February 24, 2023

Google Customer Reviews

Don’t underestimate the impact of positive Google reviews on your website. Now, more than ever, customers rely on honest reviews when making a purchase – especially if they haven’t shopped with you before. You can’t get much better than a recommendation from a previous customer and the reviews are often the first place people look when deciding to make a purchase.

In order to be able to receive reviews, you first need to create and verify your Google Business Profile. Once verified, consumers will be able to rank your company from 1 to 5 stars, with 5 as the highest rating. These stars are easily visible in your Google Business Profile, which is often the first thing people see when searching online.

The stars offer an instant, visible indication of how your company performs and provides potential customers with relevant information about your business. Good scores will really make you stand out from the competition.

“Recent research reveals up to 88% of consumers trust online reviews as much as a personal recommendation.”

How to encourage customers to leave reviews?

First-hand customer reviews are one of the best, free marketing tools at your fingertips so you might as well make the most of it. However, encouraging clients to take the time to leave a review can be a challenge. A good way to get reviews is to make sure your process is as quick and simple as possible. Providing a Google review link shortcut is a great way to do this and by adding it to your thank-you emails, at the end of a chat interaction and on your receipts is a good way to get maximum exposure. Explaining to your customers how leaving a review will make a huge, positive difference to your business may also encourage them to take part.

Customers may visit your website to leave a review, but if the process is complicated or confusing they’ll soon give up. So, provide a clear, obvious place for them to add their feedback, again, keeping it quick and simple.

All reviews are valuable

Once you receive a review, it’s good practice to reply to it, to address any questions or simply thank them. Replying quickly and professionally shows it’s a responsive business that really values its customers – adding more buying confidence.

Don’t panic if you get a negative review, this is your chance to respond and solve any problems. Seeing a negative review dealt with quickly and competently will give potential clients a positive insight in to the business and still has value.

"Not only does it encourage sales, but Google also rewards businesses that have good reviews with improved SEO ranking"

It’s good to know that Google are there to help if someone leaves an inappropriate review that violates their policies. However, they will not get involved or remove a review just because you disagree with it or don’t like it, which adds to the credibility of positive reviews.

Also note, it’s not good practice to offer incentives to leave reviews, they need to be natural and organic from genuine customers.