Google reviews show how your customers perceive your business. These reviews help potential customers decide whether they should purchase from your brand or not. Imagine that someone is looking for an amazing food joint near their location. What will they do at first? Most people will explore nearby restaurants on Google and then check Google reviews to have a better understanding of each restaurant’s services. Thus, businesses of any size must prioritize developing Google review management strategies.
Before investing in any product or service, nowadays, people highly rely on Google reviews to make their purchase decisions. If a business lacks a robust plan to manage its Google reviews, it may lose meaningful business opportunities as well.
Did you know that companies with systematic management of Google reviews are more likely to witness an average of a 25% increase in revenue within 6 months?
However, managing Google reviews is a difficult process. You must develop and implement effective strategies for it.
Here in this blog, you’ll get to know about the proven strategies of managing Google reviews for your business. Furthermore, we will also discuss why it’s important and how you can leverage the benefits to ensure your brand’s success.
What Is Google Review Management?
This process involves monitoring, gathering, and responding to customer reviews that a brand receives through its Google Business Profile (GBP). Effective management of Google reviews builds trust in potential customers and improves a brand’s online reputation. It’s also a crucial part of Google’s reputation management strategies for businesses.
What does it require? All it needs is a strategic approach to leverage Google reviews and improve your offerings using the insights gained through those reviews. The effective management of reviews on Google enhances your brand’s local search visibility and influences local customers to purchase from your brand.
From encouraging existing customers to share their genuine reviews on Google to addressing both positive and negative customer sentiment, the process covers it all.
Practices it involves: The process of managing Google reviews requires you to prioritize certain practices, including –
- Review collection on Google Business Profile
- Prompt and impactful response to Google reviews
- Customer feedback monitoring and analysis
- Online reputation management
- Leveraging valuable insights
4 Key Benefits You Can Leverage with Effective Google Review Management
Managing customer reviews on Google is crucial for every business, no matter whether it’s a small start-up or a large enterprise with thousands of employees.
How your customers perceive your business and its offerings is important for measuring business growth and revenue success. We know that your brand receives customer feedback through various online channels, but the reviews you get on Google play a major role.
Why? As a widely used search engine, Google is a go-to destination for every consumer to search for brands, products, and services online. They prefer to learn about the buying experience of other customers through their reviews on Google before purchasing a product/service themselves. Additionally, Google reviews are often the first thing your potential customers see after googling your brand’s name.
A True Fact! Google reviews are no longer social proof for businesses. They have emerged as one of the major search engine ranking factors that directly impact your customer acquisition and retention.
Google reviews appear in a brand’s Google Business Profile, Google Maps, and Google Search. People can find them next to your brand’s name and business listings.
Now you can imagine why effective management of Google reviews matters for your business’s online reputation. Here are the four major benefits you can achieve through Google review management.
- Increased Customer Trust and Credibility
The process of managing Google reviews requires brands to encourage more feedback from their satisfied customers. And, this increases the likelihood of receiving positive reviews!
It’s a huge trust factor for your potential customers. According to a 2022 report by ReviewTrackers, 63.6% of consumers tend to check Google reviews through Google Maps and Search before visiting a business’s location.
How does it work? Seeing the positive reviews on your GBP profile, potential customers are more likely to gain a higher level of faith in your business. And this trust will translate into more business opportunities. Similarly, responding to every review you receive on Google helps you build your brand credibility and show how much you value your customers’ opinions.
- Improved Local SEO Rankings
Do you know that the management of Google reviews can improve your business’s local SEO rankings?
Yes, you heard that right! It will determine how high your business ranks in Google search. Effective management of Google reviews encourages positive customer feedback that boosts your brand’s SEO. It signals to Google that your brand is reliable and credible, as it offers exceptional products and services to its customers.
How? Click-through rates will increase with more reviews on your GBP profile, while significantly improving your brand’s ranking for relevant local Google search queries. Here’s how it impacts your brand’s local SEO rankings:
- New review, new content: Every new Google review you generate through effective management adds keyword-rich content to your GBP profile – a great local SEO ranking factor!
- Engagement works: Do you promptly respond to every Google review your brand receives? If yes, it’ll show Google that your business is active and relevant.
- Local authority: High Google review volume signals to the Google algorithm about your brand’s popularity among your local customers.
- More Customer Engagement and Sales
When you receive a review on Google, it’s your responsibility to respond to it swiftly. How you respond to your Google reviews is a huge part of the strategic management of Google reviews. Online reviews initiate a two-way conversation between your brand and customers. And it results in better customer engagement.
This results in another crucial thing as well! When your potential customers see you sending prompt responses to every review you receive through Google, they will gain more confidence in your business.
So, effective management of Google reviews drives more positive customer feedback, which leads to increased sales and revenue!
Fact-check: Businesses with an average star rating of 4 stars or higher are more likely to generate 32% more revenue than those with lower ratings.
- Better Online Brand Visibility
Strategic management of Google reviews establishes a strong digital presence for your brand in Google. Have you ever thought that Google reviews are actually working 24/7 for your business to attract new customers?
When your customers review your business on Google, it increases your brand’s visibility in Google search results. Similarly, when people talk positively about your business on Google, this also improves your brand’s online visibility. More customer engagement results in higher conversion, which makes your business more likely to be found in local search results.
The prompt response to your customer reviews on Google improves engagement and enhances your brand’s online visibility.
How to Set Up and Optimize Your Google Business Profile for Reviews?
Do you have a well-optimized GBP profile for your business?
If not, you’re missing meaningful opportunities to drive new customer reviews through Google and acquire new customers. A Google Business Profile is a must-have for any business, especially to boost your brand visibility online and help prospective customers find you.
Want to transform your GBP profile into a review-generating hub? Seek professional online review management services to leverage expert guidance!
Here’s a step-by-step guide to setting up and optimizing a GBP profile to drive customer reviews.
Step 1: Create and Verify Your GBP Profile
It’s an easy process! The first step of effective Google review management is to create a Google Business Profile (GBP). Sign in to the Google Business Profile Manager business.google.com/en-all/business-profile/ with your Google account and navigate to the ‘Add your business’ button.
Note: Always sign in with the Google account that you use for business purposes. Opening a GBP profile with your personal Google account will not be relevant!
Now it’s time to follow the steps below.
- Enter your business name and category in the space that appears under the tab ‘Add your business’.
- Choose a primary category that suits your business. After all, it will impact your business SEO!
- Incorporate the details about the physical location of your store (if any) and ensure that these details are accurate. If you don’t have an offline store, you can list the area names where you offer your services.
- Now, Google will verify your brand identity through your email ID or phone number. Once you verify your business, it will prove that you’re its rightful owner.
- Now your business will appear on Google Maps, and you can seamlessly manage your business profile on Google.
Step 2: Provide Accurate Business Information
Now that your GBP profile verification is complete, you need to optimize your profile. Every single detail about your business must be added to your GBP profile – every detail that your potential customers may need to contact your business.
The following are certain details you need to add to your Google Business Profile.
- The NAP details: Start by entering the NAP details of your business, such as name (N), address (A), and phone number (P). These three details are the most searched information about a business by its potential customers.
- Business hours: Ensure that you add precise business hours for your company. Do you have any special hours for seasonal holidays? If yes, don’t forget to mention that.
- Website URL: Do you have an official website for your brand? Enter the website URL for those who want to learn more about your business before making a purchase decision. Through the URL, your potential customers can easily visit your website and learn more about what you offer.
- Special attributes or USPs of your business/store: Many businesses offer special facilities for their customers. Some brands provide facilities like ‘wheelchair accessibility’, ‘outdoor sitting arrangements’, or ‘free wi-fi’ in their offline store.
If you offer any facility like these, you must mention them as special and applicable attributes in your GBP profile. These attributes will showcase what makes your business unique from other brands available in the market.
Step 3: Attach Photos and Google Posts to Your GBP Account
Irrelevant photos or no photos can lead to your potential customers not trusting your brand and considering your market competitors over you.
Photos of your brand or offline store make your business more relevant to your customers! It’s like your brand identity. Apart from this, visual content like high-quality photos makes your GBP profile more engaging.
Do you know that businesses with photos in their GBP profiles are more likely to receive 42% more requests from directions on Google Maps and a 35% higher click-through rate to their website?
What photos can you add to your GBP profile?
You can add photos of –
- The interior and exterior of your offline store help customers recognize your business from the outside and offer a feel of your store’s ambience
- Products you offer
- Customer present in your store
- Logo and cover photo of your brand
- How does your store function during business hours
- Your team members and staff
- Common areas of your store, such as reception, customer waiting rooms, amenities, and more
Another crucial element you must add to your GBP profile, apart from photos, is Google posts. These allow you to share important updates about your business, including special offers you provide, events you’ve organized at your store, or any other notice (e.g., the days your store will be closed).
Google Business Profile offers a special feature – Google Posts, which you can regularly use to keep your profile active and offer your customers more reasons to engage with you.
Fact: Do you know that you can even add short videos related to your business in your GBP profile? Yes, you can add a tour of your business location or give a brief introduction of your team through videos. However, you should always keep the videos short and welcoming to create the maximum impact.
Step 4: Set Up Your Google Review Request Page
For impactful Google review management, you need to create a separate Google Review Request Page for your business. Without this page, you’ll not be able to encourage customer reviews for your GBP profile.
Follow the steps below –
Click on your GBP profile > select the ‘Ask for reviews’ or ‘Get more reviews’ button to generate a unique review link for your customers > copy the link from the pop-up window
Where to share this link? Now the link is ready to be shared through post-purchase emails, text messages, and social media posts to influence your customers to click on the link and share their reviews about your business. You can even print that link or QR codes on your promotional materials, such as flyers, product packaging, leaflets, in-store posters, and purchase receipts.
Step 5: Filter and Moderate Reviews
Another interesting feature GBP provides is the Moderation Filters Module – it allows you to sort and filter reviews that you receive on Google.
Received negative or spam reviews on your GBP profile? It’s okay! You can flag those Google reviews through this Moderation Filters Module.
Reviews that convey profanity, low ratings, inappropriate language, or hate speech can be reported and filtered through this specific feature. When you remove reviews that violate Google’s content policy, it helps you keep your review section clean and safeguard your brand’s online image.
Let’s know how you can do this!
- Flagging your reviews: You can flag fake or spam reviews by selecting the ‘Flag as inappropriate’ option. However, Google will ask you to select and write a reason in the GBP dashboard.
- Use third-party tools: You can use third-party platforms and integrate them with your Google reviews. To ensure more sophisticated listings, you can use these tools to:
- Redirect low-star reviews to a private dashboard to address those reviews before they publicly appear on your GBP profile
- Filter (hide or show) reviews containing specific keywords
- Filter Google reviews above a specific star rating
Step 6: Tag and Categorize Your Customer Feedback
Another feature you can use to leverage your GBP profile is the Tag List Module.
This feature can be used to label Google reviews by specific categories, such as the cost of your products or services, the behavior of your team members, the delay in product delivery, customer support, and more. You can add tags related to these categories, including ‘staff’, ‘support’, ‘pricing’, or ‘delay’.
So how does it help?
Right utilization of this feature helps you group Google reviews. When you analyze your Google reviews, grouping those reviews based on different tags will make the process faster and help you easily find issues.
How to Drive More Google Reviews for Your Business?
Every single Google review counts!
Every single star rating and review on your Google Business Profile leaves an impact on your business’s reputation. The calculation is like this: the more reviews you get on Google, the more it enhances your brand’s online reputation.
There are some of the best methods to encourage more customer reviews on Google. Here’s how you can drive new Google reviews.
- Start Asking for Reviews in the Right Way
The time when you ask your customers to share reviews and how you’re requesting reviews play major roles here. Wondering what’s the best time to ask for reviews?
The answer is – after a positive interaction or purchase experience. Appropriate time and manners are crucial here! Let’s check out how you can ask for customer reviews in the right way.
- Ask politely – You must train your staff to politely request your customers for their genuine purchase experience with your brand on Google. Don’t forget to educate your team members on why a polite and non-pressurizing review request matters to ensure the likelihood of receiving a real customer review.
- Keep the request simple – Your review request message must be simple and straightforward.
- Don’t offer incentives – A review earned by offering incentives is not considered genuine customer feedback. Because, in such instances, a customer is often pressured to share positive reviews in exchange for some gifts, goodies, coupons, or discounts. It also violates Google’s content policy.
Sample Example for Google Review Requests
“We would really appreciate it if you could leave a Google review about your overall experience with us. Don’t hesitate to highlight how we can improve our customer service. Thank you!”
Note: You can personalize this request by adding the recipient’s name and some details about their purchase.
- Provide Your Customer Access to Review Submission Links
Without providing the review submission links to your customers, they will not be able to share their feedback. It’s all about making the process of review submission easier for customers.
For effective Google review management, you need to ensure that making the review submission is simple for your customers. All of your customers may not be tech-savvy! So they’re more likely to need proper guidelines regarding how they can share reviews on Google.
- Provide review links – You must provide your review links and instructions. For this, you need to create a short, yet memorable URL for your Google review page. An online link shortener tool or app can help you in this!
- Display links – We suggest you showcase this link across your website, receipts, email signatures, leaflets, and in-store posters.
- Create QR codes – Nowadays, QR codes are more easily accessible for people with the rapid usage of online scanners and digital payment apps. Thus, you can create a QR code of your Google review page that can be displayed in-store, shared through business cards, and purchase packaging.
- Offer Google Map link – You can also provide the link to your Google Map location, especially if you have a physical store. Your customers will easily access your Google review page with their smartphones. This will also help you drive reviews on your Google Maps profile.
- Leverage Email and In-store Requests
Here are some ways you can send Google review requests to your customers.
- Emails – It’s crucial to send your review requests to your customers through email after their purchase. You can send follow-up emails as well if there’s no response from the recipient’s end. Add a friendly request for sharing a Google review and a direct link to your Google review page.
- Text Messages – You can also send text messages to send review requests, especially if you have the phone numbers of your satisfied customers. Keep your text message brief and don’t forget to include the review link in the message.
- In-store Requests – Do you have a physical store? If yes, then it’s best to train your staff to personally ask for their reviews. Trust us, this technique works best for collecting reviews just after their purchases.
If you lack team members to request reviews on your behalf, then why not place review request links and QR codes in visible areas in your store? You can also add review reminders to receipts and invoices.
- Launch Your Google Review Generation Campaigns
A well-organized campaign can actually change your Google review generation game.But this is where most business owners fail! Most of them wait for their customers to share reviews instead of systematically generating them. If you’re wondering how you can launch and ensure the success of a Google review generation campaign, here’s a 3-Touch Review Request System for you.
The 3-Touch Google Review Request System:
Touch 1: You need to send the following message to your customers immediately after their purchase from your business.
“If you’re satisfied with your purchase experience with (your brand name) today, would you mind sharing your feedback through a quick Google review? Here’s the link (short URL of your Google review page).
Touch 2: The following message brands can email to their customers 24-48 hours after you sent your first review request. You must add a direct link to your Google review page with this email.
“We hope this email finds you well. We’re following up with our previous message from (date of your message) regarding a Google review for (product/service the customer has purchased). We’d love to hear about your recent purchase experience with (your brand name). Your feedback will help us improve our products and services for our customers.”
Touch 3: You can send this message to your customer a week after you sent the above email.
“Hi (customer name), we hope that you’re enjoying your (products/services the customer has purchased)! If you have 30 seconds, we’d love to hear your feedback through a quick Google review. Here’s the link (short URL of your Google review page).”
Pro tip for you! You should never overwhelm your customers with too many review requests. You must send these requests at regular intervals without pressuring the customers. Additionally, you should only ask for reviews from customers who show satisfaction after their purchase.
To ensure this, you can ask about their experience first. If the customer experience is positive, then you can request the review.
- Turn Google Reviews into Marketing Assets
Now that you’ve collected Google reviews from your customers, it’s time to transform those into your online marketing assets. This step is an inevitable part of effective Google Review Management strategies.
Positive customer testimonials can build trust and confidence in your consumers who’ve a genuine interest in your offerings but want to know about the experiences of other customers first. When you promote these positive reviews through your website, social media posts, or email newsletters, those reviews receive a wide audience reach.
For example, a consumer who wants to seek a specific service from your brand visits your website. After seeing the positive Google reviews on your website, the consumer feels confident in your offerings. In such cases, this visitor is more likely to convert into a buyer.
Follow the steps below to effectively utilize your great Google reviews as promotional material on your website.
- Find a third-party provider: Google Business Profile doesn’t offer an embedded ‘widget section’ to add to your own website. But you can search for ‘Google Business Profile Widget’ in Google. You can use platforms like SociableKIT, Emplifi Documentation Center, or other services that offer this facility.
- Sign up: Now you need to create an account with your selected provider and personalize the appearance of the widget and its content.
- Pick a display type: You can choose a display type to showcase your Google reviews on your website and other platforms – carousel, floating popup, or review wall.
- Copy the embed code: The provider will generate an embed code for your widget. You need to copy the code for further utilization.
- Paste the code: Sign up for your website’s admin panel. You can create a separate page to promote Google reviews or edit a page by adding those reviews. Paste the code in the page where you want the widget to appear.
- Save your edits: Now you can save the page and publish it to see the Google Business Profile widget on your own website.
Apart from your website, you can promote your Google reviews through –
- Email signatures
- Email newsletters
- Sales presentations
- Social media posts
- Pay-per-click ads
Note: Before showcasing those reviews through the above-mentioned marketing elements, you must take permission from the reviewers (your customers). Without their permission, you cannot use their feedback for promotional purposes.
- Automate Your Google Review Requests
One of the most impactful ways to drive more Google reviews from your satisfied customers is to automate your Google review requests.
To ensure the success of Google review automation, you must follow these steps.
Log in to your GBP profile > explore the Google review automation tool and select one that suits your requirements and budget > follow the tool’s prompts to link your GBP account with the automation tool > grant necessary permissions
To set up your automated Google review requests:
- Make customizations: Create personalized messages with a friendly tone that the tool will automatically send to your customers and encourage them to share Google reviews
- Provide direct links: Offer a direct link to your GBP profile review page to make the Google review submission process easy for your customers
- Schedule requests: Set your schedule to send a review request to your customers based on their actions and purchase behavior, such as completing a purchase or receiving a service
- Receive tools: Receive alerts from the tool through email or SMS whenever your business receives a new review on Google
- Respond to reviews: Use the tool to send a professional yet empathetic response to both positive and negative Google reviews
Do you know that Google review automation can increase your Google review volume and consistency? Not only sending the review requests, but you also automate your responses to both positive and negative reviews you receive from your customers on Google. Nearly 53% of reviewers expect replies within a week after sharing their negative feedback about a business. When you prioritize Google review automation, you don’t need to send separate replies to negative Google reviews, which makes the process more seamless.
The 80/20 Google Review Automation Rule
Here, we’ll talk about the 80/20 Google review automation rule and how you can utilize it.
What to automate (the 80%)?
- Monthly reporting
- Response templates for common positive and negative reviews
- Review monitoring and alerts
- Positive review sharing on social media
- Initial review request sending
What to keep manual (the 20%)?
- Responses to critical reviews
- Complex customer complaint resolution
- Personalized follow-ups for valuable clients (who’ve been your loyal customers for a long time)
- High-value customer interactions
Sample Example of Google Review Automation Workflow
Situation: A customer has purchased a product from your brand.
- You need to add the customer’s name to the ‘review request’ automatic email sequence.
- Now, you can automate sending a ‘thank you’ email after his/her purchase. (Day 1)
- On day 3, you can send an automatic review request email to the customer.
- If you receive no Google review, you can send an automatic SMS to follow up on your review requests on day 7.
- If you receive critical negative feedback, you must communicate with the customer personally to resolve the issue.
- If you receive positive feedback on Google, set up your Google review automation tool to auto-share the positive Google review on your brand’s social media page.
4 Key Strategies to Effectively Respond to Google Reviews
Now that you’re done with generating Google reviews, it’s time to respond to those reviews. How you respond to every review you receive conveys –
- How much do you value your customers’ opinions
- How empathetic and professional you are while interacting with your customers
- How positively you take criticism of your business
- How welcoming you are to any kind of reviews, be it positive, negative, or neutral
- How concerned are you to improve your customer service and offer the best
A customer who takes the time to share their genuine feedback about the business expects a prompt and meaningful reply from your end.
Seems a hectic job?
No worries! We’re here with some tips and tricks to make the process of responding to Google reviews a cakewalk for you.
- Set Up Notifications for New Google Reviews
The first step is to set up your Google Business Profile notifications. Once you set up the notification, you’ll be able to receive alerts for new reviews on Google.
Follow these steps to enable Google Business Profile notifications –
Log in to your brand’s Google Business Profile > navigate to ‘settings’ and then ‘notifications’ > turn on email notifications for new reviews > set up SMS alerts to your phone number
As part of Google review management, getting notified for every review is crucial for responding to those reviews promptly.
Some Tips to Follow –
- You shouldn’t just rely on Google’s notifications, as it mostly sends delayed alerts for reviews. Rather, you can use a dedicated tool to get real-time alerts for Google reviews.
- Some tools display Google reviews in their dashboards to provide their users with a detailed overview of customer feedback.
- There are many tools that allow you to reply directly to your Google reviews from the dashboard.
- Make checking Google reviews a major part of your daily business routine. Set a proper time for each day.
- Create Your Response Framework
How will you respond to your Google reviews?
This is a major question to think about after you receive your customer feedback. Some points to remember here –
- Not every customer appreciates the same kind of replies to their reviews.
- You cannot respond to both positive and negative reviews in the same way.
- It’s important not to send a generic reply to every Google review; rather, you must highlight the facts mentioned by the reviewer about their purchase, experience, and more.
- Craft Appreciative Responses for Positive Google Reviews
Achieving a 5-star review is everything; how you respond to the reviews plays a more crucial role. Writing just a one-word reply like a little‘Thank you!’ may not showcase how much you value the customers’ opinions who have shared a positive review about your business.
Note: Always try to make your responses to positive reviews more personal by addressing the reviewer by his/her name. Keeping it short and friendly will add a personal touch to the review response and showcase that you truly care about your customers’ experiences.
A Sample Response for Positive Customer Reviews on Google
“Hi (customer’s name), thank you so much for your positive words! We’re pleased to know that you enjoyed your purchase from (your brand name). Your opinion truly matters to us. Can’t wait to serve you again soon!”
- Constructively Address Negative Reviews on Google
Imagine being criticized over your product or service quality. Disheartening, right?
It isn’t always easy to receive criticism, and expect that people are not satisfied with your customer service! But negative reviews provide numerous opportunities to identify the areas for improvement and transform your negative customer experiences into positive ones.
Negative reviews on Google help you prove how well you can handle problems.
Note: Always stay calm and professional while responding to negative Google reviews. Explore to find a suitable resolution for the issue experienced by your customer. A little apology may work in your favor! A sincere apology can prevent further arguments with customers and reputational damage to your business.
Never make an excuse for delivering services that have failed to meet your customers’ expectations. Making an excuse or avoiding the situation can cause your reputation extreme damage. If possible, you must move the conversation offline to prevent ending up in an online argument.
Sample Responses for Negative Google Reviews
Even if you don’t agree with the reviewer’s opinion, you must empathetically respond to the negative review and thank him/her for sharing their valuable feedback. Here’s a sample:
“Hey (customer’s name), thank you for sharing your valuable feedback. We’re extremely sorry to hear that our customer service failed to meet your expectations. This is not the level of customer service we strive for. Please contact our team through (your email ID/phone number) to discuss the matter further. We will try our best to resolve this issue.”
- Implement the ‘Golden Hour’ Rule
According to a 2022 HubSpot report, 66% of people expect a reply from the customer service team within five minutes.
When you promptly respond to the Google reviews that you receive, especially within 24 hours, it shows your potential customers that you’re actively engaged with your customers. Additionally, Google’s algorithm prefers to rank businesses that engage with their online reviews.
What is the ‘Golden Hour’ rule?
The 24 hours just after you receive a Google review are considered the ‘Golden Hour’ for responding to that review. If you respond to a review during this time, it will help you foster customer engagement and significantly improve your brand’s online search rankings.
This specific practice shows your customers that their feedback is valued and appreciated. When you respond to a negative review on Google within this golden hour, you can address the negative feedback and issues mentioned in it, which is important for mitigating potential damage to your brand reputation.
This way, you can showcase your brand’s commitment to customer satisfaction.
- Address Fake Reviews on Google
Not every Google review you receive is a genuine one!
This is quite common for brands to receive fake reviews from fraudulent Google accounts to malign their online reputation. Even your market competitors can be involved in fake Google review generation practices to damage your brand image in your industry.
Do you know that nearly 10.7% of Google reviews on average are inauthentic?
Identifying and handling fake reviews is a crucial component of best Google review management strategies. So, how will you identify these fake reviews? Let’s have a look!
How to identify fake reviews on Google?
Here are some common signs of fake Google reviews.
- Generic language (e.g., ‘great services!’, ‘highly recommended!’, ‘best brand!’)
- Reviews posted from Google accounts with no profile picture or review history
- 1-star rating without any details about the real purchase experience
- Multiple reviews from a single IP address
- Reviews talking about products or services that you don’t offer
- Reviews that contain appreciation for your competitors
- Reviews with irrelevant content with no relation to a real customer experience
How to Remove a Fake Review on Google?
Once you identify a Google review as fake, you must report it immediately before it can damage your brand image on Google.
Follow the steps below to report a fake Google review.
Log in to your Google Business Profile > go to the ‘Review’ tab > navigate to the review that you want to remove > click on the three-dot menu next to the review > select ‘Flag as inappropriate’ > choose the reason why you want to report that review (e.g., spam, conflict of interest, irrelevant, deceptive content) > submit your report
How will Google revert? The Google team will contact you for further discussion regarding why you reported that specific review. You must be ready with all the essential documents, such as screenshots, to provide the evidence that supports your claim.
You need to follow up with their team to know about the status of your review removal report. A legitimate fake review typically takes 2-4 weeks to get removed with persistent efforts.
How to Monitor and Analyze Google Reviews?
Without monitoring your Google business reviews, your strategies to manage Google reviews will be incomplete. The following are some crucial techniques to monitor reviews on Google.
- Check performance data – Navigate to your Google Business Profile and click on the ‘Performance’. Choose a time frame to examine trends in your brand performance.
- Export data – Now you can download historical rating data from Google Play Console in a specific CSV format for offline analysis.
- Leverage AI for deeper insights – You can use different AI tools to automatically determine the reviewer sentiment (positive, negative, or neutral) of customer feedback.
- Topic Modeling – You can analyze themes and recurring topics within your Google reviews to understand common customer pain points and what they like about your business.
- Time Series Analysis – You can also examine the review data over time to identify trends and the impact of specific events on customer sentiment.
Major Key Metrics to Track –
The following are some major review metrics that you must track –
- Review Velocity – Google reviews you receive per month
- Response Rate – Percentage of Google reviews responded to
- Conversion Rate – Percentage of customers who’ve shared reviews after you asked them)
- Average Rating Trend – Over star ratings your business receives on Google
- Sentiment Trend – Positive and negative sentiment of customers over time
- Review to Revenue Ratio – The overall revenue you’ve generated from review-driven customers
Top 5 Google Review Management Tools You Must Know
We know that you’re now quite skilled in implementing strategies to manage reviews on Google and leverage the benefits for your brand growth. However, did you know that there are also helpful tools available to make the process more seamless?
Below, we’ve mentioned the top 5 Google review management software or tools that you can use for managing Google reviews.
| Tools | Best for: |
| Simplify360 | Best option for businesses to supervise, administrate, and manage Google reviews Can be used to track and reply to Google reviews Can be used for customer sentiment analysis Have review alert capabilities |
| Birdeye | Can use it to monitor 150+ review sites, including Google.Provides AI-powered review response suggestions You can create an automated review request campaign. Can be used for review analysis and competitor benchmarking |
| Podium | Can send SMS based review requests to customers Offers a unified inbox for all customer messages Provides facilities like payment processing integration Provides AI-powered suggestions |
| ReviewTrackers | Can be used for advanced customer sentiment analysis through reviews Can be utilized for competitor benchmarking Offers custom reporting dashboards to use Have extraordinary features like team collaboration tools |
| Yext | Text-based centralized review management tool to efficiently manage Google reviews Can automate Google review requests, can be used to monitor and respond to customer reviews on Google Uses platforms like Text Request to send personalized links to Google Business Profile Captures reviews and facilitates private handling of negative feedbackCan make the Google review generation process more seamless |
Conclusion
Google reviews serve as one of the most effective types of social proof for any business, mostly because Google is the most-used search engine by consumers. Customer reviews you receive through your Google Business Profile come up with a list of major benefits.
But how to leverage them? Businesses need to effectively manage their Google reviews and implement strategies to ensure maximum impact. From exceptional customer acquisition to improved online reputation, effective Google review management can completely transform how your potential customers perceive your business.
The strategic approach is all that counts! Our proven strategies mentioned in our comprehensive guide will help you learn the essential skills to efficiently manage the customer feedback you receive on Google.
A reputable online reputation management agency often has an expert team of seasoned professionals who have expertise in managing Google reviews for businesses of any size. Hire such an agency to leverage expert guidance and strengthen your brand reputation through Google reviews!
