When people search for your business Google displays the Knowledge Box the right of search results which provides pictures, a map to your business, reviews, ratings, basic logistics information, and a link to your website.

If you want any chance of showing up in the Google Places box (that’s the map with highlighted listings right below the paid Google ads), you need a complete GMB profile along with strong reviews.

Google reviews displayed in local search results have scores that are rated on a scale from 1 to 5 stars with the following progression:

Google says that the overall score of your business is “calculated from user ratings and a variety of other signals to ensure that the overall score best reflects the quality of the establishment.”

Depending on the type of business that you have, your listings may show user reviews taken from third-party review sites like, Yelp!, Healthgrades, or Angie’s List. This compilation of reviews are automatically generated Google crawls the web and finds mentions of your business.  

Benefits of Google Reviews

You don’t have to be an expert in all things Google to understand that online reputation management plays a vital role in the health of your business. After all, Google is the starting point for millions of online customers looking for you. Of course you want to have 5 stars on Google!

The benefits of Google reviews stem from the overall benefits of positive online reviews. These three benefits include:

1. Enhance your brand’s image
2. Influence the buying decision
3. Improve search engine results

In the internet era, like it or not, what customers are saying about you online matters and having lots of positive reviews make you stand out above your competition. It’s also important to recognize that offline realities are not naturally reflect online, making proactive effort necessary to gain the most benefit from Google reviews. Despite the effort required to benefit from Google reviews, the rewards are well worth it.

What Do You Want People to See?

One of the benefits of Google reviews comes from the perception that’s built when customer see a highly rated brand. Positive ratings and review are a signal of quality, allowing potential customers to more easily trust the business. After all, what business would you contact first? The one with 100 5 star reviews, or the one with 10 2 star reviews?

Higher Rated Business Get More Clicks

Consider these statistics from a BrightLocal study that show the importance of positive Google reviews on the buying process:

Raising Your Rating by 2 Stars = 25% More Clicks

Going from a 3-star rating to a 5-star rating gets a business 25% more clicks from Google Local Pack

5-Star Ratings = 39% More Clicks

Having a 5-star rating earns a business 39% more clicks from Google Local than having a 1-star rating

Over 50% of Consumers Select a Business With Positive Reviews

56% of consumers select a business if it has positive ratings/reviews displayed in Google Local Pack

Additionally, BrightLocal’s 2015 Local Consumer Review Survey found that only 14% of those reading reviews would visit a business with fewer than 3 stars.

Reviews Also Impact Search Rankings

Google gives the number online reviews a business has on their Google My Business profile significant weighting when determining how highly to rank them for related searches. The more positive online reviews you have, the higher your listing will appear, especially for local searches that display the Google Map and Local 3 Pack.

When you understand the benefit of Google reviews, it’s easy to see how important it is to actively manage your reputation on Google. Investing into an online reputation management program will help you translate the great work you do offline into a positive reputation online.

How Do You Increase Google Reviews?

If there’s one thing that you already know, getting customers to review your business isn’t easy. Studies have shown that less than 5% of all customer will naturally leave a review for a business.

Except of course those times when, in good faith, you happen to make a mistake forever altering a customer’s existence who then are so filled with passion that their new mission in life is to publicly defame you. BAD reviews, it seems, are  much easier to get.

Positive, honest reviews of your product or service take a little more prodding. It’s can be a manual, time-consuming process. Especially if you’re still using pen and paper. However there’s light at the end of the tunnel. A recent survey stated that when asked to leave a review, 90% of people did so.

So how do you increase your Google reviews? Like the old adage says, “Ask and you shall receive.”

There are 3 proven ways to increase your Google reviews:

• Ask In-Person: Strike while you have a captive audience – ask for a review when the customer is in your office or store. The experience will be at the top of their mind. Have them fill out a review on their phone or a tablet that you provide before they leave.
• Follow-Up:  Older customers might be more comfortable receiving a review request in the mail that gives them instructions on how to leave a review on Google. Following-up with a letter requesting a review or testimonial with instructions can be another effective way to increase your Google reviews.
• Automated Review Solicitation Software:  The best way is to automate the solicitation of reviews using review software such as RepCheckup. Online reputation management software solutions can solicit reviews from customers via email or text message after their visit (or after they receive an order in the mail) without having to manually ask or transcribe the review. This ensures that you or your staff do not forget to ask and every customer gets an opportunity to participate.

Out of all of these methods, automating Google review solicitations via text message or email is the most effect way to increase your reviews. These real-time requests are easier for customers act-on than your normal pen and paper. This results in a much higher increase in the overall number of Google reviews left on your profile.

How Do You Choose a Google Review Provider?

Choosing a Google Review Provider to work with isn’t easy. There are a lot of options when it comes to who can help you increase your Google reviews and management your reputation on Google. Making the decision on what company or software to use as your Google Review Provider comes down to that provider’s ease of use, success rates, case studies, and these 6 key features that you shouldn’t live without:

1. In-Office Review Solicitation Program Professional collateral that informs customers how they can leave a review for your business online. A consultant that can guide front desk and business owners on best practices for review solicitation.

2. Send Review Solicitations via Text Message Your Google Review Provider should send automated text messages to Increase the number of positive ratings and reviews on Google. This will also prevent the impact of negative reviews with a consistent stream of positive reviews.

3. Consistent Monitoring for New Ratings and Reviews – Plus Monthly Reporting Keep a pulse on the most popular profiles and listings where customers leave feedback. Receive monthly reporting summarizing your scores across profiles.

4. Email Alerts When Profiles are Updated Get alerted when new ratings and reviews are posted. Receive emails detailing new rating scores or review contents.

5. Managed Moderation of Ratings and Reviews Act quickly to negative reviews or suspicious changes made to profiles and respond with pre-approved messages. It’s important to keep track of what your customers are saying about you. Combing the internet to find any mention of your name and reviewing multiple profiles can take hours – Time that you don’t have. That’s where reputation management software such as RepCheckup comes in handy. Monitoring your online reputation for you, saving you the time and hassle.

6. Create approved responses to positive and negative reviews Monitoring reviews isn’t enough to ensure a prolific online reputation. It’s also important to recognize customers by responding to both positive and negative reviews. Instead of crafting an individual response to each and every review, create a boilerplate response for positive reviews and another for negative reviews. This makes responding easier, more efficient and also allows other staff members to post responses for you.

Why You Shouldn’t Buy Google Reviews

When you go looking for Google Review Providers, you will likely run into companies that can promise you tens of new positive Google Reviews for very low prices. Run away! You want to work with a Google review provider who will get you authentic reviews. It’s not a good idea to engage with people who will try to sell you reviews.

If it ever comes to light that you paid for positive reviews, your valuable reputation will instantly be damaged. Plus, you know how smart Google is. Google already predicts what you’re typing in the search bar before you’re even finished; they’ll certainly catch-up to any fake reviews you’ve purchased.

Google knows that there are pay-to-play schemes for buying reviews. Google’s algorithm can track IP-addresses of known fake reviewers and spammers and detect review threads that are disingenuously trying to sway opinions.

The work that you do and the great service that you provide should speak for itself. Fake Google reviews will eventually catch up with you while positive experiences and reviews are a true foundation that you can build on.

How Are You Handling Google Reviews?

The lesson here is that authentic customer ratings and reviews are some of the most compelling marketing content available to businesses. They have great potential to influence whether new customers will schedule appointments with you, order your products, or decide to visit someone else with better reviews.

Ignoring online reviews and online rating sites isn’t an option. Many review sites – especially large ones like Google My Business – will have a page for your business, even if you don’t claim it. That means that people can leave reviews about you and your business without your participation in the review process.

So if you aren’t actively managing your online review reputation, you’ll be losing some control over what’s said about you. You also run the risk of losing business to competitors who are actively managing their reputation on Google. Remember, consumers are going online to do comparison shopping as if they were walking down the aisle of a supermarket.

Managing Google reviews for your business is a critical part of your online reputation management. Make sure to select the best Google Review Provider. You can get started with RepCheckup. 

How You Can Respond to Reviews on Google (Video Guide)

Learn more about how you should be responding to reviews

Online reviews are a major part to managing your online reputation. The more feedback you receive, the better gauge you have on how your business is doing and what potential customers could be reading when they’re deciding on bringing their business to you. But as a business owner, you have a major responsibility in the process: You have to responding to your Google reviews!

This can seem like a daunting process, especially if you’ve racked up quite a few reviews or are worried about your responses being public. But just know that in the same way that reviews help paint a picture of your business for potential customers, how you respond to reviews also illustrates your level of customer engagement. 

Here are 3 simple tips for how to respond to reviews on Google:

1. Respond to every review
2. Carefully consider how you respond to negative reviews
3. Flag reviews that are inappropriate to Google 

Now let’s dive into greater detail on each of these tips. 

1. Respond to every review

So maybe you’re new to managing your online reviews, and you’ve already got quite a few reviews in line that haven’t had any response from your business. If that’s the case, you’re in good shape. Honestly, any growing business would want to be in the position of having any number of reviews rather than having no reviews. 

Now, let’s get to responding to them! 

From your Google My Business dashboard, select “Reviews” from the right side column menu. 

Under each review, will be the option to “Reply”– Go ahead and click that for the review you want to respond to first. 

In your reply, include the reviewer’s name if they’ve provided it, and thank them for their review. It’s best practice to tailor each response to the individual reviewer instead of just using the same blanket response for multiple reviews. You’ll want to make sure you address any concerns the reviewer had, and if necessary, provide a way to follow up. 

Here’s an example of a great business response to a review on Google.

2. Carefully consider how you respond to negative reviews

Now not all reviews are made equal, and it’s more likely than not, that you’re going to one day have to face a negative review. The way to look at bad reviews is to see them as an opportunity for improvement and to really show your ability as a business owner to manage criticism and seek out solutions. 

It’s important not to overreact when responding to a negative Google review. You want to come across incredibly professional, respectful, and try to sort out the issues that the negative review concerned. Try to practice humility, and apologize for the negative experience, which can go a long way.

Here’s a great example of how to respond to a negative Google review. 

Responding to negative reviews could be a bit of a drag. No one enjoys getting bad feedback and having to deal with it,, but, to be honest, tackling these types of situations will only make you a better business owner. 

Here’s an example of a negative review for a restaurant: 

Alright, so the above example is not a review any restaurant owner probably wants to get. The restaurant generally has good reviews overall, but that doesn’t mean that negative reviews should be left undealt with. 

Remember that these reviews, as well as your responses, are available to the public to take the time to address them seriously and show potential customers that you know how to handle criticism. Here are a few response examples:

• We apologize that you didn’t enjoy your experience with us, we take great pride in our staff and will continue to go to great lengths to train our staff on what our menu has to offer and how to provide the best service to our guests. 

• We apologize that you feel our food is overpriced. We strive to keep our prices in line with the excellent quality of the food that we provide and will make sure we work with our chefs to ensure consistency and satisfaction. 

• We apologize that you had to wait longer than you had hoped to be served. We are a large establishment and are working to expand our staffing and efficiency needs to make sure all of our guests are served within a timely manner. 

Whatever your response is, you want to make sure that you’re not overly emotional or brash in your response. Take the time to think through the concerns that came out of the negative review and address them accordingly with the attitude that you want to improve the experience for the future and that you hope the reviewer would give your restaurant another chance. 

Since it’s a restaurant review, it’s challenging to determine if this reviewer truly tried out the restaurant. So flagging a review like this for not being authentic could be tough, which is another reason why it’s best to treat negative reviews as an opportunity to show that you can respond effectively to criticism and are always seeking to provide a positive customer experience! 

3. Flag reviews that are inappropriate to Google 

Sometimes a review you receive, might not seem like it’s from a person who actually used your products or services. If a reviewer uses their name, and you don’t have any record of that person actually being a client of yours, it’s possible that the review left is fraudulent. Sometimes these things can be an honest mistake, or other times they’re fake reviews made to stir up the competition or try to make a business look bad. 

If you find yourself faced with these kinds of reviews, it’s time to flag them as inappropriate and report them to Google for potential removal. 

In order to flag a review as inappropriate, click on the three vertical dots in the top right-hand corner of the individual review.  After clicking those dots, the option to “Flag as inappropriate” will appear. Clicking that option will allow you to inform Google as to why you think the review is inappropriate (whether it’s fraudulent, abusive, or against Google’s review policies in another way), and Google will review your request to remove. 

Just Remember…

Responding to your reviews on Google is a great way to engage with your customers, and interact with them in a way that is publicly available to people who are searching for information about your business. Going the extra mile to let customers know that you appreciate their reviews, or that you want to fix any problems they may have had, truly shows how much you care about the customer experience you provide.

How you can delete Google Reviews

As a business owner, online reviews are a major part of managing your online reputation –  especially if those reviews are on Google, the leading search engine in the world. But not all reviews are the same, and some may even be negative or fake. A lot of times, business managers find themselves asking: “What can I do to delete this?”

Unfortunately, it’s not as simple as logging into your Google My Business dashboard, heading over to your reviews, and hitting the delete button.

Despite that, the following tips will help you manage fake or negative reviews:

1. Respond to your reviews, even if they are fake or negative
2. Flag reviews you believe are fake or break any rules to Google 
3. Posting on the Google My Business forums
4. Sending a Tweet to @Googlemybiz
5. Reaching out directly to the reviewer
6. Post on the Business Redressal Complaint Form

Now let’s get into more detail! 

1. Respond to your reviews, even if they are fake or negative

When you’re managing your online reputation, it’s important to take Google reviews seriously, even if you are questioning if a review is fake or not. You want to make sure that you respond to your reviews in a timely manner, and respond as if each review were written by a real person. 

If you’re unable to identify a customer, or if you can’t verify that they actually used your product or service, here is an example of a response that shows concern for the reviewer’s situation and your willingness to help:

2. Flag reviews you believe are fake or break community guidelines to Google 

If it happens to be that you can’t verify if a customer is real, it’s possible that the review they left could be fake. Unfortunately, this can happen sometimes when there’s tough competition in the market, or if a disgruntled former employee is looking to air out their grievances. 

Luckily, Google has ways for you to flag these types of reviews to them for removal. When you’re going through your reviews on your Google My Business dashboard, identify the review that you believe is fake. Click the three dots in the top right corner of the review and select “Flag as inappropriate.” From there you can select from a number of reasons why you feel this review is inappropriate and go into further details and submit it to Google. 

3. Posting on the Google My Business forums

A great place to seek out any help or information on the Google My Business platform is by going to the Google My Business Help Community online. You can access this community by heading over to https://support.google.com/business/community.

There’s a great amount of information in this forum. You can get information about getting started on the platform, updating your business information, and how to engage with your customers. Another good thing is that you will have access to the knowledge of other Google Business experts right at your fingertips. Most importantly, you will likely come across other business owners who have dealt with situations like you so that you can see how they dealt with it. A lot of times, you’ll also get answers to your questions directly from someone on the Google My Business team on these forums. 

Here’s a peek at what the forum looks like and the engagement this topic receives:

4. Sending a Tweet to @Googlemybiz

Do you consider yourself social media savvy? Another path you can take when managing your Google reviews is to use Twitter to directly reach out to Google My Business. 

Reaching out to the Google My Business team can be really helpful and they’ve been transparent at replying and reaching out to people who have inquiries directly. 

5. Reaching out directly to the reviewer

A more direct method is to reach out to the person that left your business a review directly through the Google My Business platform. Once you’re signed in, click the ‘Reviews’ tab in the menu, and click the ‘Reply’ link under the specific customer review you want to respond to. Once you are done writing a response, simply click ‘Post’ to submit your reply. Please note that your business must be verified in order to respond to customer reviews.

6. Post on the Business Redressal Complaint Form

Google also recently launched their Business Redressal Complaint Form to give business owners and profile managers a chance to elevate their complaint. 

On this form, you can link Google to malicious content that you’d like them to review. This option is a great way for you to try and get a better result when removing a Google review.

Things to Remember

Getting a fake or negative review can make for a bad day. Something that’s important to remember is that, even if you flag a review as inappropriate to Google, it doesn’t necessarily mean that they will remove it. 

Because of this, it’s even more crucial that you take your reviews seriously and respond to them quickly. Every negative review is an opportunity to improve your business for future customers and show your customers how much you care, and every fake review is also a chance to show potential customers how well you are able to handle criticism and how seriously you take your work. 

This can definitely ruin your day, but, luckily, there’s a process in place to flag a review for removal with Google, and as a business owner there are steps you can take to manage these types of reviews with grace. Let’s get into it. 

In this post, you’re gonna learn:

1. How to Remove Google Reviews
2. How to Seek Help on Reviews on the Google My Business Forum
3. How to Tweet to Google My Business to ask for help with removing a review

So break down what you can do when you’re faced with the situation we described above. 

1. How to Remove Google Reviews

The process to actually remove a review on Google isn’t a quick one. As much as you might want to, you aren’t going to find a simple “Delete” button next to the reviews you don’t like. The primary way to get the process started is to contact Google about the review you are concerned about and let them take it from there. 

Just know that when it comes to removing a Google Review, it’s more likely to happen if the review is fraudulent or violates Google’s review policy. Online reviews are not likely to be removed simply because they are negative. 

In your Google My Business dashboard with your reviews, click on the three dots in the top right corner that get you to more options. 

From that menu, you want to select “Flag an Inappropriate” and from there you can let Google know why it is you are concerned about the review. Just understand that in the end, it will ultimately be up to the team at Google to determine if the review you are flagging should stay or go. 

Since that’s the case, it emphasizes the importance of responding to all of your reviews, which brings us to our next point. Read on! 

2. How to Seek Help on Reviews on the Google My Business Forum

Oftentimes, it’s helpful to seek advice from a community that can relate to what you’re going through. That’s where the community forum for Google My Business comes into play. In an instant, you’re surrounded by advice. Best of all, you’ll find feedback from other business owners, but also from moderators of the team behind the Google My Business platform to answer any questions you might have. 

To get to the community, head over to: https://support.google.com/business/community

From there, you can use the search bar to type in the issue you are dealing with. For example, a quick search for ‘how to remove a Google review’ will present you with a list of helpful articles, forum posts, and community answers to help you out with your specific situation.

Here’s an example of someone posting a concern about removing a Google review:

3. How to Tweet to Google My Business to ask for help with removing a review

Each month, Twitter has hundreds of millions active users. Millions of tweets go out from businesses who are interacting directly with their customers. Well, if you can engage with your customers this way, surely you can also reach out to Google for assistance with removing a Google review. 

The handle to tweet at is @GoogleMyBiz and you can easily tweet at them publicly about your concern or question. Alternatively, you can send them a direct message by clicking the ‘envelope’ icon on the @GoogleMyBiz profile page. 

Looking at the ‘Tweets & Replies’ portion of their profile, you can see that the Google My Business team is answering a bunch of questions that people are sending to them pretty much throughout the entire day. 

Tips to Remember

It very common as a business owner to see a negative review or possibly a fraudulent review, and immediately want to delete that review. But in the world of online reputation management, online reviews are important for the public to gauge the experiences of others who have dealt with your business. They help paint an honest picture of what it’s like to be one of your customers. That’s why Google simply doesn’t allow you to easily erase the reviews you don’t want others to see. Instead, of a review is in violation of Google’s review policies, or is possibly fraudulent or fake, there’s a process in place to flag that review as inappropriate. 

Google also just recently launched a new form for business owners who think a review is fradulant or breaks the Terms of Service. This form is known as the “Business Redressal Complaint Form,” and you can enter more information to try and have a review taken down.

Running a successful business can be a rollercoaster, and many times the journey isn’t perfect. That’s why understanding the best way to deal with negative reviews and how to stay on top of and respond to the reviews you receive, will make you a better business owner.

Google reviews are more important than a banana slices on a bowl of Cheerios. No joke!

Your Google Business Profile rating and reviews are prominently displayed for all to see. You don’t want to be seen as the business who doesn’t care about the reviews customers leave.

You MUST be the business who is responding to them!

Responding to Google reviews is not only about your existing customers. It also sends a strong message to potential new customers that your business cares.

Sounds great right? Yep, responding to Google reviews is a great thing to do.

The problem? You might not know how to respond to Google reviews.

Well my human, you’re in lucky. GMB Gorilla knows how to respond to Google reviews.

Let’s show you how!

Respond to Google Reviews From the Email Notification

You should be an owner or manager of your Google Business Profile. Owners and manager of Google Business Profiles get notifications from Google on occassion about the profile.

One of the notifications you can receive is that a new review has been left on your Google Business Profile. You will receive a Google review notification for every review, positive or negative.

These Google review notifications that come via email look like this:

Note again that the review notification only goes to owners and managers. If you have not claimed your Google Business Profile or added a Manager, you should do this faster than you can peel a banana.

How to Respond to Google Reviews From the Email Notification

It’s a good idea to respond to Google reviews as fast as possible. The review notification makes this quie easy.

You respond to Google reviews from the notification by clicking on the “read review” button in the email, below the review snippet. Clicking on this button will take you to the review on the profile and allow you to respond to it.

Of course you might not be sitting at your computer or ready to respond while on your mobile.

If you are in a hurry when you get the notification or want to set aside time once per week to answer them all, please follow the instructions below.

How to Respond to Google Reviews in 5 Steps:

1. Login into Google Business Profile Dashboard
2. Select the Google Business Profile
3. From the NMX Click on the “Read reviews” Icon
4. Click on the “Reply” Link to Respond to the Review
5. Enter a Review Response and Click on the Reply Button

The following dives deeper into each of these steps: 

1. Login into Google Business Profile Dashboard

Open your favorite web browser and head over to Google My Business or www.google.com/business. Click on the Sign in link or Manage now button in the top right.

You may be asked to enter your login credentials to sign-in to your dashboard. 

2. Select the Google Business Profile

From the Google Business Profile Dashboard home screen click on your profile. This will take you to the NMX experience where you can view and respond to reviews.

3. From the NMX Click on the “Read reviews” Icon

After selecting the Google Business Profile in your dashboard you will be taken to the NMX, an in search profile management function. On this page you will be able to click on the “Read reviews” icon to view all reviews and leave responses.

4. Click on the “Reply” Link to Respond to the Review

From the reviews modal window you can browse your reviews to find one that doesn’t have a response yet. You can then click “Reply” in order to enter a response. 

5. Enter a Review Response and Click on the Reply Button

Just keep in mind that your Google review responses will be made public, so make sure you are using appropriate language and adhering to Google’s local content policies.

The customer who left the review will also receive an email notification from Google with your response. This is another great marketing touchpoint for the business.

Final Tips on Responding to Google Reviews

Responding to your online reviews, whether they are positive or negative, is a good practice for all business owners because it shows that you care about your customers’ experiences. 

A great way to stay on top of your reviews is to set-up notifications so that you receive an email alert whenever a new customer leaves a review.

When responding to a negative review, try to see it as an opportunity to improve and reinforce your brand in order to turn around the experience of your customer. Additionally, you want to come off as fair and helpful, rather than overly emotional or angry in your response, and always be sure to have a solution ready for any problem.

Always show gratitude in your review responses by using the names of your customers in your response, and thank them for taking the time out of their day to write a review. Part of showing your gratitude means customizing each response to each of your customers, rather than copying and pasting a blanket response for everyone. 

Learning how to respond to Google reviews is a part of developing sound online reputation management for your business. Showing that you truly care about your customers’ experiences and the ‘human’ side to your business on an online platform can go a long way in improving your business. 

After ensuring that its content violates review policies, you can ask Google to review it by flagging it. To do this, you will need to:

1. Sign into Google My Business.
2. Choose your business location.
3. Click “Reviews” from the menu.
4. Flag the review in question as inappropriate by clicking on the three-dot menu and selecting that option.

After flagging the review in the Google My Business dashboard, you can also expedite the process of deleting a Google review by requesting a callback, requesting a chat, or by emailing support.

To do that, you must:

1. Click Menu in your Google My Business dashboard and look for Support.
2. At the pop-up prompt, under “Contact Us,” click “Need More Help.”
3. Choose Customer Reviews and Photos > Manage Customer Reviews.
4. Choose from any of the three contact options: request callback, request chat, or email support.

If all goes well, your negative or false reviews will be removed. Knowing how to respond to these situations is crucial to protecting your online business reputation. It’s important to manage them appropriately in order to benefit from the Google review system and build your business into a successful campaign.

For many of your customers the first step in finding a new business is to do a Google search. Increasingly customers are being shown localized results for what they’re looking for. In fact, 85% of all searches made today return localized results.

This means your Google Business Profile (GBP) and Google reviews are playing a greater role than ever in whether or not customers see you in the SERPs. 

So how can you ensure you land on the top of the map? You going to need to make sure you’re consistently getting new Google reviews. And for that, you’ll need a Google review link!

Let’s take a look at how to create a Google review link for your Business Profile. Pay attention, because the methods you need to use has recently changed (for the better).

How to Create a Google Review Link Video

The following video guide shows you how to create a Google Review Link. If you prefer step-by-step written directions you can find those below (with screenshots!).

Here are the steps to create a Google Review Link: 

1. Go to Google.com
2. Sign in to your Google account
3. Search for your business
4. Scroll to the review section of the right hand Knowledge Panel
5. Click on the the “Get More Reviews” button
6. On the next page click on the Google Review Link to copy it
7. Test your Google Review Link
8. Send it to your customers!

1. Go to Google.com

Open up your favorite web browser (like Google Chrome) and go to Google.com. Note you can also login directly to the Google Business Profile Manager Dashboard if you prefer.

2. Sign in to your Google Account

Make sure to login to the Google Account you use to manage your Google Business Profile.

3. Search for your business

In the search bar enter your business name (or the name of the business you are working with).

4. Scroll to the review section at the bottom of the right hand Knowledge Panel

On the search results page you will see the business Knowledge Panel on the right hand side. Scroll down to the review section, located at the bottom of the panel.

5. Click on the the “Get More Reviews” button

At the top of the reviews section in the Knowledge Panel you will see a button “Get More Reviews”. Click on the button – the Google Review Link is on the next page!

6. Click on the Review Link to copy it

After you click the Get More Review button a modal window will appear that will show you your Google Review Link. To copy the link, simply click on it. You are now ready to share!

7. Test your Google Review Link

Before you share you Google Review Link with others make sure you test it first. To do this, simply open an incognito browser window, copy the link, and hit enter.

When correctly setup, a customer who clicks on the link, should see the following: 

8. Send the link to your customers!

With a working Google Review Link in hand, it’s now time to send it to your customers.

GMB Gorilla recommends consistent weekly campaigns be sent to customers who have recently completed a purchase or service. Reviews are one of the most powerful drivers of business and a great way to differentiate from competitors.

High volumes of Google Reviews have also shown to help increase the visibility of Google Business Profiles in the local pack on Google Maps.

If you don’t yet have a solution for sending out your Google Review Link via email or text message, then contact us about our Google Review Management service.

So, what’re you waiting for? Put down those bananas and start down the path to more Google reviews. After all, nothing gets a customer beating their chest faster than finding a 5 star business at the end of their journey!

How to Get Google Reviews

1. Ask customers directly for Google reviews
2. Add a review link in your email signature
3. Add signage around the store encouraging more reviews
4. Hand out physical notecards with a unique shortened link

Sound tough? Trust us, it’s not that bad. We’ll take you through detailed steps for each of these tips so you can be confident in getting more reviews on Google! 

Let’s get started: 

1. Ask customers directly for Google reviews

If you have a ‘brick-and-mortar’ business where you’re meeting your customers in person, this one is pretty easy since you can just ask in person. But, if your business is conducted mainly online, you may have to be a little more creative.

One great way to ask customers for reviews is to send out texts and emails with your request. That way, you can gather information about their experience and ask for a new review on a device that allows them to follow a link and leave their review directly. Best of all, this works well for brick-and-mortar businesses as well as online businesses.

Here’s a great example of an email that you could send: 

2. Add a Google review link in your email signature

If you’re emailing customers on a day-to-day basis, an excellent opportunity to gain more Google reviews is to provide a review link directly in every email. This way, you’re maximizing the chances that the people you interact with see your review link. It’s also a more subtle way to make your review link available than directly requesting in every single email. 

Using your custom Google review link, make sure you link it as a hyperlinked text so that it’s more visually appealing, rather than typing out the exact link.

Here’s an excellent example: 

3. Add signage around the store to get Google reviews

If you have a physical brick-and-mortar store, an easy way to gain more reviews is by having signs up in key locations that visitors will see. This is a much more subtle approach than directly making a request, but it does allow for some indirect engagement. 

For example, some restaurants will include a line about leaving a review on Google, Yelp, or another review platform on the bottom of their menu. Or the request can be a window sticker or sign card on the door of your building so that customers will likely see it as they exit or enter. 

4. Hand out physical notecards with a short link to your Google profile

Another way to take advantage of the different touch points during customer interaction is to consider having a business card with clear language that requests a Google review. It’s another subtle way to remind your customers that reviews are important to your business. 

Some examples include adding a card in the waitstaff checkbook when guests are paying the bill at a restaurant. Since customers have to sign their receipt, put their credit card in, or review the tab, it’s an excellent area to easily slip in your own card inviting them to review you online. Additionally, if you’re a store, cashiers can insert cards into the bags that they place shopping items in so that customers will come across them when they unload their goods back at home. 

Things to Remember

According to Google’s guidelines, businesses shouldn’t ask for reviews by offering an incentive to do so. Gaining more Google reviews should be an easy part of your marketing strategy by incorporating tips like the ones above in your frequent interactions with customers. Keep in mind all the multiple touch points you have with your customers as opportunities to ask for a review, whether that’s in person, on the phone, or through email. Remember to keep things simple, and that feedback is a great way to go about improving your business!

In this guide, you will learn all you need to know about linking to your Google reviews.

Steps to Linking to Your Google Reviews

1. Find Your Business on Google, via a Search
2. Click “Write a Review” in Your Business’s Knowledge Panel
3. Copy the Link That Appears When the “Write a Review” Tab Appears
4. Use a Link Shortener to Reduce the Length of the Link
5. Text or Email the Link to Customers Manually

Now, let’s dive into the details of each step.

1. Find Your Business on Google, Via a Search

Whenever you want to find your business on Google, using Search is the easiest option. Simply open www.Google.com in a new tab and enter your business name into the search bar.

If you use Google Chrome as your browser, or if you have your browser set up to automatically search Google, you can use that option as well. To do this, all you need to do is type your business name into the search bar and hit enter to complete your search.

For businesses with multiple locations, make sure you are linking to the specific profile. You can do this by searching for your business name + location to find the right profile.

2. Click “Write a Review” in Your Business’s Knowledge Panel

For most businesses, a search of their name will bring up the search results page and a knowledge panel. 

This knowledge panel will contain a lot of information about your business. Toward the bottom, you will find the section containing snippets of your reviews. Here, you can click on the “Write a Review” button. 

3. Copy the Link That Appears When the “Write a Review” Tab Appears

Once the Write a Review window appears, all you need to do is copy the URL!

4. Use a Link Shortener to Reduce the Length of the Link

Now that you have the link copied, you can use a free link shortener. While you will still be sending customers the same link, it’ll look a lot differently. 

Instead of looking something like this:

You can send a link like this: 

bit.ly/31OoGAR

Or, a branded shortened link like this:

bit.ly/happywokerie

Using a link shortener can allow you to send a better looking message. Even better, customers could even easily type the link in themselves if they need to.

5. Text or Email the Link to Customers Manually

Now that you have the review link for your Google profile, and you’ve shortened it, it’s time to send it to customers! When linking customers to your Google profile, you can use text and email to reach them easily.

Sending them a text or email with the link is an easy way to make sure that your customers can click the link. More importantly, it allows them to leave their review right as soon as they get your request.

Getting the link to your customer reviews isn’t a difficult process, but you do want to make sure you do it right. Test it out a few times on yourself to make sure that you are linking your customers to the right thing and enjoy your very own Google reviews link.

In this guide, we’ll be giving you a few simple options to show you how you can showcase your reviews on your website.

Adding Google Reviews to Your Website

1. Find a Plug-In That Works for You
2. Create a Reviews Page
3. Manually Enter the Reviews

1. Find a Plug-in That Works on Your Website’s Platform

There are so many different platforms that your website could be hosted on. WordPress, Wix, and Squarespace are some of the most common ones that you might have heard of. It’s surprising to many, however, that the vast majority of websites are hosted through WordPress. 

This means that there’s a plug-in for almost everything that would work on a WordPress site. And, as other platforms are catching up, there are many options available to those who are looking for a plug-in for their site.

To find a plug-in that works for you, simply use Google to search for “Google reviews plug-in” + your platform.

For example, a search for “Google Reviews Plug-in WordPress” brought up this search results page: 

Take your time and browse these results to find the best option for you. To give you a more specific example, one of the top results for our search was for the “WP Google Review Slider.” Here’s how this plug-in makes your reviews look on your website!

2.  Create a Reviews Page or Section

No matter what option you pick, make sure you’re creating a dedicated space to display your reviews. For many businesses, a page titled Reviews, Testimonials, or Customer Feedback is all that’s needed to route potential customers straight to your reviews.

Take a look at this example page below:

You may also want to create a section on your home page to display your reviews in addition to having a dedicated page for them. This will allow you to showcase your Google reviews to as many eyes as possible!

3. Manually Enter the Reviews

If you weren’t able to find a plug-in that works for you, you can always manually enter your reviews. Simply access your reviews on Google, and create a document with all of the reviews that you’d like to feature.

You can then upload each review onto your website to showcase it. When going through this process, some business owners choose to omit their customer’s last name. This is up to your discretion when uploading your reviews.

And, with those easy steps, you can show off your Google reviews directly on your website!