When customers have a positive (or negative) experience with a business or when they’re considering purchasing a new product or service, Google reviews are their go-to.
Google reviews offer customers the opportunity to share raw, honest feedback on their experiences with businesses and can make or break prospective customers’ decisions. They’re helpful for business owners, too – positive Google reviews encourage engagement, increase conversion rates and bolster brand reputation.
But how do you leave a Google review?
In this guide, we’ll outline how to leave a review on Google and answer frequently asked questions about the process.
Using your smartphone to leave a Google review is simple. Here’s how:
1. Open the Google Maps app or open Google Maps in your browser.
2. Type the name of the business you’d like to review into the search bar. If there are multiple locations, make sure to choose the correct one.
The process for leaving a Google review on your desktop is similar:
1. Open a browser window and navigate to Google Maps. If you’re not already signed in, sign into your Google account.
2. Search for the business in the Google Maps search bar.
3. On the left side of the page, click “Reviews.”4. Click “Write a review.” Here, you’ll be prompted to provide a star rating, a written review and relevant photos.
You do not have to have a Google account to leave a review. You can still provide a star rating, write a description and provide photos – but you will need to enter an email address before leaving your review. You can enter any email address you like, and it doesn’t have to end with “@gmail.com.” Here’s how:
1. Search the name of the business you’d like to review in the Google search engine.
2. You'll see a business profile on the left side of the screen. Click the button that says “Write a review.”
3. You’ll be prompted to sign into a Google account. If you don’t want to sign up for a Google account to write a review, don’t worry – you don’t have to. You can use an existing email address to access Google, but first, you’ll need to click the button that says “Create account.”
4. A dropdown menu will appear. Select “For my personal use.”
5. From here, you’ll be prompted to answer a series of questions, including your name, birthday and gender. Next, you’ll be asked to create a Gmail account. You’ll see an option that says, “Use your existing email.” Click this button.
6. Type in your email and press “Next.”
7. You’ll be asked to create a password to access Google with your email. Create a password and press “Next.”
8. A verification code will be sent to your email. Enter the verification code.
9. Rate the business!A few key ingredients go into writing a great Google review. Consider the following tips to increase the likelihood that your review provides useful insights to other users:
When you write high-quality Google reviews, you can collect points and get Local Guide benefits.
Now that you know the basics, let’s dive a little deeper with these FAQs about leaving a Google review:
Leaving a Google review for a business is a relatively safe process. However, it’s important to consider the following before submitting your review.
With this in mind, your personal information is safe as long as you don’t reveal it in your review.
Google reviews are filtered and monitored for spam and suspicious activity. Sometimes this process is instant – in these cases, you’ll see your review right away.
If you don’t see your review as soon as you submit it, check back within 48 hours. If your review doesn’t appear within a 48-hour timeframe, Google’s moderation system may have accidentally deleted it. If you suspect that this happened, wait a few days and try to leave another review with slightly different text.
Yes – you can tell how many people have seen your review. Here’s how to access your view count on your smartphone:
1. Use your smartphone and open the Google Maps app or browser website.
2. Tap “+Contribute” at the bottom of your screen.
3. Scroll down. You’ll see a box that says “Your contributions have X views.” Click the text that says “See contributions.”
4. You’ll see a list of your Google reviews. Each review will show the number of views underneath it.
The process is similar on desktop:
1. Navigate to Google Maps and sign in to your account.
2. Click the three horizontal lines at the top left of the screen.
3. Click “Your contributions.”
4. Click “Reviews.”
5. Your view count will appear underneath each review.
Unfortunately, you can only have one active review per business at a time. But, if you’d like your feedback to reflect a more recent experience, you have a few options:
Yes, you can both edit and delete a Google review. Here’s how:
1. On your computer, open Google Maps.
2. Click the three horizontal lines at the top left of the screen.
3. Click “Your contributions.”
5. Next to the review you want to edit or delete, click the three dots.
6. Select “Edit review” or “Delete review” and follow the on-screen steps.
Leaving a Google review is an excellent way to provide helpful feedback, allow future customers to make wise decisions before purchasing a product or service and help your favorite brands gain new customers and stay in business. And, if you’re a business owner, positive reviews can enhance brand credibility, increase engagement, improve local SEO and bolster your reputation.
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