Sending out professional Google MyBusiness review requests to your customers right after they have had a positive experience with your business is the simplest and best way to drive qualified, high converting referral traffic to your website.
Since the dawn of time people have relied upon great reviews to sell their products.
“Grog mammoth skins keep Zug warm in cold” said Zug to his friend Crun. “Crun get one too” replied Crun.
Well, perhaps not, however, the truth of the matter is that for millennia word of mouth was the review currency and people listened to their friends and family who have had previous experience of the product or service they are considering.
Then Gutenberg came along and democratised the distribution of printed material and quickly newspapers and magazines became an additional place for us to get reviews prior to making a purchasing decision.
Today the Internet has largely supplanted print media, however, positive reviews have lost none of their power in convincing potential customers to consider purchasing from your business.
I rarely if ever make a purchase these days without reading the reviews for the product or service I am about to purchase.
The reviews allow me to obtain social proof about the business I am about to trust with my money.
What am I looking for?
- Is the product robust and reliable?
- Does the company provide good after sales service?
- How long does it take for delivery?
- Is the product value for money?
- Does it have all the features I will need going forward?
Google MyBusiness Reviews
In this article I will be primarily concentrating on reviews in Google MyBusiness.
Not sure what this is? Take a look below at a screengrab I have taken from a random Google search for a plumbing business… (I have nothing to do with this business nor have I ever used them or sold any services to them. I am simply using their GMB entry as an example in this post.)
This is a Google MyBusiness listing (GMB) and it sits to the right of the Google search results page.
No doubt you see them all the time. In my humble opinion, a Google MyBusiness listing is awesome and your business MUST have one.
You should note the following important things with regards to customer reviews;-
- The average number of stars and total number of reviews just under the buttons at the top of the GMB entry
- The Reviews section at the bottom of the entry showing the latest reviews
Get these 2 things working for you and you will eliminate any hesitancy a potential customer has in contacting your business for a quote or an order.
How Do You Get Google MyBusiness Reviews?
Simple. Ask for them!
A couple of things first which I am sure you are already doing;-
- Be responsive. React quickly to your customers.
- Give great customer service. Listen to their queries / problems and resolve them wherever possible.
- Provide feedback when the task is complete.
If you have done all of the above then strike whilst the customer is happy with their recent transaction and ask for a review on Google.
You won’t always get one, however, even if you are averaging 1 out of 3 then that is probably a better hit rate than most businesses are achieving right now.
The Key – Making it Easy for Your Customers to Give You a Google Review
Don’t make anything hard for your customers because, chances are, they will not do it.
Rather than asking them to go onto Google, search for your company and then go to your Google MyBusiness list and add a positive review why not just send them the link that takes them there in the first place so all they have to do is click on that link?
Some of you will know where to find that link. Some may not so here is a brief explanation of how to do so.
1. Claim Your Google MyBusiness Listing
If your business has a Google MyBusiness listing but you have never accessed the admin for that listing then chances are that Google may have created the listing and is simply waiting for you to claim ownership.
Alternatively, you may have accessed it (or a previous employee or business owner) in the past, however, have no idea of the login details anymore.
Google MyBusiness listings are managed from a Google account. So first you must have one of those.
It is as simple as having a free gmail account or subscribing to Google Suite (G Suite – now called Google Workspace) which is a paid service ~ $5 per month per email address.
Most commonly you will have a free gmail account so let’s work with that.
- Login to your gmail account.
- Open up another browser tab and go to google.com
- Look for the 9 dots in the right top corner of the page and click on these
- Look for the Google MyBusiness icon (the one that looks like a shop) and click that
- Follow the instructions to add your business to your Google account and claim your GMB listing
2. Find & Copy the Link to Your Google MyBusiness Reviews
So you have claimed your GMB listing and now you want to get some reviews.
The first thing to do is to find and copy the link to your GMB reviews so you can give that to your customers so they can click on it and be taken directly to the place where they can leave their review.
The graphic below shows where to click in your GMB admin account to get the link.
Click on “Share via email” and then you can copy the link to the review page and use it anywhere you need to.
After clicking the button the following popup appears.
3. Send Out an Email to Your Customer
So, once you have that link you can send out an email to your customer with the link embedded to encourage them to give you a review.
I have included a sample of the sort of text we use ourselves in this email. Please feel free to customise it to your needs and to use it or to create something similar.
Sample Google Review Request Email
Hi first_name,
Thanks for your recent order from Your_Business_Name.
Your business is very much appreciated.
As a locally owned and operated business our sustainability and growth depends upon referrals from our customers and positive online reviews are especially important for us.
If your experience with our business has been positive then you might consider leaving a review on Google for our business by clicking on the link below.
And if you don’t feel comfortable adding a review then that is perfectly fine as well. 👍
Paste_the_link_here (and test it to make sure it is clickable)
Thanks once again for your continued support, it is very much appreciated.
Your_Friendly_Signoff
4. Reply to the Review After You Get it
So, you have followed the steps above and you have your review.
Let’s hope it is positive and, this being the case, then you should reply to the review to thank the customer for taking the time to give you a review.
Go back into your GMB admin account and look for the Manage Reviews section (see below).
If it is the latest review then simply click the reply button and go for it.
If it is an earlier review then click Manage reviews to find the one you need to reply to.
If it happens to be a negative review then do not let it fester. Try and engage positively with the customer to find out what the real problem is and do what you can to solve it or minimise the consequences.
If you follow the above process regularly then you will certainly drive higher converting traffic through your website to your business.
It does not take much time to set up and it doesn’t take much time to do.
So, give it a try and you will be rewarded.