Google Reviews For Business: Your Ultimate Guide

Is your business listed on Google Business Listing? If yes, you’ve passed the first stage, if no, why? We’ll let you know the ‘how and why,’ of a Google Business Account.

Marketing the business right could be one game-changing point in the entire journey, and here’s when Google reviews become such a critical component. 

Some significant conclusions of data say that 89% of potential customers prefer visiting the web portal and reading online reviews.

Amazon is the largest commodity-selling platform, yet, 59% of customers prefer reaching out to Google for a positive review, and 57% of the customers go to Amazon to check the reviews. That sums up the large market of Google reviews and its rising value amongst general potential customers. 

So, how well are you using Google to expand your brands and get customers on board? If you have been using your Google Business profiles, we will amplify ways to rightly take advantage of the platform’s advantage, and if not, we’ll tell you how to do it most constructively, everything is in this guide.

Let’s dive in!

What is Google My Business and Why You Need To Be There?

We again ask you ‘Do you have a Google My Business account? If yes, you have completed the first step, and if not, here’s what it is and what you need to do to create one for your business!

Google My Business account is the official handle of your company in Google. There are options to integrate Google My Business profile with Google Maps that will show customers the way to your store.

Further, a Google My Business account has all the necessary details about your business for a potential buyer to understand your offerings and ways to reach out to you!

Coming from Google is their listing service that helps people search for products, services, and businesses on the platform. Google’s powerful footprint and prowess have overtaken all the traditional listings across the internet and consumer electrical gadgets.

The most advantageous feature is the fact that it’s Google’s free service, but extremely useful in attracting more customers through the brand's visibility gain.

Besides the company name and location of the business, the Google account releases all the business information like business hours, images, both positive and negative reviews, to a lot more.

Some of the listings on a Google Business Account include:

• Business search information: Google Voice and Google Maps

• Free and Rich Marketing for Businesses

• Time Creation: Special Limited Offers

• Appointment Booking

• Messaging

• Posts 

In the context of why you need to have a Google My Business Account as a small business owner, think of why you should not have it. There’s no cost added to getting your business listed on Google search.

Further, Google is the most widely used search engine platform and also the most trusted one! Data has proven that customers trust Google search results with quality service from businesses and brands.

So, you have all the main reasons for getting it for your business.

Positive reviews and, most importantly, the quantity of Google reviews help the Google business profile account rank on the local search engine page. Results have shown that brands with more than 50 reviews (positive + negative reviews) have a 4.6% higher conversion rate. 

So, if you have a humongous customer experience listed on Google with five-star ratings or even a decent overall rating, Google will show your results on top!

For example, if you are a textile brand owner with bulk reviews and good ratings, Google will show your business on top when any local customer searches for the ‘best textile shop near me.’ It goes with similar keywords that describe your brand. 

This part of the write-up is for small business owners! When it comes to trusting big brands that have a set offline as well as online reputation in the market, customers would hardly try to find verifications. 

However, as a rising business, customers need proof of quality that is the most sought-after. A brand like Zara would not need a positive Google review as much as a growing textile brand, because the brand visibility concerns are different for each of them.

The bigger brands are visible enough and also hyped to believe in the quality which is not the case with growing local businesses. 

Good things take time and some wise steps to make it to the destination!

How to Set Up Google My Business Account: Step-by-Step Guide

Do you have your business listing complete on Google? Don’t know? We’ll guide you through that. Also, if you do not know how to set up a Google My Business account, this section is the most important for you to read!

But, wait, what are the things you need to set up a Google My Business account? Is there a set Template? Let’s find out!

It’s easy and available! You would be requiring a Google account where you can sign up for free using a Gmail account or G-suite if you have one! Next, you would be required to have your address and a mailing box to mandatorily complete the verification process.

Wait! Have you checked if your page is claimed or not?

It might be a case that your former employees must have dealt with customers before, and due to that Google might not have a GMB page for you!

In such cases, you should not be reposting a duplicate page, as it creates a negative experience on local SEO and might turn out to be counterproductive.

To find if your business is listed on Google, follow the following steps:

• Search with Your business name

• Search with your business name and address

• Search with phone number

• Search with phone number with business name

To register your business on Google, perform the following steps:

• Assuming that you’ve already signed in to your Google account, visit the business page using this link: https://www.google.com/business/

• It’s time to add the name of your business for which you need to click on the ‘Add your business to Google at the bottom and move to the next page

• Now, Google will ask for your business name where you only need to write the name of the business and nothing else. It is something like the image given below:

• Next, choose a category for your business, for example, a hair salon

• Now, you would have to enter physical or virtual business locations for the customers to visit

• In the next stage, add the business’s address which is later used for verification

• Further, add the additional service area

• Now add your business contact details

• Keep following the set algorithm as the process flows

• Get the verification done and it’s ready to publish

Google Review Guide for Specific Niche Businesses

Now that you know how to set up a Google business account, it’s time to talk about Google reviews!

While you must have understood the value of Experts Google reviews and the marketing strength it provides to local and small businesses, we have something more specific to offer in this blog.

Let’s look at the Google review policy and guide for some precise niche businesses to understand how the cycle works for every type!

Here we go!

1. Guide for Doctors

If you are starting a clinic, or want to brand your specialization to start serving outside the hospital, here’s the review guide you must follow to manage Google reviews for your online presence:

• Claim your All Review website profile by searching your name or clinic’s name on Google and also Bing. Check for websites you are not claimed in and then get yourself registered there

• Add your professional picture as patients might have seen you in health centers but are unaware of the name

• Add appreciations, awards, certifications, and other such achievements

• Claim for more reviews from off-site profiles”. An example of an apt review is given below:

“I witnessed a spinal cord trauma and required personalized physical therapy. Dr. Xyz assisted me well through the process and stood strong without giving up. I am glad to say that I’m recovering.” 

2. Guide for Hotels

If you have just started a hotel or have been there for a while and want to promote it through your Google account and reviews section, here’s how you should proceed:

• Since the charisma of the amenities attracts visitors for hotel booking, you must go to the account and specifically talk about it.

• Highlight how well you’ve been incorporating sustainability into the hotel's functioning

• Add quality and attractive pictures, especially with the view of the open spaces

• Provide the hour guide in detail

• All the businesses being executed inside your hotel separately should be kept separate from their profile

• Let all the above-given attributes be highlighted in the review section. An example of a good customer review for hotels is given below:

“ We booked the room in Xyz hotel and everything was quite easy. What we loved was the hospitality management, but the best part was the luxurious view you get from the room’s balcony. If you are visiting the city, this hotel is highly recommended.”

3. Guide for Textile Shops

If you’re a textile shop owner looking to take Google business marketing seriously, here’s what you need to follow:

• Ensure that your business contact details, opening hours, and address are mentioned because people will likely visit the shop.

• Link the address with the Google Maps app to make it easier for customer feedback to find their way

• Add pictures so that people can identify the shop

• Make the reviews more concerned about versatility and affordability. Below is an example:

“Found the shop on Google and decided to visit because it was nearby, and now I’ve become a regular customer. Loved the variety they present at such an affordable price range.”

4. Guide for Beauty Salons

When modifying the Google Business profile of beauty salons, here’s the list of things that should be precisely focused on:

• Get a salon website built and link it with your Google account so that customers get a quick run through the services

• If there’s any expert associated with the Salon, highlight that

• Add pictures of the ambiance, customers, and more

• Get reviews in bulk to show that it’s most visited!

• A good salon review should look like the following:

“I went to get a hair spa and ended up getting the nails done too. It’s so pleasant, vibrant, and relaxing. The best part is that they always have discounts going on and everything is pretty budget-friendly.”

Tip:

Beauty Salons work extremely well on social media channels too! Also, help customers how to leave a review through social media.

Conclusion 

This was a brief Google business guide to help you understand the basics and why Google reviews matter so that you can start your journey in Google marketing. While creating a GMB account is easy, getting a certain number of reviews might be challenging.

Get your service brushed and encourage happy customers to write testimonials for your brand. You can also take the help of paid reviews from trusted review sites that offer customized write-ups in bulk.

This will help accelerate the process before SEO shows up! However, it is important to beware of fake reviews as it might lead to a pop-up of unwanted situations.

FAQs

1. What is the impact of Google business reviews on SEO?

Google reviews help with search engine optimization to enhance search rankings on the business page to a good extent. However, the SEO process is an organic method and thus time-consuming. But, with consistency, the results will show in time.

2. Does it cost to register the business on Google?

No, creating a Google My Business account is free of cost. All you need is a Gmail or G-suite account and can easily create an account in a few steps.

3. How to get reviews on the GMB account?

There are two ways to get a review response on a GMB (Google My Business) account. One is through organic methods by initiating review requests from customers by sending Google review links through calls, SMS, requests, emails, sending Google review links, and others.

The other way is to buy new reviews from a few trusted sites that offer non-drop real and organic reviews from active accounts.