Skyrocket Your Online Reputation: Google Reviews Guide

Skyrocket Your Reputation: 
Generate More Google Reviews and Build Trust Online
Hey, I’m super excited about this guide because I know it would skyrocket the reputation of your brand. Also, it would be super exciting for you to see how your business starts getting reviews and what others think.
And with time, this alone would help you earn new business in your area and also would help you close more sales.
You can see why I’m excited, I want to help you grow your brand and get new clients and this is one of the powerful tactics that would help you do it.
So, with no further ado, let's get into the topics this guide is going to cover and how you can skyrocket your reputation through Google Reviews and get more clients.
Here’s exactly what we’ll cover in this document:
Table of contents
1. 7 Reasons Why Google Reviews are Important.
2. How to Set Up Google Reviews.
3. Hacks for Google Reviews.
4. How to Keep Updated on Your Google Reviews Page.
5. Asking for reviews from past clients.
Summary
Action Steps:
Final Thoughts
You can also access a Google Sheets workbook where you can organize all of the information, and have a CRM and checklist that would help you on your path to getting more reviews, you can access the document here:
Google Docs
Google Reviews - Planning CRM and Checklist
BONUS:
I know sometimes it is hard to come up with the right words to contact people, that’s why I’m sharing with you powerful scripts to contact people through different formats.
These have served me well in the past and I know they would do the same for you. You can access them here:
Google Docs
Powerful Scripts to Ask for Google Reviews
Scripts to Ask for Google Reviews   Here are the scripts to write and speak to new and past clients to ask for Google reviews, these are based on the SOP of how to get Google reviews, the scripts we are going to have are:   1. 	Asking for reviews via SMS or direct text. 2. 	Asking for reviews via...
Keep in mind these are not rigid scripts, you can modify and play with them to meet your tone of voice and the way you communicate.
Now, back to the guide…
In this guide we are going to go over:
Why Google reviews are important.
How to set up Google reviews.
Hacks for Google Reviews.
How to keep updated on your Google reviews page.
Asking for reviews from past clients.
Let's go through each one of these:
1. 7 Reasons Why Google Reviews are Important.
According to Google’s local ranking factors, reviews accounted for 15.44% of how Google ranks a local business.
In 2015, review signals only accounted for 10.8% of ranking factors, whereas now it is at 15.44% and listed as number 13 of the top 50 local ranking factors. It should be clear that both earning positive reviews and responding to both negative and positive reviews can help you rank higher in local searches.
Google reviews not only boost your local ranking but also act as social proof that customers love your service or product. Customers can look for your service on both Google Search and Google Maps and having reviews is impactful to their decision-making. 
1. Your potential customers want to search and find you on Google
Why does your business need Google Reviews? Well, 86% of consumers read reviews when they require a service.
Just Google phrases like, “architects near me” or “local real estate agents” and you’ll see how other businesses rate on Google. In fact, the average local business has about 39 reviews.
2. Google reviews improve your local search ranking
Reviews are one of the biggest Google search engine ranking factors for local businesses.
They’re also an incredibly low-cost digital marketing strategy.
Looking to improve your visibility and ranking in Google?
Then you’re going to need to get more reviews by asking via text message, email, and over the phone.
Google even uses all of your reviews and business information to figure out what your business does. This helps them judge the quality of your products and services.
3. Customers look at your recent Google reviews first.
Just because you have lots of reviews tied to your account, doesn’t mean they’re relevant.
Many customers will look at your most recent reviews first. This is because they recognize that services are variable or sometimes seasonal.
Google also weighs how recent your reviews are as a ranking factor in their local search algorithm. Recent reviews indicate general business activity.
More recent reviews also reassure customers that others are actively using your product or service and finding success.
4. Your business doesn’t need a perfect 5-star rating on Google
Having a few less-than-perfect reviews won’t tank your online reputation. Things happen and sometimes people are entitled to leave reviews that are critical of your business or service.
Bad reviews show that you’re human. But responding gives you a chance to publicly show how empathetic, responsive, and customer-oriented your business is.
When someone leaves a less-than-perfect review, be sure to respond quickly (I’ve got strategies for that below).
It’s also a good move to integrate Google reviews into your customer service process. This gives you a more streamlined way to collect feedback and build your online reputation.
You stand to gain a lot just by appearing empathetic and responsive. Moments like that can go farther than a bunch of perfect 5-star reviews that don’t say much.
5. The number of Google reviews your business has built credibility.
Quality reviews are important. But your quantity of Google reviews is also a ranking factor. It’s something potential customers will consider when evaluating your business.
But keep in mind, the number of Google Reviews you need will vary depending on your business and competitive landscape.
If your competitors have a bunch of reviews, then you’ll want to at least get close to matching them. You can offset this sometimes if your reviews are more honest, truthful, and comprehensive.
6. Customers want to see honest, truthful, comprehensive Google reviews.
Have a lot of long, honest, high-quality reviews? That’s great because the average consumer reads around 10 reviews before trusting a business. Customers can also spot fake Google reviews from a mile away.
So when you ask for Google reviews, ask those who are willing to take the time and be honest.
Short, impersonal reviews don’t really say much to potential customers who are evaluating your business. Sometimes they can even seem fake.
As a best practice, try to give your customers guidance or offer a template. This makes it easier for a customer to leave a review and ensures quality (more on this below).
7. Customers read the tone and sentiment of your existing Google reviews.
The star rating, number of reviews, review length, and recency all matter. But tone and sentiment are important too.
Google doesn’t necessarily use sentiment to rank you in Local Searches and Maps, but customers sure do. This ties back to getting more honest, high-quality reviews.
Potential customers want to see that the people reviewing your business are human. They want to understand how others feel about your business.
2. How to Set Up Google Reviews.
The way to set up Google reviews is by activating Google My Business, the steps to activate it are the following:
Go to the Google My Business profile manager:
https://www.google.com/business/
Log in or create an account.
Make sure this account is the same one you are using for Google Ads and Google Analytics.
Add your business.
Enter your location.
Fill in your contact information.
Verify your business.
Once your business listing is set up on Google My Business, you will be able to do the following:
Your business will start to appear on Google Maps and also start showing for local searches.
Displays important information like business name, business hours, and contact details.
Displays photos of your business.
Allows you to monitor how and when people are searching for your business and how many views your listing gains etc.
Optimize your Google Reviews page:
Mention complete information about your business:
This will decide a potential customer's first impression of your business, so make sure to Include every information possible. 
Add Photos:
Give a visual touch to your listing. Let them know what to expect when they visit your business. 
Increase engagement on your Google My Business listing by updating it regularly:
Just the way updating regularly helps you increase engagement on your social media pages, posting on GMB would also help customers engage with you. Now since GMB isn’t exactly like your social media pages, the type of content you post on GMB would also be different. 
Regularly Update the Question and Answer section:
You want the people who answer questions about your business to know everything about it and give correct and coherent information, so the best thing you can do is to come up with ‘Frequently asked questions’ and answer them yourself. This will ensure that only correct information is passed on to your customers and potential customers. It’s a good thing to include relevant keywords about your business in this section. 
Use relevant keywords:
In your business description make sure that you use relevant keywords. One of the great features of Google My Business is that it lets you see what are the keywords that people are searching for when they look up your business. You can use this knowledge to your advantage and use these keywords in your business description along with the keywords you want to rank for.
Be proactive with reviews:
There are two things to keep in mind when it comes to reviews:
Ask for as many reviews as you can! The number one way to build trust among your customers is to let them know what others think about your business. Make a list of your loyal customers and reach out to them to leave reviews for your business.
Reply to the reviews that you receive. Whether the review is positive or negative, you must reply to them. Replying to the reviews sets up a precedent as to how seriously you take your customer’s opinion.
Many potential customers notice how a business responds to a review, so make sure that how you respond to the reviews is respectful and appropriate.
3. Hacks for Google Reviews.
a. How to reply:
When a potential customer is looking for a service and comes across a new business, he/she will naturally go to reviews left by past customers. What the potential customer will also notice is whether you have also responded to the Google reviews. Always make sure to respond to reviews, irrespective of their nature. 
Here’s how you should respond to positive reviews:
Acknowledge their feedback. Say “thank you”.
Motivate the customer to revisit or repurchase your product or service. 
Make sure that your response is crisp and tight. 
For example:
Here’s how you should respond to negative reviews:
Respond calmly; do not get into an argument with the customer. 
Do not wait for too long. Try to respond within a 24-hour period. 
Leave your contact information so that your team can look into the matter and resolve the customer’s concern. 
For example:
b.How to create a link to review easily:
For this you need to create a Google Place ID, this is like a code that Google uses to identify your business in its database, so basically what this would do is generate a link that you can share in your messages, people can just click it and then you can share it through your messages.
There are two ways to easily do this:
1.Using Google Business profile:
Log into your Google Business account.
https://www.google.com/business/
While you’re on the “Home” page, scroll down and you will see a “Get More Reviews” section.
Copy the provided link and start sharing it with your customers. The link will automatically redirect to your location on Google Maps and will pop up in the reviews box.
2.Using Google Search:
In this method, all you need to do for your Google review link is a quick Google search for your business. When your business’s Google Business listing pops up, hit the “Write a review” button.
Copy the long URL from the address bar at the top of your screen when the review window pops up.
To help make the link shorter and more visually appealing, use a link shortener like bit.ly
c. The Chat buttons.
Google’s click-to-message allows customers to contact businesses through their Google My Business profile. Up to 89% of customers prefer texting if given an option.
By setting up Google click-to-message, potential customers who search for your business through their mobile devices will be able to send you a direct message upon opening your Google My Business profile.
Suffice it to say having a channel of communication just while a customer is searching for a business will make it easier for them to reach out to you. It looks something like this:
 The steps to follow to set this up are: 
Log into your Google My Business page.
Select Messaging in the left menu and add a phone number. 
Verify the code. 
Customers can now search and text your business.
d. Sharing Google Reviews on Your Website.
Simply put: authentic, positive reviews on your website leverage the power of testimonial-based marketing. Letting happy customers make statements about the benefits of your products or services makes it easier for potential customers to trust your company.
Several tools allow you to share Google reviews on your website. For example, Amplify by ReviewTrackers is a great website review widget suite that displays all or a curated set of reviews.
Another thing you can do is look through Elementor and see what other options there are to upload reviews to your website, this would look like this:
You can display Google reviews on your homepage and show your company’s overall rating. You can also create location pages displaying each business location’s reviews. Another option is to create a customer testimonials page, which is a great way to turn website visitors into customers and loyal fans.
4. How to Keep Updated on Your Google Reviews Page.
The way to keep your Google Reviews page up to date is by always asking for new reviews from new clients, this would constantly give you new reviews and keep everything up to date.
The thing that is tricky about Google reviews is that they need to be updated constantly to have the same power and validity in front of Google and from the client’s perspective it's not going to be the same to have 10 reviews from 6 months ago than 10 reviews in the last two weeks, it's just different.
So, there are a couple of ways you can ask for more reviews, but before we dive into that, let's clarify when you should ask for reviews from your clients.
a. When to ask for reviews from your clients:
When customers purchase your product or avail of your services, make sure that you ask for a review on the same day. Since the customer’s experience with you is still afresh, he/she will be more likely to leave a review, so ensure that you don’t delay in asking for a review. 
Your message could be as simple as, “Hey John! Thank you so much for choosing to work with us, it's both an honor and a pleasure. To spread the word, we would love to have your feedback here on Google Reviews. Thank you!
This is the link to make the review, it would take you 2 minutes: Link”
Now, let's go over the channels you can use to ask for reviews:
b. Asking for reviews via SMS or text message.
SMS is a great way to get reviews, it’s direct and quick. These are some scripts you can use:
Hey {{firstName}} it has been a pleasure working with you. Your opinion matters to us greatly, would you mind taking two minutes and leaving a review for us on Google? I’ve made it super easy for you, just follow this link: [LINK]
Hey John! Thank you so much for choosing to work with us, it's both an honor and a pleasure. To spread the word, we would love to have your feedback here on Google Reviews. Thank you!
This is the link to make the review, it would take you two minutes: Link.
Hey {{firstName}}, thank you for your trust and for choosing to work with us, it’s been a pleasure! Could you review your experience with us in Google Reviews?
I’ve made it super easy for you, just follow this link, it’ll take you two minutes: [LINK]
c. Asking for reviews via email.
I think the SMS and direct text asking for a review is going to be more powerful but asking for reviews via email would be a great complement to the strategy of acquiring a new review.
So, you can first ask for the review via text message, and if in two or three days the person hasn’t responded you can also send them an email.
These are some scripts:
Subject line: {{firstName}}, your thoughts?
Hey {{firsName}}, thank you for choosing to work on {{your service}} with us. We hope it has met your expectations. For us, it has been both an honor and a pleasure.
Would you spare a minute to write a review about your experience?
I’ve made it super easy for you, just follow this link, it’ll take you two minutes: [LINK]
Thank you in advance and I look forward to hearing from you.
Cheers,
Signature
Subject line: {{firstName}}, your thoughts of {{Name or companyName}}
Hey {{firstName}},
Having worked with you means the world to us, and we’d love to learn more about your experience with {{Service}}.
Would you leave us a quick Google Review?
I’ve made it super easy for you, just follow this link, it’ll take you two minutes: [LINK]
Thank you for your honest thoughts, it would help us deliver better experiences to you.
Best regards,
Signature.
d. Ask for a review in person.
This is one of the easiest ways to get a review because you have your client in front of you, you can ask him right away to leave you a review and you can also show him how to do it.
The steps would be the following:
You are on the delivery date or the date when you are closing the business, and you say:
Thank you very much for working with us, it’s been an honor and a pleasure. We always strive to give the best {{service you offer}}.
Client says: sure thing.
Then you ask: You know, good experiences like this one help other customers decide to work with us. If it’s not too much trouble, would you mind leaving us a quick review detailing your experience with us? - It would only take like two minutes.
Client says: yeah, no problem.
Then you send the link to their phone and explain how they can open it.
5. Asking for reviews from past clients.
This one is always tricky as people have already maybe forgotten about your services or what you made for them, also, since you are not working with them, they have no reason to take the time to write the reviews, this is why is critical to get reviews when the client is the happiest, this is usually after you finished providing the service for them.
Regardless of that, we are still going to try to get these reviews because we already have made a lot of effort to get those clients in the past and this is definitely worth trying if it increases new client flow.
The steps to ask for them are the following:
Asking for a review via SMS or direct message, if that doesn’t work:
Wait two weeks, then ask for a review through email.
If that doesn’t work, follow up with them via direct message one month later.
If that doesn’t work, follow up with them via email one month later.
The emails and texts would look something like this:
Option 1 and 2 for the first SMS:
Hey {{firstName}}, it’s been a long time and I wanted to thank you so much for choosing to work with us for {{your service}}.
Right now, we are trying to spread the word, we would love to have your feedback here on Google Reviews.
I’ve made it super easy for you, it would take you two minutes at this link: Link.
Thank you!
Hey {{firstName}} the {{Personalized line about something you would talk with them about}}.
By the way, we are trying to spread the word, we would love to have your feedback here on Google Reviews.
I’ve made it super easy for you, it would take you two minutes at this link: Link.
Thank you!
2. Option 1 and 2 for first email:
Subject line: {{firstName}}, your thoughts?
Hey {{firstName}}, it’s been a long time and I wanted to thank you so much for choosing to work with us for {{your service}}.
Right now, we are trying to spread the word, we would love to have your feedback here on Google Reviews.
I’ve made it super easy for you, it would take you two minutes at this link: Link.
Thank you!
Subject line: {{firstName}}, your thoughts about {yourName or companyName}}
Hey {{firstName}} the {{Personalized line about something you would talk with them about}}.
By the way, we are trying to spread the word, we would love to have your feedback here on Google Reviews.
I’ve made it super easy for you, it would take you two minutes at this link: Link.
Thank you!
3. Second SMS:
Hey {{firstName}} how are you today?
Wanted to ask you if it was possible to make the review?
Thank you very much for your honest opinion also if you have any questions about this let me know, I am super attentive to your thoughts.
4.Second email:
Subject line: it should be over the other thread.
Hey {{firstName}}, hope you are doing great today!
Reaching out to see if you were able to check the link, I sent you for the review.
It would mean the world to us to have your opinion.
Also, let me know if you have any questions, I am very attentive to your thoughts.
Thank you and happy {{day}},
Signature.
At this point, if the person has not replied just leave it at that, probably they are not going to make the review and if you keep pushing them, they may get pissed off and write a bad review, which is something we don’t want.
But, if the work you have done for these people is exceptional, they are going to gladly give you a review.
Also, try that the person who is contacting the past client is the same person who is reaching out to them if it’s a new person it is much more likely that they would not reply.
Summary
We have gone over the ways to get your Google Reviews system up and running, this is going to massively help you position your business in the local market, and it is also going to help get more trust and acquire new clients because when people look for your business, they are going to find good things about it. It would stimulate referrals because you would be contacting people for this and also whenever a referral looks at the reviews is going to be much more confident of working with you.
Action Steps:
Go into the Google sheet workbook and fill up the setup checklist to know for sure you have completed all of the steps to have your Google reviews page optimized and running.
Use the CRM sheets to keep track both of past clients and of new clients you are contacting, this is key to being organized in the way you communicate with clients and be effective with it.
Use the scripts to contact new clients and past clients to ask for reviews, keep in mind these are not rigid scripts, you can modify them to sound more like you and to communicate with people in a way you feel more comfortable.
Powerful Scripts to Ask for Google Reviews
Final Thoughts
I am positive after implementing this and having 20+ Google reviews you are going to see how you earn a lot more goodwill and how you get new clients and more calls coming in every month. 
If you’d like us to help you with this, let me know, this is one of the steps our agency would do for you.
We would help you boost your sales and brand awareness; our program encompasses:
A long-format video creation system, monthly social media posting calendar, and an ongoing Google Reviews System.
On top of that, instead of spending 20+h/week on this, you would only have to invest 1-2.
Here’s the exact process you would go through:
Step 1: Strategy and ideation.
We would run a deep market research to know everything about you and your company and also understand the current market dynamics.
Step 2: Create your Sales and Growth System:
In this phase we will create our most powerful systems to increase your sales:
Create for you a content Strategy and Organic Marketing Funnel:
Plan a strategy for your social media.
Set up your content creation system – everything you need.
Implementation of the 10-step process to create content all year round.
Selection of powerful topics and video scripts made for you.
Creation of four powerful long-format videos for your socials.
Video edition for you.
Creation of content for all of your social media channels: Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Twitter, and Blog posts.
Content scheduler to keep track of all the posts.
Step 3: Done with your execution.
Weekly or Bi Weekly 1-on-1 meetings and strategy sessions to execute the plan perfectly.
Task time calculator: Know how much time every activity would require and organize your agenda.
Dedicated sales rep who would work your leads for you, with weekly feedback on your lead progress.
Outcomes:
1.000.000 views in 90 days.
15 - 30 new qualified prospects every month.
Increase your sales and grow your business.
Create an ongoing referral acquisition system that would work for you for life.
Show your content to new and past clients across all platforms: WhatsApp, SMS, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube…
Nurture your leads and have a powerful sales process.
Boost the performance of ALL of your marketing efforts (ads, cold email, Twitter, LinkedIn, newsletter, etc.)
Become the go-to in your niche.
Win ALL of the business.
Get prospects to show up to sales calls pre-sold.
So, I’d be happy to fill you in on more details, explain everything further, and show you all the bonuses we have for you.
If you want to know more, book a call here:
Calendly form to book a call.
Hope to see you there, that is all for now and we will speak soon.
To Your Success,
Matt L.
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