Ever since Facebook changed it’s review systems to ‘recommendations’ recently, Google reviews just became more valuable.
The quality and quantity of reviews on your Google My Business listing is one of the most important ranking factors for local SEO. And, when a person scans the search results for a local product or service in Google, the business listings that include customer reviews present greater credibility and, naturally, receive more clicks.
Another important reason to get reviews is the power of third party endorsement. Naturally you’re going to say that you’re an awesome business and have an awesome product or service. But if someone else is saying great things about you (and I’m positive it’s not your Mum) I’d be much more inclined to believe it.
Funnily enough, even mediocre or bad reviews can actually be good for business. They can make you seem more ‘real’, help you identify areas of your business you perhaps need to work on, and give you the golden opportunity to redeem yourself and show how much you care by listening, showing you care, and fixing what you can.
For these reasons we often suggest to clients that they should constantly ask their customers for Google Reviews, not just when they remember but after every sale or job they complete.
This sounds easy in theory, but common issues they experience are:
– I ask and they never do it
– They couldn’t find my listing
– I sent them a link and it took them to the wrong place
– They didn’t have a Google account and didn’t want to get one to do it
The good news is, it’s really not that hard when you know how. Here’s a ninja trick to generate an easy link for your business to get more reviews on Google. It involves about 5 minutes of work, but it’s worth it.
OPTION 1 – TO GENERATE A LINK TO OBTAIN GOOGLE REVIEWS
Create a link from Google Search
To create a link from Google Search:
On your computer, search for your business on Google.
Find your business listing and click Write a review.
Copy and paste the URL you see in your address bar.
If these steps don’t work for you, you’ll need to use the PlaceID Lookup Tool instead.
OPTION 2 -… Create a link using the PlaceID Lookup Tool
To create a link using the PlaceID Lookup Tool:
Go to the PlaceID Lookup Tool
Enter your business name in the “Enter a location” field at the top of the map.
Click your business name in the list that appears.
Copy your Place ID, which you’ll see beneath your business name.
Add your Place ID copied in the above step at the end of this URL right after placeid= to create your unique Google review link.
The above example would be https://search.google.com/local/writereview?placeid=ChIJ_5qjlT9blmsR1EQFn4B38eE.
Now copy and paste this link where ever you can think! Some ideas include:
- Email signatures
- Prominently on your website
- On your email to customers thanking them for using your services or buying your products
- Sharing it out on your social channels
- Including it in your social channel bios
- Sending out an email to your database requesting reviews
- On signage in store (though you might need to use a Shortener URL as it’s a pretty long and ugly URL)
Got other ideas on where you could promote the fact you’d love a review? Drop us a line – we’re all ears.
And before you get any bright ideas,… Google will… penalize… you… if… you pay… for… reviews. … so don’t do it. Ok?
And finally, we’d um, love a Google review. Give us one here!