People online these days are very savvy and before they use a companies products or services they will check out the online reviews. A high quality Google review can and does have a positive influence on a shopper’s decision to purchase from a company. In addition, those same reviews can help propel a company’s search rankings up the list.
How can you provide a great business with a quality review?
It is fairly simple to provide a business you like with a good quality Google review but there can be a variety of steps to find the business depending on the type of business you want to review. I’ve incorporated that variation into the steps below. Just follow the steps and you will be on your way to sharing your opinion about all the companies you like to do business with.
Step 1: Find the business on Google
I like to start off by doing a Google search for the company that I want to do a review for. When you do that search, many times you will see a Google Map box to the right of the search results with that company’s name and logo in it (pictured to the right). That box contains a “Write a Review” button that you can click to leave a review.
Variation – Some businesses have multiple branches/locations in an area and when you do a search for that business you may be shown a list of branches rather than just one company in the Google Map box (see graphic below). If you see the branch you are looking for in the list just click the name of that branch and it will take you to a Google Map box for just that branch and you will see the “Write a Review” button again.
If you don’t see the branch you are looking for in the list, there is a link at the bottom of the Google Map box that says, “More places”. Just click that link to be taken to a full list of branches in the area. Find the branch you are looking for and click the name to be taken to Google Map box for just that branch and you can click the “Write a Review” button.
•• Important ••
If a business doesn’t have a location or isn’t listed in Google’s Map system you won’t be able to leave them a Google review.
If you are a business owner and are not listed in the Google Maps system you can register your location at Google My Business. You must have a physical location to register your business and it can be your home.
Step 2: Login to your Google account
When you click the “Write a Review” button you will be prompted to login or create a Google account, unless you are already logged in (see graphic to the left). If you have a Google account just login using the prompts as seen. If you don’t have a Google account then you would need to click the link near the bottom of the window that says, “Create account”. That link will take you to another screen where you will have to fill out information to create the new account before leaving a review.
Step 3: Leave a review and be specific
Once logged in you will be able to leave a review. There are two parts to the review. The first part is the star rating between one and five stars. One star represents “Hated it” to the five stars that represents “Loved it”. Just click the star that represents your experience.
After that you can write about your experience. Remember to be specific because that will be more influential than just sharing generalities.
Final Thoughts
Feel free to reference this article if you are trying to help lead your customers to give you Google reviews.
Do you have another website where you like to read and/or give reviews? Let us know where those great resources are!
