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If past clients have started leaving reviews for your business, why not flaunt that fresh feedback? First, you’ll have to learn how to embed Google reviews on your website—a process that “sends” review data from your Google Business Page to your website and displays them automatically (no cutting or pasting required).
But why is adding Google reviews to your website a good idea, and how do you manage customer reviews once they’re live? And how, exactly, do you embed Google reviews on your website?
Today we’ll be sharing:
- Why You Should Add Google Reviews to Your Website
- Best Practices for Review Management
- Advantages of Embedding vs. Manually Updating
- How To Embed Google Reviews on Your Website
Why Should You Add Google Reviews to Your Website?
Google reviews are an asset—and potential customers often examine them with a fine-toothed comb before making a purchase, setting up a demo or making an appointment. Recent data about how customers use Google reviews is staggering:
- Customers use star ratings as a guide – When consumers search for a brand or a product, they most commonly use Google’s filter to display companies with only 4+ star ratings.
- Consumers are engaging with reviews 50% more than they were in 2020 – Future clients are turning to Google reviews for unbiased information about brands more than ever before.
- Google is the top reviews aggregator – Zero-click searches rose to 65% of all search engine queries between 2020 and 2021. That means the people who Google your business get all their information from Google’s platform instead of navigating to another website (like your brand’s web page).
- Customers expect businesses to prioritize Google reviews as much as they do – 53% of customers expect businesses to respond to negative reviews within seven days or less.
Customers trust Google reviewers (past customers) to be ambassadors or critics of your brand. They have a good reason to rely on Google as a review platform, too—Google doesn’t delete bad reviews, and businesses can’t delete reviews on their own (they can only flag spam reviews for potential removal).
But, in addition to allowing future clients an opportunity to explore reviews directly from your website, it also reminds past clients to write a review of their own. If they return to your site to make a repeat purchase and see a Google reviews widget, they may be inclined to write one themselves.
Best Practices for Review Management
Customers want to see a brand engage with its reviewers, and Google reviews are a phenomenal way to do that. For more in-depth information, read our guide to managing Google reviews for your business. Here are some highlights:
- Monitor your reviews regularly to flag spam contributions (which Google will remove if it violates their policies).
- Respond to reviews (positive and negative ones) to show that you’re invested in customer feedback. Consider using response templates to speed up this process.
- Openly encourage past or current clients to write reviews—another tactic to show customers that you care about their input.
These are essential measures after you embed Google reviews on your website. Once you embed them, clients (past, present and future) are more likely to interact with them, so you should do your best to communicate your investment in customer feedback.
Advantages of Embedding vs. Manually Updating
While you could simply copy and paste text from Google reviews into your website, this might not be the most efficient or useful way to display customer feedback. So why is embedding Google reviews a better option than manually adding them?
- It’s easier – You’re already expected to respond to reviews—why spend time copying and pasting them to your website, too? Embedding is more hands-free after the initial setup.
- Your reviews are always current – There are only so many hours a day, and transcribing reviews from Google onto your website could easily become a back-burner task when time runs short. Embedding will automatically refresh the reviews, giving your clients current information at all times.
- You’ll appear more credible – If your reviews are manually copied and pasted into a testimonials page or a banner on your website, it can give the impression that you only want your customers to see the feedback you want them to see.
Of course, it still makes sense to highlight exceptional reviews on your website in text form. However, giving your customers access to all of your Google reviews directly from your site is easier, guarantees up-to-the-minute information and makes you appear more credible.
How To Embed Google Reviews on Your Website
So, connecting consumers with your review content can be powerful—but let’s explore how to embed Google reviews on website pages.
Method #1 – Use a WordPress Plugin
If you have a WordPress website, you’re in luck—there’s a free plugin available, and you can add it to your site to embed Google reviews without the hassle.
This plugin is powerful for a few reasons:
- It’s customizable—you can trim long reviews with a “Read More” link, adjust the widget layout and more.
- It’s Dark Mode compatible for users defaulting to Dark Mode in their browser (a feature of both desktop and mobile browsers).
- It includes a “Review Us on Google” button that you can use to collect additional reviews from website visitors.
Method #2 – Use a Third-Party Widget
If your website runs on a site-building platform besides WordPress, the platform may not have a Google review widget available. If this is the case, you might have to use a third-party service.
Ideally, you want this solution to be free, but paid services might produce more customizable, attractive or functional displays. Plus, if you don’t like the free tool, you can switch to a different one without unnecessary expense.
SociableKIT offers a free Google review embed widget—all you need to get started is your Google Place ID.
Method #3 – Code the Website Addition Yourself
If you have coding chops, you can always build your own “widget” to display Google reviews on your website. To do this, you’ll need:
- A verified Google Business Page
- At least one live customer review on your Business Page
- Your Google Place ID
- Your API Key
Once you have this information, you can start the coding process. Luckily, numerous pre-written codes are available that you can copy, paste and customize as needed.
But, if you’re not a coding whiz, this is definitely the “Expert Mode” option—stick with a pre-built widget for simplicity and ease.
Power Marketing, Reviews, and More with Textedly
Learning how to embed Google reviews might seem complicated at first, but pre-made widgets and coding templates are both excellent ways to add this critical asset—customer feedback—to your business’s website.
And, if you’re trying to gather more customer feedback, consider the power of text message marketing from Textedly. The easiest way to send 10 to 10,000 SMS texts to your client list, Textedly offers a 14-day free trial and quick, simple sign-up.
The world’s favorite brands—Peloton, FedEx, Disney and more—are using Textedly to reach their customers. We can’t wait to welcome you to our community of innovative, worldwide companies.
Sources:
ReviewTrackers. Online Reviews Statistics and Trends: A 2022 Report by ReviewTrackers. https://www.reviewtrackers.com/reports/online-reviews-survey/
Google. How to Remove Reviews from Your Business Profile on Google. https://support.google.com/business/answer/4596773?hl=en&co=GENIE.Platform%3DDesktop
Wordpress. Plugin for Google Reviews. https://wordpress.org/plugins/widget-google-reviews/
Google Maps Platform. Place IDs. https://developers.google.com/maps/documentation/places/web-service/place-id
Google Maps Platform. Use API Keys with Places API. https://developers.google.com/maps/documentation/places/web-service/get-api-key
Tutorial Website. How to Add or Embed Google Review on Your Website. https://www.tutorialswebsite.com/how-to-add-or-embed-google-review-on-your-website/
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