Let’s face it – we all dream of getting more reviews for our businesses. Whether they’re Facebook reviews, reviews on industry websites, or the holy grail of reviews, Google My Business reviews.
But they’re just not that easy to get – or are they? I’ve put together some tips for getting more Google My Business reviews.
So grab a cuppa, or a glass of wine, and read on to discover how you can help your business to get more Google My Business reviews.
Why Do I Need To Get More Google My Business Reviews?
Simply put, they’re helpful for your SEO. Having unbiased and unforced reviews from the public helps Google to further understand what your business is about, and recognise that you’re great at what you do.
Studies have shown that businesses with a good number of positive reviews on GMB appear higher in the local map results.
This means more eyeballs on your business, especially when people are searching for businesses like yours in the local area.
So How Exactly Do I Get More Google My Business Reviews?
There are actually quite a few things you can do to get more reviews on Google My Business. Some of them are super simple, others require a tiny bit more effort.
But you can be sure that following at least some of these tips will make a big difference to your listing and hopefully increase in leads from your listing too.
1. Ask For Them
People love direction – so tell them what you’d like them to do.
You can ask people face to face, on the phone or via email, or using whatever communication method you mainly use with your clients currently.
An email template lets you pre-write your request for a review and use that whenever needed. I use GSuite for my email and that lets me set up canned responses.
You could write something like this:
Hi [Name],
Thanks for your order! We’re so glad you chose to buy from us and hope you love your products.
Could you please write a review for us on our Google My Business listing? It’ll take you less than a minute and will make a huge difference to our online reputation.
Here’s the link you need – <link> – and you’ll need to log in to your Gmail or Google account. If it doesn’t work give us a shout and we can talk you through it.
I would really appreciate it – thank you in advance!
Each time you request a review, simply insert the email template and personalise it to the client (requests with a personal touch often get a much better response rate).
2. Create Shortcut URLs
Something this also works well is creating shortcut URLs to places online where you would like a review.
For Google My Business that means searching your business name on Google, then clicking on write a review in your Google My Business listing. A screen will pop up asking you to either write a review (if you’re logged into a Google account) or sign in to your Google account (if you aren’t logged in).
Copy the URL that shows in the search bar, and that’s your unique review URL for your GMB listing.
It will be a super long URL so if you like, shorten it to a custom Google URL, using a URL shortner tool like Bitly.
Alternatively, create your own anchor text and link on the anchor text to your URL. This could be something like ‘Write Us A Review’ or ‘Review Us On Google Now’.
That tells them exactly what you want them to do, and take them to the exact place they need to be to leave the review.
3. Give Them Clear Instructions How To Leave A Review
Some people aren’t too clued up when it comes to leaving reviews online. The tricky part about Google My Business reviews is that they require the user to have a Google account (either a Gmail or an email hosted with Google).
This is a whole load easier than it used to be – Google used to require reviewers to log in using a Google+ account. And seeing as Google+ was pretty rubbish and Google actually shut it down in 2018, I’m so glad they’ve done this.
By writing or giving clear instructions on how to leave a review for your business on GMB, it makes it so much simpler for people to follow. You don’t want them to give up halfway through the process and leave you hanging.
4. Set Up A Sign In Store
If you have a bricks and mortar store, put up a sign asking for GMB reviews.
Endota Spa in Joondalup had one up last time I visited and it was a great reminder as a client that I should share my experience on their GMB listing.
For businesses in the US, you can download free materials from Small Thanks With Google which you can put up in store to encourage more Google reviews. Unfortunately, it’s limited to the US but maybe one day we’ll get an Aussie equivalent!
5. Include A Link In Your Email Footer
A clever place to insert your review links is in your email footer. Your customers will see them regularly and hopefully be reminded that they should leave you a review on GMB.
Use your anchor text links here if you’ve created them previously.
6. Ask For Google Reviews At The End Of The Customer Journey
This will be dependent on how your sales process works, and can be a lot easier for product based businesses than service based ones.
Work out what your customer journey is, and figure out when would be the best time to ask for a review on Google My Business.
It could be a week after their purchase arrived, or once your service has completed and they’ve paid their final invoice.
Send an email request, or give them a call to ask for a Google My Business review.
7. Send Reminders
Have you asked for reviews but people aren’t always forthcoming?
Send them a gentle reminder. Everyone is busy these days, so people may have forgotten or not had the time, but a reminder can do wonders too.
Don’t give up!
8. Ask For Reviews on Your Social Accounts
Schedule regular reminders on your social accounts asking for reviews on Google My Business, as well as other platforms too if they are important to you.
I ask people for Google My Business reviews and Facebook reviews, as those are the places that are important for my business to showcase reviews.
Every month or so I post a reminder with links to my Google My Business listing (see what I did there?) to leave a review and I usually get one or two come through from them, so it definitely works!
9. Always Reply To Your Google Reviews
Replying to your reviews shows that you’re invested in your business and your clients.
A simple thank you can go a very long way to showing your existing customers that you value them.
It also shows prospective new customers how you treat your customers, and then can help convert them to using your business.
And there you have it, some super simple tips for getting more Google My Business reviews.
Anything else you would add to this list? I’d love to hear what works for you and your business. Leave a comment below, or get in touch with me today.
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