How to Add Google Reviews to Your Website
Customer reviews are becoming increasingly important for companies that have a lot of sales online. The more Google reviews your business has, the more likely you are to appear organically in search results or Google Maps when someone searches for your service or company name.
As a business owner, you know that word-of-mouth marketing is one of the most effective ways to get new clients. It’s also true that you can’t control what people say about you—good or bad. That’s why it’s so important to know exactly how much information your potential customers are finding from online sources like Google reviews.
In this article, we will review how to make those Google star ratings visible on your website. We will also explain why it’s important for you to do so and which pages customer reviews should appear on.
Signpost is used by thousands of small service businesses to build a trusted online reputation with reviews. Let us show you how our review software works.
1. Sign in to the Google account related to your Google Business listing.
The first thing to do when you’re ready to add Google reviews to your website is to sign in to the Google account related to your business’s listing.
It’s important that this is one specific account (usually the Admin account for that Google My Business listing).
2. Load your Google business page.
The next step is to load your Google business page.
If you don’t already have a business page, you can register one from your dashboard. You’ll be asked for some information about your business, including a name and address.
You can load your Google business page directly via the Google Maps search result. Identify the review that you want to display on your website.
3. Click the “share” icon on the lower right-hand corner of the review.
Once you’ve found the review you would like to display on your site, click on the Share button at the bottom.
4. Click the options arrow on the top right corner.
Since you’re signed into your Google My Business, you will see a menu pop-up. In that menu, click on the options arrow on the top right corner.
5. Choose “Embed Post” from the menu.
You will get a number of options displayed on how you can go about sharing the business review, such as sharing directly onto social media.
What you need is the embed code. Click on the option to “Embed Post.”
6. Copy the header code.
Keep in mind that the API for your website works differently compared to directly sharing onto social media platforms. As such, you will need the CSS code which will allow you to embed the testimonials directly onto your homepage or any other page of your preference.
Copy this code.
7. Open the review page of your website in the editor of your choice.
You can choose from a number of webpages to display your positive reviews, but it’s a good idea to have them displayed on a dedicated webpage that already displays reviews or discusses them.
Depending on what website design platform you used (like Wix of WordPress), the interface may be different, but no matter the editor, you will need the code. Keep the shortcode handy and open the editor of your preference.
8. Paste the header code between <head></head> HTML tags on this page.
Once you’ve designed the page on your website (or other site editor), find the place where you would like to display reviews.
There, make sure you insert the header code you copied between header HTML tags.
9. Copy the content code.
Next, copy the content code.
This will copy the actual content of the online reviews you want to showcase on your site (the crux of the customer’s feedback).
10. Paste this code wherever you want to display the review.
In the editor that your website uses to publish content, paste the content code into the area of the webpage where you’d like the review to be shown.
This can be directly under the relevant header code or elsewhere, depending on your design preference.
Save and publish your work and then you’re done! The codes that GMB gave you will be embedded into your site’s editor and visible to all customers visiting your site, in the hopes of making a purchase decision.
How to Embed Google Reviews in WordPress
WordPress is a popular website platform, and many WordPress users would like to be able to show their Google reviews on their website. The good news is that you can!
Just know that the process for embedding is a little different from what you may be used to on Wix, Squarespace and other platforms.
Here’s how you can go about embedding them into your WordPress website.
Using a WordPress Plugin
Look up a Google Reviews plugin of your preference. There are many you can choose from but you can get started with a fairly simple widget like this one by RichPlugins.
Download the plugin you’ve identified. It will get downloaded as a WINRAR file.
Upload this plugin onto your WordPress website. You can do this by going to the Plugin section on the sidebar. Once it’s uploaded, click on Activate to enable the plugin on your site.
Depending on the plugin, the process for creating the widget will change. For example, you may have to create the widget on the plugins page of your site. Some plugins also have their own templates or enable you to add social feeds or display the search engine Maps page.
After designing the plugin’s widget as per your preference, you can integrate the widget/plugin on your website by inserting it using the shortcode or directly integrating into the site using WordPress editor’s + option.
Publish the changes after confirming them on the page and you’re good to go! Your reviews linked to your Google My Business account will now be visible on your site.
Without a WordPress Plugin
If you don’t want to use a WordPress plugin to embed reviews onto your site, you can use a third-party tool. Each tool will have their own algorithms used to showcase your business profile reviews.
For example, you would have to manually input your Google Place ID into some of them to retrieve the reviews associated to your business name.
Some third-party tools for this purpose include TaggBox and EmbedSocial.
Why Businesses Should Display Google Reviews on Their Website
Whether you’re a local business or an eCommerce business, Google Reviews are an immensely valuable resource. Consumers trust other customers’ opinions and feel more confident in purchasing goods and services from companies that have a high rating. Yet many small businesses don’t display their reviews on their website—and as a result, they’re missing out on an opportunity to capture sales they’d otherwise be getting.
There’s no shortage of reasons why local businesses might choose not to display Google Reviews. Many don’t realize that there’s even an option to put Google reviews on their website, or perhaps they don’t know how to do it. Some businesses may feel worried about inadvertently leading customers to negative reviews too.
Here’s why you should consider Google Reviews on your site:
Google Reviews widget is effective social proof
Have you ever noticed that businesses that have a lot of Google reviews tend to have a larger number of people on their website? The reason behind this is simple: websites and Google reviews work together as effective social proof.
It’s one thing for a business to say, “We’re the best, come check us out.” It’s another when customers can say it for them. Reviews on a business’s website is equivalent to having a large number of your friends telling your potential customers how great you are.
SEO Performance
When people read your business’s Google reviews, they’ll get a feel for whether your company produces good work.
Additionally, Google reviews help increase traffic to your website by boosting its SEO performance.
Businesses who have taken advantage of this have seen their online presence improve dramatically, and Google is actively encouraging businesses to do it more. Your business will definitely benefit from displaying your Google reviews on your website.
Increase conversions
Having positive reviews on your website can be the difference between a site visitor saying “Yes!” and “No thanks.”
By displaying these reviews on your site, you’re making it that much easier for new visitors to learn about your business and what you have to offer, and giving them a chance to interact with people who’ve already been through the experience.
Customers want to know about your company’s reputation and experience before they spend their money on you, and Google Reviews give them a great way to do that.
Automate gathering Google reviews with Signpost
Whether you run a plumbing, electrical, contracting business, or any other type of home service business, the last thing you want to worry about is bad reviews. If you’re like most business owners, you don’t have time to comb through your reviews on a daily basis and respond personally to each one.
That’s where Signpost comes in. We’ve taken all the hard work out of collecting Google reviews for local businesses by automating the entire process. By integrating our software and enabling just a few features, we take care of everything from start to finish—from asking customers for reviews via email or text message, to making sure they rate your business on Google.
We even provide you with analytics about your performance over time so you can see which marketing strategies are working and which ones aren’t.
If you need review management software for your business without the headache, Signpost is a cost-effective solution. Schedule your demo today.