance at getting a positive review, giving you another edge in local search.
There are quite a few strategies you can utilize in your marketing toolkit to gain additional reviews on your Google Business Profile. Integrating these strategies with other marketing capabilities can help grow your business and reach a wider audience.