Generate Google Reviews easily with a one-click link
Google Reviews are vital to the visibility of your business, but aren’t necessarily easy to get. Make it easier for your customers with a one-click link.
Google Reviews are vital for any business, but most especially for small businesses. Unlike a Walmart or a McDonald’s, your small business likely doesn’t have the sort of immediate brand recognition that larger enterprises enjoy.
For most small-to-midsize businesses — especially new ones — you are building a brand from the ground up, which is both a blessing and a curse. Inertia is difficult to overcome, and clearly, the place to start is with optimization for Google.
If you’re a business-owner or SMB-marketer wondering ‘where do I start?’ then click here for a primer.
Once your Google My Business listing is set up and verified, though, the next place to work to improve your search engine visibility and conversion rate is on Reviews. Why?
Or you can think of it this way: the next time you go to use Google Search or Google Maps, observe your own processes closely. If you’re like most people, you might either open Google Maps and type in ‘Italian restaurant’ or go to Google and search, ‘Italian restaurants near me.’ That populates a list or map (these days, Google Search serves Maps results — you’ve almost certainly seen it, and might not have even noticed it as it slowly became more commonplace), and one of the most colorful, eye-catching portions of the results page is the reviews.
Take a look at my search results (Houston, TX 77084) for ‘restaurants near me’
While it’s impossible to know precisely how Google weighs the various factors (that’s proprietary info, and the in-house search algorithm is like Google’s version of the Coca-Cola Formula, what separates it from competitors like Bing and DuckDuckGo), where there’s smoke, there’s fire. There’s plenty of circumstantial evidence that — in the aggregate — supports the Moz survey conclusions.
And the takeaway? Reviews — and especially Google Reviews — are one of the most important ranking factors for local businesses. To appear in user search results, and especially to appear prominently in elements of the results like the Local Pack, a steady stream of fresh, authentic reviews is crucial.
How do you get them?
Services like Podium or Broadly (both of which I’ve utilized on behalf of clients to great effect) exist to streamline the process of garnering reviews, but for small-to-midsize businesses, maximizing free and organic options is a priority.
As a small-business owner, you are uniquely equipped to solicit Google Reviews yourself. After all, you’re likely in contact with your own customers and clients in a way nobody else is or could be.
Firstly, some guidelines
Don’t run afoul of Google’s Terms of Service
In my experience, business owners most often run into trouble when they overthink things. Be decent, courteous and even-handed in how you solicit reviews. Don’t offer incentives (cash, discounts, prizes — anything) in exchange for reviews, don’t attempt to place your thumb on the scale by soliciting only positive reviews and don’t make any conscious, deliberate effort to influence the quality of the reviews.
Reviews are authoritative (trustworthy) precisely because businesses can’t exert that kind of influence over them.
What you can do, though, is streamline the review process, making it easier for customers to leave them for you. All customers.
One-click Google Review links
Replace the “<place_id>” with the Place ID that Google populates when you search for your business, and you have a one-click review link.
It can inserted into email signatures for emails coming out of your domain, utilized on social media platforms, SMS messaged to customers — anywhere you could insert a link, you’ve now provided a one-click way for any user who is signed in on Google to leave you a review (or a prompt to sign in for anyone not currently signed into Google — that jumps immediately to the review page).
Reviews can be difficult to generate; naturally, your business’ reviews are a much higher priority to you than they are to your customers. The less friction there is on the path to leaving you a review, the more likely customers are to actually do so.
Armed with a one-click link, you can make the task of garnering Google Reviews much easier and much more rapid.
Don’t be discouraged by businesses with hundreds of reviews; you’re likely not competing against every business in your geographic location. Your competitors are the businesses that could help your clients with their search query. Identify your competitors on Google Search/Maps and compare apples to apples; those are the decisions users are weighing when you and your competitors appear in their search results.
Pro Tips:
- Google Reviews now support hashtags (up to 5). When you solicit Google Reviews from clients/customers, be sure to let them know that they can include up to 5 hashtags, preferably at the bottom/end of the review, to help the visibility of the review — and your business.
- Once you’re verified on Google My Business (GMB), users can ‘Follow’ your business, meaning that updates on information like sales, events and promotions will appear in the ‘For You’ tab of Google Maps for users who opt in.
- The Google Local Guides are an especially motivated group of Google users. Consider ways to engage these Google influencers (that don’t violate Google’s Terms of Service).
- Review Google’s own documentation carefully, starting with Improve Your Local Ranking on Google. Google rolls out updates routinely, and is fairly vigilant in policing its policies.
Ignorantia juris non excusat; ignorance of the law is no excuse. Many businesses are violating Google’s Terms of Service without knowing, or hiring someone who is. Regardless, it’s the business that ultimate suffers, when Google issues penalties or algorithmic updates that correct for black-hat techniques.
