So you want to learn how to get more Google My Business reviews?
That means you understand how vital online reviews are to getting new customers to trust your business and buy your products.
Read our helpful guide to learn how to get people to leave helpful reviews on your Google My Business listing.
Why Get Google My Business Reviews?
These days, consumers trust what others say more than what businesses say about their products.
According to a recent PowerReviews survey, 94% of customers say ratings and reviews influence their purchase decisions.
Image via PowerReviews
In fact, in another 2022 BrightLocal Local Consumer Review survey, 34% of customers say they always read online reviews of local businesses and 43% of them do it regularly.
Image via BrightLocal
And you know what?
According to the same survey, Google is the go-to site for 81% of customers looking to evaluate local businesses.
Image via BrightLocal
What does this mean for local businesses?
Getting Google My Business reviews is no longer optional if you want to attract more customers and drive more sales.
However, there is a challenge.
If you wait for people to leave reviews on your Google My Business listing, then you might probably not get them.
In fact, customers who are likely to review your business are those who are going to have a bad experience.
Of course, you can get reviews from loyal customers without asking, but it’s not guaranteed.
So what should you do?
You have to proactively seek your customers to review your business, which is one of the biggest challenges for most business owners.
But don’t worry, in this blog post, we’re going to teach you how to solicit reviews from customers without annoying them.
Let’s get started.
1. Provide Great Customer Service
No matter how great your products or services are, if your customer service is bad, customers will never want to do business with you or recommend you to other customers.
The level of customer service, safety, and privacy you give to customers contributes greatly to how customers will see your business and interact with it.
Security of websites is also a crucial fact for your customers and for this you can conduct a security check to ensure your website security.
For instance, excellent customer service can:
- Encourage customers to purchase more of your products.
- Help you gain more referral customers.
- Greatly influence customers’ purchase decisions.
According to a Salesforce State of The Connected Customer survey, 91% of customers say positive customer service makes them more likely to make repeat purchases.
What does this tell us? If you want customers to review your business on Google, you need to impress them with outstanding customer service.
Besides, providing outstanding customer service can also help you stand out from your competitors especially when your business is in a crowded market.
Here are a few tips for great customer service:
- Understand what customers consider good customer service and work on exceeding their expectations.
- Listen and understand your customers’ needs.
- Always thank them for buying your products.
- Follow up to know why customers left a negative review.
- Monitor social media platforms to see what customers are saying about your business and make improvements.
Pro Tip: Also, you have the option of using an SEO tool like Zutrix's Rank Tracker to keep eye on your website's rankings for multiple keywords.
2. Show Your Customers How to Leave Reviews
Most of today’s customers already know how to use Google because that’s how they evaluate local businesses. However, not all know how to write an online review.
Show them how to do it.
Generally, to write a Google review on your business listing, customers need to follow these steps:
- Create a Gmail account on Google.
- Locate your business on Google via search.
- Head over to the “Write a review” section.
- Rate and write their opinion about your products or services and post.
It’s that simple.
Let your customers know that they can also write a review on your Google My Business listing using their smartphone.
You can even create a short “how to write Google reviews” file that you can share with customers via email or social media.
3. Create a Google Review Link
Another way to get Google My Business reviews is to create a link that you can share on social media and google review widget to show your business listing on your website.
You can also include the review link in thank you emails, add it at the end of a chat conversation with customers, or on your receipts and invoices.
Follow the steps below to get a Google review link:
- Head over to your Google My Business Profile.
- Select “Customers”.
- Select “Reviews”
- Click on “Get more reviews” to get your Google review link that you can share with customers.
You can share the link directly with your customers or use the sharing methods provided by Google.
4. Launch a Google Review Email Campaign
SMEmail marketing is yet another effective strategy for not only engaging with customers, but also for getting more Google My Business reviews.
According to the BrightLocal Local Consumer Review survey mentioned above, over 40% of customers say they have been prompted to leave a review by a local business in an email.
Image via BrightLocal
And according to a 2021 Litmus State of Email report, 29% of customers say they send rating and review emails.
Image via Litmus
Note that to use email marketing for acquiring Google reviews, you need to get your customers’ email addresses.
Once you have built an email list, launch a Google review campaign.
You can add the Google review link you created above to your emails when sending newsletters, post-purchase emails, etc.
Be clear about what you’re asking and avoid forcing customers into writing a Google review.
Here are tips to send Google review emails:
- Thank your customers for buying your products.
- Don’t beat about the bush. Ask what you want but in a personal tone.
- Make a polite request for feedback.
- Let customers know how their opinion can benefit others.
- Use a clear CTA button with the Google review link.
Remember to find the best email marketing service by Attrock that can help you nurture relationships with your customers.
5. Ask for Google Reviews on Social Media
There is no better place to ask for Google reviews than social media platforms, especially if you have a huge fan base.
To get people to write a review on your Google My Business page, you can share a screenshot of your best reviews and ask customers to also write their honest opinion.
Remember to include the Google review link you created above.
Or you can create a simple post that directly asks people to leave a Google review.
See how Communibakes Southampton, a community bakery located in St. James Road, Shirley, Southampton asks people on Twitter to leave a review on their Google My Business profile.
Image via Twitter
Remember to follow the best local SEO practices of asking for reviews and backlink exchanges.
6. Respond to Existing Google Reviews
The BrightLocal Local Consumer Review survey also showed that 55% of consumers feel positively about businesses that respond to reviews.
This makes it important for you to respond to existing reviews—whether negative or positive.
Think about it.
Customers take their time to write a review and some will even do it without you asking them.
Taking the time to respond to these reviews is a good gesture.
After all, you don’t have to reply with a whole page of text.
A simple “thank you for writing a Google review on my page” can help to make customers feel appreciated.
In fact, responding to your existing Google reviews can show prospective reviewers that you listen to customers’ feedback.
Here is how to respond to positive and negative reviews on Google My Business.
For positive reviews:
- Express gratitude.
- Be specific and avoid sounding too generic.
- Emphasize the positive thing that the customer mentions in the review.
- Respond timely.
- Share updates in case you have something upcoming.
- Keep your response short.
For negative reviews:
- Don’t respond when you’re angry.
- Find out what prompted the customer to leave negative feedback.
- Apologize publicly and timely.
- See whether you can resolve the issue offline instead of responding directly.
- Offer a solution to the problem.
Get Google My Business Now
Customers trust what others say more than what your sales representatives tell them.
The best thing is that Google allows customers to leave their feedback after buying products or using the services of a company.
Getting Google My Business reviews requires more effort from you than your customer. Use the steps we’ve provided to get people to leave feedback on your GMB profile. And remember to respond to these reviews.
We hope this article helps you.
Top comments (0)