Back to all BlogsDo Google Reviews matter?
Reviews of any kind are an important factor in growing your business but do Google Reviews matter?
When someone leaves you a review it’s a chance for your customers to interact with you and the benefits are huge.
You’ll learn what parts of your business are working well and what needs a little work. Google Reviews can impact how well you rank in Google search results, they can influence how likely people are going to click on your Google PPC (Pay Per Click) adverts and helps build trust.
There’s a hidden benefit to Google Reviews most business owners aren’t aware of and that’s called Local SEO. It’s the ultimate leveller, allowing you to compete for business with other competitors of any size in the one place most people do their research, online.
First what is Local SEO?
Local SEO is basically the business directory for the digital world.
The higher you rank in your search engine results pages (SERPs) the more likely you’ll get noticed. To rank high you need to have a well built website, that loads fast and looks great on mobile.
Google Reviews also play a role in where they rank you.
You can read more on Local SEO in our article: What is Local SEO and do you need to do anything about it?
Google Reviews help increase trust in Field Service Businesses
Trust is particularly important in the field service industry where your client isn’t just choosing to buy a product from you, they are choosing to put their business critical equipment in the hands of a third party.
Google Reviews help to establish trust, they will convince the person searching for a business or service like yours that you’re a reputable business.
Google Reviews give you a feedback loop
In the busy day to day of delivering a service and keeping your business growing, you don’t get many opportunities to gather feedback.
Your customers may make comments or suggestions to your sales and support teams but you are unlikely to hear them and it’s even less likely any action is taken on them.
Google Reviews open a dialog between you and your customers, allowing you to make changes to parts of your business that could be performing better.
Positive reviews offer you an opportunity to share these success stories with your team and maybe put a greater focus on services or experiences which are delivering a great experience for your customer.
Google Reviews encourage more people to click on your Google adverts
You can add Google Reviews to your Google Adverts with an ad extension. It displays the Google 5 star rating in the search results. This can have a great impact on the effectiveness of your advert click through rate.
Here’s what they look like:
Google will also source feedback and reviews from other independent review websites such as:
How to get Google Reviews for your business
Set up a Google My Business Page
The first place to start is with your Google My Business page https://www.google.com/business/, that’s where you can set up a free business profile and connect with customers through Google Search and Google Maps.
Once you’ve done that, we recommend you check out the Google My Business Marketing Kit, it’s a great place to create and download business marketing materials. Assets such as social posts, stickers and pieces of marketing collateral can be downloaded here.
Get your shareable link for Google Reviews
This is important, you’ll need to share a link with your customers to encourage them to leave you reviews. Once you’ve set up your Google My Business page you can share a link so people can view your business profile and leave a review.
- Sign into Google My Business
- In the left menu, click Home
- In the ‘Get more reviews’ card, copy your short URL to share this with your customers
If you’re using a mobile…
- Open the Google My Business App
- Tap Customers then Reviews
- In the top right tap the share icon
- Copy your shortened URL
That’s it! Now you’re ready to add that link to email signatures, social posts, link to it from your website and even your Klipboard Reports and Follow Up Emails.
Create a landing page for reviews
There may be a part of your website that your customers visit regularly. It would make sense to encourage them to leave you some feedback on that page. Include a banner or a clearly visible link to your Google Reviews.
A lot of businesses include a link to Google Reviews on an ‘About Us’ page. This is particularly effective if you are a small to medium sized business with a story to tell. People are much more likely to leave a review if they believe it will make a difference to a business owner.
Ask your customers for a review
It sounds obvious but so few business do the most direct way of gathering reviews by asking for them.
Go one step further and time that request with a positive experience here’s some instances that present a great opportunity to ask how you’re doing:
- Contract Renewal
- Service Anniversaries
- A Product Purchase
- Reaching Project Milestones
- An Automated Client Follow Up Email through Klipboard
Here’s a template you can use when asking your customers for a review:
How using Klipboard can encourage Google Reviews
You can add a link for customers to fill out a Google Review to your automated client follow up emails in Klipboard. These emails streamline your admin by automatically completing the content specific to each customer.
In Settings click on the Communication tab found on the top menu bar. Within the Automated Client Follow Up Email template you’ll see Gather Feedback or Reviews, this is where you should add your unique sharable Google Reviews Link.
Summary: Do Google Reviews matter?
Yes. Google Reviews can make a difference to your business, they do matter if you want to rank higher in Google search results and often people just need a little bit of trust in your business or brand before they commit to trying you out. A good Google Review can go a long way to closing the deal.
You can encourage your current customers to leave you reviews by creating a Google Review link and sharing that when your customers interact with your brand. If you time it well you’ll catch people at the moments they are most likely give you a few minutes of their time and a positive review that matters.
