Google reviews offer customers the chance to share raw, honest feedback on their experiences with businesses. Flaunting positive reviews on your website is an excellent asset for your brand, as it can sway customer decisions and bolster your reputation and search engine ranking.
But before you can show off customer feedback, you’ll have to learn how to embed Google reviews on your website. Embedding Google reviews on your website is a process that sends review data from your Google Business Page to your website and displays it automatically (no cutting or pasting required).
Here’s everything you should know about embedding Google reviews on your website:
Potential customers often examine Google reviews with a fine-toothed comb before making a purchase, setting up a demo or making an appointment. 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.
Beyond influencing customer decisions and showcasing feedback, there are plenty of other key benefits of adding Google reviews to your website:
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. Here’s why embedding Google reviews may be a better option than manually adding them:
Of course, it’s a great idea 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.
Showcasing Google reviews on your business’s website is a smart move – but what should you do if you don’t have any?
Getting Google reviews is as simple as asking your customers to leave them. Once your customer has made a purchase, send them a link to access the review platform. Here’s how to find your custom review link:
Once you have the link, take a closer look – can customers type it into a web browser in less than ten seconds? If not, clean up the link with a link shortener (like Bitly).
You can also simply the process by creating a QR code that will take customers directly to the review platform.
Connecting consumers with your review content can be powerful. Let’s explore a few ways you can embed Google reviews on website pages:
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:
If your website runs on a site-building platform other than WordPress, the platform may not have a Google review widget available. If this is the case, you may have to use a third-party service.
Ideally, you want this solution to be free – but if you don’t like the free tool, you can switch to a different one without unnecessary expense. Paid services might produce more customizable, attractive or functional displays.
SociableKIT offers a free Google review embed widget — all you need to get started is your Google Place ID.
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:
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, stick with a pre-built widget for simplicity and ease.
It was once possible for website owners to select an "embed" option from the dropdown menu in each Google Review.
However, Google has since removed this feature. Now, if you click on the three-dot icon next to a review on your Google My Business listing, you'll see options to share or flag it as inappropriate, but not to embed it.
The best way to do this now is to download a plugin, use a third-party widget or code the website addition yourself.
To seamlessly integrate Google reviews onto your website, consider the following tips:
Customers want to see brands engage with their reviewers. Managing Google reviews is a great way to interact with your customers, maintain a positive brand image and keep an eye on the pulse of your audience. Here are a few important best practices for review management:
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 do your best to properly communicate your investment in customer feedback.
Displaying customer feedback is a critical asset to any business’s website. By showcasing customer reviews, you can facilitate positive word-of-mouth messaging involving your brand, increase your visibility and bolster your reputation.
Not sure how to get started? Textedly's online review management software makes collecting, managing and monitoring feedback easy. You’ll only need a single dashboard to monitor reviews across the web, allowing you to streamline customer interactions and hone your efforts.
And, with text message marketing, requesting reviews is simpler than ever. Textedly provides SMS and MMS marketing services that help thousands of trusted brands nationwide leverage the power of text to communicate with existing, new and potential customers.
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