Videos and how to guide to request Google reviews

Why are Google+ reviews important?

When someone looks for you online, you want to stand out from the competition and illustrate the awesomeness of your business. Research says that 85% of consumers look at online reviews before making a purchase. In addition, when you have five or more Google Reviews for your business, they show up in search results.

For example, if you Google Hunch Manifest, you will see our star rating in our Google My business on the right hand side and under our company name. Below are some guidelines you can follow to help you increase your online reviews.

whyreviewsmatter

Step 1: Create a repeatable process for requesting Google+ reviews

Build a process where you are asking your clients to go to your Google+ page and providing reviews. Two strategies for this – email follow-up, postcard that you send saying thank you and asking for a review. While it is good to get reviews on other platforms such as Facebook, we highly recommend you try and get them on Google first because of the SEO impact.

Reviews on Google require the user to have a Google username and password. Because of this, we encourage you to give them options on where they can leave a review. Ask them to provide you a Google review (biggest impact), Facebook, or Yellow Pages. Email templates are available here.

Review strategies. Think of the moments in your business cycle where it is appropriate to ask for a review. This is usually a milestone in your sales or delivery process. If you are a realtor it may be when the house sale closes. If you are an online business, it may be after the product has shipped. If you are consultant, it may be after your final deliverable.

Step 2: Implement a 3 step approach

Ask in person. This is the best way to get verbal confirmation and also gauge how tech savvy they are. Based on your sense on their ability to leave a review, you can follow up with an email, in office guidance, or written instructions.
Send a personal email (ideally with video) to request a review. Include 3+ sites that your clients can choose from to provide a review. Include short step by step instructions for each. Three sites we often refer to are: Google+, Facebook and Yellow Pages. When sending your Google+ link, use your about page. You can also provide them Videos to guide them on their way.
Printed instructions. Writing reviews can be confusing. It is helpful to provide printed instructions (or on your website) on how to leave a review. The papers also serve as a friendly reminder to provide the review. This shows that the steps are not too cumbersome and may increase their willingness to do it.

You will need to remind your customers to provide you a review. You may only get 5% of the people you ask to provide a review. That is ok. Just keep on asking. You will likely get asked questions on how to do it and may need to provide some hand holding.