Google Reviews: Why They Matter and How to Get Them
Good news travels fast, but Google reviews? They can make your business boom. We’ve mentioned Google reviews in passing before (here, here and here for starters), but it’s time to give them their own highlight. As you consider how to raise the online profile of your brand, Google reviews are an excellent place to start. In this blog we’ll talk about why they matter and give you some ideas for how to ask people for reviews.
Reasons Why Google Reviews Matter
Let’s cover a few reasons why Google reviews matter to the growth of your business and your success in reaching new customers.
1. People seek out reviews before becoming a customer.
Did you know that a whopping 98% of consumers read online reviews before buying a product? People are much more likely to trust a product or business that has reviews of consumers’ experiences. To become a trusted business for your customers, make sure you provide what they need to make an educated decision about your product or service — and these days, that includes reviews.
2. Google is the most popular search engine in the world.
Simply put: You need to be where the people are. These days Google garners almost 92% of all web searches. If you haven’t already built a Google Business profile, start today. People will be googling your business and providing a landing — in your own words and photos — for people to find is vital.
With Google being the most popular search engine, Google reviews are an important piece of your search engine optimization strategy.
3. The number of Google Reviews you have can impact your search engine ranking.
Having Google reviews will positively impact your local SEO ranking, which means more people in your local community will be able to find you. In general, Google loves to highlight businesses with positive reviews — everyone loves good news! — so yes, you want to have reviews to bolster your Google Business profile. There are a number of factors that go into supporting your SEO ranking, and Google reviews is certainly a piece of the puzzle.
5 Creative Ways to Ask for a Google Review
Here are five ideas to get you started with asking for reviews. As a reminder, it’s important to never ask for a positive review. You want customers to feel free to share their true, authentic experience of your brand. Even less-than-positive reviews provide an opportunity for businesses to shine if they respond in a way that demonstrates how they care about their customers, their customers’ experiences, and their products.
- Offer an incentive
I was recently at a restaurant where they offered free dessert if you left a review of the restaurant. They had a sign on each table giving this offer as soon as you sat down. This tactic allowed people to enjoy most of their meal and take note of different parts of the experience that they could then share in the review. It didn’t matter what people said in their review — they only had to show the review to their waiter to receive the free dessert, which was a daily special chosen by the chef.
Offer an incentive, like free dessert, for a Google review.
While you may not be running a restaurant, there may be some kind of incentive you can offer customers in exchange for a review. Remember what we said before — it’s important to not demand a positive review. You want honest, authentic reviews.
2. Ask your regulars to leave a review.
If you have customers who regularly order from you or come into your business, they’re a great group of people to point blank ask for reviews. You have likely built a relationship with these regulars over weeks, months or years and they clearly enjoy your business. These people will probably leave an ideal review, so when the time is right, ask them!
3. When you hear someone say something positive, ask them to put it in writing.
You have to be listening/watching for these, but you will likely come across positive comments on social media or in conversations with customers. When you happen upon these positive words about a product or recent experience with your business, ask the customer to write an official Google review. If they have gone out of their way to tell you a positive story or post something on social media, they’ll most likely be willing to take five minutes and leave a review. It never hurts to ask.
If someone says something positive about your business, ask them to put it in a Google review.
4. Reach out to past customers/clients.
As stated above, it never hurts to ask for reviews! Once or twice a year, it wouldn’t hurt to do a call for Google reviews by emailing or DMing past clients or customers. You could even create a basic prompt for people to follow so they have some help in shaping their review.
For example: I worked with J.O. Agency in <insert dates here> to <insert what we helped you accomplish>. The experience was <insert your thoughts here> and I was <insert how you felt after working with us here>. I recommend their services because <insert your answer here>.
Most people love to help others succeed, so briefly explaining why Google reviews matter to people you’ve worked with in the past will likely garner some support.
5. Put the request in your email signature (and similar places).
Make a list of places where you could add a basic note about Google reviews. Some businesses have a QR code at their check out stand. Others make sure to train their team members to mention it to customers at the end of a business interaction. You can also add a basic (and brief) request in your email signature or in the footer of your website. You can do a quarterly call on social media for reviews or include it in your newsletter.
Find the moments in business interactions where you can ask for Google reviews.
Bottom line: Look at the ways you regularly interact with customers and clients and find the moments where it would be most natural to add the request.
J.O. Agency Can Help You Gather the Good News
Our team knows more than a thing or two about making companies shine. With 26 years of marketing, advertising and PR excellence under our belts, we can help you raise the profile of your brand and extend your reach to new customers. See some of our recent work here and then reach out to us at [email protected]. We’d love to hear from you!
