Having a Google My Business is crucial to your local SEO success. But this strategy involves more than just creating a business listing. You have to optimise your profile for it to be an effective lead generation tool.
One way to maximise your GMB listing is to get as many online reviews as you can. The quality and quantity of your Google reviews is an important ranking factor for local SEO. Additionally, when potential customers find you online or offline, one of the first things they’ll do is look at your online reviews.
Users will likely browse through several industry-specific websites to find reviews, but the ones from Google still largely contribute to their decision. Google reviews are among the first ones they see, thanks to the rich snippets on the SERP.
Thus, learning how to increase your GMB reviews will greatly benefit your local SEO strategy. In this article, PurpleClick shares tried-and-tested tricks to increase your Google business reviews, boosting your local presence.
Table of Contents
4 Helpful Tips to Increase GMB Reviews
1. Make it easy for customers to leave reviews
Leaving a review shouldn’t take more than a few minutes. Customers don’t want to go to the trouble of visiting your GMB page and look for the ‘leave a review’ button. If you make the process quick and easy for them, they’re one step closer to writing a review for you.
You can simplify the process by sending your customers a link that directly takes them to your review page. Follow this step-by-step guide to get a GMB review shortcut link:
- Go visit the Google Maps Place ID Finder
- Type in your business name in the search bar
- Copy the ID that appears with your business listing
- Paste the ID where indicated in this link: https://search.google.com/local/writereview?placeid=[paste your place ID here]
PurpleClick’s review shortcut link, for example, is: https://search.google.com/local/writereview?placeid=ChIJPYK8kXcZ2jER5_NS2k01aeM
Once you’ve found your direct review link, you can shorten it to make it more visually pleasant. There are various link shorteners available online, such as bitly.com. You can even customise the link so that it contains your business name, aiding brand recognition and recall. Do note that those sending their reviews will have to be logged into their Gmail accounts to successfully add a review; it’s a good idea to indicate that a log-in prompt may appear if they are not logged in.
This GMB shortcut link is the backbone of many of your review-generating techniques. You can embed it in your email marketing strategy, landing page CTAs, and check-out pages, among others.
2. Use your website to get more GMB reviews
Customers who want to write a review for your business will likely check your website first. Make sure that the ‘leave a review’ option on your site is clear and intuitive. One way to achieve this is by creating a reviews page and making it accessible through the main navigation menu.
Your testimonials page should contain existing GMB reviews to give new customers additional inspiration, encouraging them to write their own. Ideally, you want the reviews to be in text form. Reviews are often rich in keywords, depending on which products or services they purchased. Including these in your website helps boost your SEO strategy.
Look for plug-ins and platforms that allow you to add all your existing GMB reviews to your site automatically. Make sure to have a visible CTA on the page encouraging users to leave a review.
Other than your testimonials page, you can also embed the GMB widget on your website footer. A widget adds a visual element to the CTA, which makes it more eye-catching compared to just typing out “leave us a review on Google.”
3. Include it in your direct mail marketing campaign
You can use your offline marketing strategy to direct leads and customers to your online channels. However, simply leaving your link on the print ad isn’t enough, since users would still have to type it out on their browser.
Instead, create a QR code for your review shortcut link using any online QR generator. Look for one that offers a scan tracking feature. This will give you valuable information about the scan, such as the number of scans done and what time they took place.
Add the QR code on your print marketing collaterals. For instance, you can mail customers with a leave-behind card containing the QR code, a contact number in case they have concerns and care instructions or a how-to-use guide for the product they purchased.
You can include this card in every order you send out or mail it separately as part of your follow-up campaign.
4. Respond to reviews
Finally, reply to your existing GMB reviews, especially the negative ones. This strategy has a two-fold benefit. First, it lets potential reviewers know that you listen to customer feedback, showing that it’s worth leaving your business a review. Second, you get to resolve the dissatisfaction of those who left negative reviews.
Reply publicly to the negative reviews to express your apology. Then, if possible, message them directly to discuss their concern.
Final Thoughts
Consumers trust the opinion of other consumers. You can use this to your advantage. Encourage customers to leave a review by making the process as easy, fast and intuitive as possible. Your review-generating technique is still part of your customer experience.
If you design your review writing process according to the expectations and needs of your customers, you can expect an increase in your GMB reviews, allowing you to enjoy their benefits to your reputation and revenue.
