In today’s digital space, the online reputation of your website matters a lot to make your business successful. Whether you run a healthcare clinic, a local cafe, or an online store, your potential customers often search for Google reviews for your business. Based on this, they make the final decision to approach you. So, it’s crucial to focus more on getting more Google reviews.
If you wish to create trust, entice new customers, and improve local SEO, getting Google reviews will help you for a variety of purposes. You need to take into account that these reviews do not serve just as testimonials; they are also important signals that influence both buyers and search engine rankings.
According to a survey, more than 63.3% of customers read online reviews before they purchase. So, businesses that have more positive Google reviews rank high in search outcomes. It indicates reviews matter not only for credibility but also for higher visibility. In this blog post, we will take a look at the importance and also the way businesses get more Google reviews.
Why People Leave Google Reviews
When you are aware of what encourages customers to leave feedback, it helps you get more reviews for your Google. Let’s find out some of the most common scenarios when customers leave reviews.
- Gratitude or Frustration
Whether it’s negative or positive, strong emotions often encourage customers to leave reviews for any business. If any customers are extremely delighted with mind-blowing services, they may leave an amazing review as an important way to express their immense gratitude. On the other hand, any frustrated customers often leave negative feedback.
- Desire to Help Others (altruism)
A large number of customers seek to guide other buyers who are new to business. And this inspires them to write Google reviews. They are keen to share what went right or wrong to help other customers make informed decisions. For instance, any customer at a restaurant may describe ‘delicious food’ or healthy and nutritious food”.
- Sense of Influence
Some customers often enjoy a great sense of influence that includes sharing opinions. When they leave reviews, it helps them feel valued while shaping perceptions as contributors. If a customer writes one review, it helps them portray themselves as a great reviewer.
Real Examples can Strengthen this Section
Imagine a hidden cafe that gains reviews and highlights its cozy ambiance, whereas hotels can accumulate detailed feedback on service, cleanliness, and amenities. These reviews indicate altruism, gratitude, influence, and more. These are important factors that encourage customers to share their voice online.
The Mistakes Businesses Make When Asking for Reviews
When it comes to obtaining Google reviews, most businesses commit mistakes unintentionally. And these mistakes often make an adverse impact on their reputation. Let’s discuss some of these mistakes that you should always avoid;
- Asking Too Soon or Too Late
You need to understand that timing is of great importance when asking customers to get reviews. When you ask customers to review immediately, soon after they avail of your services, it may result in incomplete feedback. The reason is that they get only a limited time to experience your service or products.
On the other hand, waiting too long minimizes the likelihood that customers will respond at all. Your core approach is to discover the “happy moment”, especially when customers experience value.
- Offering Discounts or Gifts
Many businesses also incentivize reviews with freebies, discounts, gift cards, etc. But it often violates Google’s policies and results in penalties like account suspension or review removal. It’s important to focus on developing a genuine customer relationship that leads to customer feedback naturally.
- Being Generic or Automated
Another mistake that most businesses commit is sending generic or automated review requests. It often looks impressive. The most important thing you need to take into account is that customers often feel valued, rather than being a part of your marketing campaign. Sending a personalized request to each customer increases your chance of encouraging them to write Google reviews.
- Not Segmenting Satisfied vs. Unhappy Customers
Sending a review request without knowing the customer’s sentiment can backfire. If you ask any dissatisfied customers to leave feedback publicly, they may write negative reviews, which can damage your brand’s reputation. So, it’s highly important for you to address complaints with the help of private channels and also resolve issues. Once you do all these, you can invite your satisfied customers to share experiences.
Why do you need Google Reviews for your Business?
Google reviews serve as a word-of-mouth and help your new customers read genuine feedback from past customers. Positive feedback works effectively to build credibility and also reflects that your brand delivers on its promises. Let’s discuss some other reasons why your business needs Google reviews.
- Build Trust
In today’s digital space, reliability is a pillar of successful business. Google reviews work as a modern-day word-of-mouth, which offers great feedback from genuine and real customers. As we already described, positive customer feedback works effectively to develop credibility, which reflects the potential clients your brand offers on its great promises. You can improve trust by handling negative reviews properly.
- Increase Online Visibility
Google reviews influence your online visibility to a greater extent. When customers offer fresh, written reviews, user-generated content that search engines often value to a great extent. This activity reflects that your business is quite relevant and active, which maximizes the chance of appearing in the local “Google Map Pack”. When you collect more reviews, you gain more visibility to people searching for products or services you provide in your location.
- Improve Ranking
As we mentioned, reviews also work better when it comes to improving ranking. Google’s algorithms often take into account the quality and quantity of reviews, especially when determining any local search outcomes. Any business that has a steady stream of positive reviews has a chance to be visible in local search rankings, especially when compared to any competitors with no or limited feedback.
- Get more Leads
Getting more leads is the ultimate aim of any business. And the good news is that Google reviews also help in the same way. If your business profile has various positive reviews, it catches more inquiries, clicks, sales, and ROI. Customers have a higher possibility to select a business that has an impressive review profile over no single or even no reviews.
Timing & Strategy: When and How to Ask for Reviews
When it comes to timing and strategies, these matter a lot in review collection. Make sure you ask clients to share reviews after project completion, positive interaction, or purchase. Let’s explore these in-depth.
- Be Familiar with Google’s Policies
Make sure you are versed in Google’s policies before you encourage customers to leave reviews. Google often prohibits activities such as posting fake feedback, incentivizing reviews, and selectively asking any satisfied customers. When you violate these rules, it results in the removal of reviews, penalties, or even suspension of your business profile. When you violate these rules, it results in the removal of reviews, penalties, or any suspension of your business profile.
- Verify your Google Business Profile
A verified Google Business Profile (GBP) plays an indispensable role when it comes to the collection of reviews. A proper verification is not only capable of authenticating ownership but also lets customers know they are engaging with the right business. After proper verification, you get access to a Google review link that makes it convenient to share with clients through SMS, email, and after purchase.
- Place your Business on Google Maps
When you list your business in Google Maps, it maximizes accessibility for your customers. Besides, it also maximizes the likelihood of reviews. The presence of maps makes it convenient for people to find the exact direction of your business location. They can also check your operation hours and thus share quick feedback. Besides, you can also consult customers for reviews when they are still engaged – like they attended an appointment, visited your store, or even checked out in person.
Proven Tips to Gain More Google Reviews (Online + Offline)
It’s essential to formulate an impeccable strategy and implement it properly to gain more reviews for your business. We will discuss both online and offline tips that help you gain more reviews.
- Claim your Google Business Profile First
The first thing you can do is to add or claim your Google Business Profile (GBP). It’s an important and free listing that appears in search results. It enables you to control in terms of the way your business appears among your potential customers.
How to Claim Your Business Listing?
Well, you can claim your business listing effortlessly. You just need to type your brand name in Google. After doing it, you will visualize your existing profile appearing on the right side.
Now, you need to tap into the option “Own This Business”. Doing this helps you initiate the process to claim your business profile.
Once you click, you will be taken by Google through a complete setup and verification process. In case you are not capable of seeing a profile like the above, you can go to Google Maps, open the menu, and then click on the option “Add your business”.
- Optimize your Google Business Profile
Once you claim your GBP, it’s time to optimize it. Doing this lets you find your past customers, discover you easily, and leave an impressive review.
Tips to Optimize Your Google Business Profile
Let’s explore proven tips and tricks to optimize your GBP properly.
- Check NAP Accurately: It’s highly important to check your name, address, and phone numbers (NAP) to ensure their accuracy.
- Write a Short Description: You need to write a description that allows your customers to get details of the products and services your business provides. You also need to mention anything that is specifically relevant.
- Mention Business Hours: You need to mention your business hours with higher accuracy. You need to review it regularly and update it based on holidays.
- Use Images: Don’t forget to add attractive images to make your Google business profile meaningful and compelling. Make sure you add a cover photo and the company’s logo. Whether it’s interior, exterior, team photos, or common areas, you need to add it.
- Add Questions and Answers: It’s highly important to use the Q&A feature of Google to answer those frequently asked questions.
You can leverage SEMrush’s GBP optimization tool to optimize your profile.
It allows you to analyze performance and engagement metrics easily. Besides, it also lets you schedule your post and manage both edits and suggestions properly.
- Send Post-Purchase Emails
Next, you can try to send your review link in a post-purchase email. It’s indeed the most effective way to get Google reviews since customers have a higher probability of following through when memories are fresh.
In this mail, you need to mention the “thank you message” for your customers when it comes to selecting your business and share a review link that takes them through GBP. If your company has many locations, you must make sure that clients use the profile to find the correct location.
- Collect Reviews Through Post-Purchase SMS Messages
In case texting is your most preferred way of communication with your customers, you can collect more Google business reviews with the help of sending post-purchase SMS messages. It goes without saying that text messages are capable of creating a greater sense of urgency, especially when compared to other methods to your customers.
In the text mail, you can thank your customers for opting for your products and services. You should encourage them to leave a review. Let’s go through the example below.
- Add Google Review Widget
With the Google review widgets, you will be able to direct visitors to GBP from different places on your website.
A large number of websites nowadays use the Google review widget to gain more customer reviews. For instance, Stairhopper Movers leveraged a widget and grabbed opportunities to collect even more than 3600 reviews.
- Create a Separate Webpage for Google Reviews
The next important tip you can follow is to create a separate review page to display your existing Google reviews to highlight the good experience your past customers have had. It lets you redirect others where they can leave reviews on their own.
For instance, Apollo Hospital has created a separate Google review of its website.
- Include QR Code in your Business Cards
It’s another powerful strategy that helps you gain more reviews for your business. You need to give your business cards with a QR code. By scanning this code, customers can easily access your page. which makes it convenient for them to review.
Another flexibility with cards is that customers can carry them wherever they go. So, they can write and leave reviews whenever it suits them.
Tools and Systems to Make Review Collection Scalable
Scaling the review collection is more important than asking customers. It’s something that needs a proper combination of integration, automation, and tracking. So, businesses can use customer feedback platforms such as Podium, Trustpilot, and others to centralize their review requests across numerous channels. Let’s explore some other tools and systems you can leverage to make your review collection salable.
- CRM-Integrated Solutions: These are useful to automate the process of personalized review invitation after completion of the entire process of service completion or purchase. These solutions include HubSpot, Salesforce, etc.
- Post-Purchase Email Automation: It includes tools like Mailchimp, Klaviyo, and more to ensure on-time prompts.
- SMS-based Systems: They offer an increased open rate, which makes it convenient to reach customers quickly.
- Google My Business APIs: Google My Business APIs and the reputation management dashboard redefine multi-location review tracking. If you wish to keep the entire process consistent, you can leverage workflow automation tools like Zapier and others.
Wrap Up
We already discussed the importance of Google reviews, which ensure their success by building trust, credibility, and improving online visibility. All you need to do is avoid certain common mistakes by using the right tools and also ask for the right moments. It helps businesses grow their review base. Getting in touch with an online reputation management company helps you achieve your goal successfully and get more Google reviews for your brand.
