If you are willing to display your customer reviews from Google My Business profile on a homepage, then this decision can fundamentally transform any company! If you give users an opportunity to view comments and opinions of real clients on your services or products, then you’ll get increased conversion, build credibility, and raise trust for your brand.
Read further to learn why showing real customer reviews is so important for any business owner, webmaster and user as well.
Table of Contents
What is Google Reviews Plugin?
Plugin is a ready-to-use web application. It presents one of the simplest and most effective options to embed opinions from any external platform right to your website. Such apps usually have a wide range of customization and display choices, like blocks, schemes, and shortcodes.
Using plugins is one of the most intuitive and user-friendly ways to embed Google Reviews on website. The automation of reviews publishing process, the intuitive no-coding interface, and the easy embedding makes third-party plugin an obvious choice.
Other options for integration
Here are two more ways to show Google star ratings and reviews on a website. To choose the one that suits, think about your resources, web development skills, and coding knowledge. Some options are quite simple and suitable for an average internet user, while others may often require a deeper understanding of webdev principles.
Embedding reviews manually
This way only requires basic user skills and experience working on website builders. You simply have to include a separate section for reviews or create a separate page in your website’s dashboard and post your comments there manually. This variant is quite simple and this is perhaps the only advantage. It’s quite time consuming and inconvenient as you’ll probably have to do it yourself every time someone leaves a review or hire a virtual assistant to keep the reviews on your site up to date.
Using Official Google API
Google API enables the development of a web application that communicates with Google database in the backend, requests calls and retrieves necessary data.
First thing for this is to create a developer account at Google and get My Business API key. The next step is to start programming a module to display Google reviews on your website. Once you’ve activated your application, you can set it up to display all reviews from your Google account, only selected reviews, or comments from a specific location. It is also possible to reply to comments from your customers via this interface. All in all, such an application can be not only a site’s module but also a control function for your Google My Business account. That sounds attractive, although the majority of small business owners won’t afford its development and don’t really need this feature. Also, such a module requires investing time and money to hire a developer, embed it in a website, and moderate it regularly.
Which websites benefit from Google reviews?
Customer opinions are nowadays believed to be the most important metric for any business, as well as for potential customers and partners. Real customers’ feedback shown to other visitors can increase average sales level and boost business growth. It’s also a great way to control what people think of your brand. Any business should invest time and money in comprehensive reputation management – collect, analyse, and respond to client’s comments – to gain insight into how existing and potential customers perceive your company.
Tip: If you run a franchise business or have other multi-branded shops or offices, you pay your attention to display only reviews from a required Google location.
Some time ago Google released information about its algorithm, stating that it uses the parameters of distance and location for ranking to provide improved search results for local queries. You should therefore set up a verified Google account with a specific location to ensure your business’s homepage is optimized for better positioning. And if you receive positive ratings, comments, images, etc. on Google, it can also enhance your rankings in search.
Note: Google Maps is linked up to My Business platform and pulls all the data and comments from there into the app.
What else can Google reviews do for business?
- Google has control over 90% of the world’s search market share, which makes it the number one search engine.
- It localizes search results. It means that only companies that match to the scope of the search query are displayed.
- Google My Business Profile is completely free. You shouldn’t pay anything to create an account and start receiving reviews.
- Google reviews have an impact on about 10% of the search engine algorithm. This means the more positive ratings and comments you get from the clients, the higher your business position will be in the SERPs.
Where to place reviews on the website?
Here are some suggestions as to where is the best position for reviews is on your site:
- Include customer reviews on your homepage. Create a slider and rotate reviews one by one or show a grid of your top reviews.
- Place comments on the About Us page. Select comments that showcase your brand as a loyal partner. This allows you to make use of high ratings to encourage action from your potential customers.
- Set up reviews on the marketing pages with products or services. Show that your offers are well received by the audience.
- Show reviews on a separate page in a large grid.
Conclusion
Google’s rating system gives your visitors and potential customers helpful information. Placing honest ratings and reviews on your site increases trust and you benefit as a business owner, even if the response isn’t perfect. You should invest into making the most of your customers’ comments. Do not be afraid to use their hints and justified criticism for your company optimization.
Reviews are also good for building social proof for your brand. Potential partners and customers know your company is trustworthy. Because generally, any customer feedback – positive or negative – provides valuable insights into the ways of improving your products and the overall customer experience.
