Having positive Google Reviews is essential for local businesses because it establishes trust for prospective customers and helps you rank better in local listings. The sad truth is, unhappy customers don’t seem to have a problem with making the effort to write a negative review, and it’s not easy to remove one unless it matches Google’s Guidelines. The likelihood that a happy customer will make the effort to go on Google, find your Google Maps listing, sign in to (or create) a Gmail account, then write a review is relatively low if you don’t ask them. Therefore, it’s important you make the effort to ask as many happy customers as you can to write a Google Review and make it as easy as possible. In this post, we will go over how to create a direct Google Review Link and draft a simple email to send to your customers.
STEP 1: Find Your PlaceID
Go to Google’s PlaceID Lookup Tool, enter your business name in the “Enter a Location” field and click your business name in the dropdown list.
STEP 2: Create Your PlaceID Link
Copy the Place ID that appears below your business name (see image above) and paste it into this URL:
https://search.google.com/local/writereview?placeid=YourPlaceID
STEP 3: Test the Link
Before you send this link to your client, test it in a browser to make sure it works and goes to your listing.
STEP 4: Send to Client
Now that you have your custom PlaceID link, it makes it that much easier for a client to leave a review. Here’s an example of the email we send to our clients:
Hello Susan,
Thank you for giving us the opportunity to redesign your website, it was a pleasure working with you! We would be very grateful if you could write a brief review of your experience with VITAL WEB DESIGN on Google. Here are directions on how to do that:
- Go to this link: https://search.google.com/local/writereview?placeid=YourPlaceID
- If you are not already signed in, sign in to your gmail account
- Write your review (it can be as brief as 1-2 sentences)
If a popup window doesn’t appear when you click on the link above, click the “Write a Review” button at the bottom of the VITAL WEB DESIGN Google Maps listing on the right side of your browser window. Thank you in advance!
Best Regards,
VITAL WEB DESIGN
Unfortunately, some clients may not feel they have even a few minutes to write a brief review, so be sure to email as many clients as you can. If you don’t hear from them in a couple weeks, it might be a good idea to give them a call to make sure they received the email and re-send it so they don’t have to go digging through their inbox to find it.
Remember, without Google Maps listings, your local business may be buried in the search results by national competitors with a well-funded marketing budget. Google Maps gives you the opportunity to rank above them, and Google Reviews are a big factor in helping you rank above other local listings, so why not take advantage of this and get free online exposure?
Need more than local SEO to help your business get online leads? Vital Web Design is here to help with your growth and strategy. Get in touch with us today.