Google Review Management Concepts You Should Know

It’s no secret that customers these days use Google to inform their purchasing decisions. But did you know that Google reviews can make or break your business?

Don’t sweat it. This is why it’s critical to be familiar with the most important Google review management concepts. If you approach them the right way, you’ll reap a lot of benefits. 

With that in mind, let’s dive a bit deeper into some basic Google review management concepts that will help you improve your business’ online reputation and ultimately, grow it.

What is Google Review Management and Why Does it Matter?

Learning Google review management concepts before knowing what review management is would be pointless. But fret not, it’s simple - it refers to dealing with reviews and feedback on your Google Business Profile.

This online real estate is indispensable for all types of businesses as it provides you with a way to connect with your customers and reply directly to their feedback, positive or negative.

Improving how you approach these concepts can lead to multiple positive developments, including:

Better SEO ranking

Getting more reviews and responding to them will help you attract more customers and improve your ranking in search results. These practices give Google a positive insight into the activity levels of your business.

This means that the company will recognize your business as genuine and because of that, it will recommend your business to other users. Naturally, since companies with higher reviews have a better search ranking, managing reviews like a champ will raise your local SEO.

Attract more customers

Not only will your customers appreciate that you took your time to validate their opinion, but your business will also appear more trustworthy when there is a good number of reviews. 

Generally speaking, proof of numerous satisfied customers helps drive conversion rates through the roof, thus attracting new customers.

Gather customer intelligence

Every review you get is also valuable insight into what you’re doing right and where you can improve. Think of these reviews as free customer surveys that you can use to improve certain aspects of your business.

Concept 1: Getting More Reviews

If there are just a handful of reviews on your page right now, you’ve got to change that as soon as possible. That’s why the first of the Google review management concepts is about incentivizing your customers to leave reviews. 

Here’s the gist: even if a customer is satisfied with your service, they still might not take action and leave a 5-star review (fingers crossed) unless you compel them to do so. Needless to say, you might be losing out on some sweet reviews just because it seems like a natural course of action for you.

To collect more reviews on your Google Business Profile, try doing these:

Reach out to your customers directly and ask for reviews

If you have a physical office or a store, every time you’re face to face with a customer or a client, remember your Google review management concepts and ask them to leave a review.

We live in a world where we have our phones on us 24/7 so your customer probably won’t mind sparing a minute to give you the five stars you deserve.

Just like physical store owners can tell their customers to leave a review, you can send automated emails to your customers after they complete a purchase online. This is a great opportunity to invite them to offer you feedback and get a review.

Generate a review link

Google Review management concepts largely revolve around making reviews more accessible for your customers. The easier it is for them to leave reviews, the more they’ll do it. This is why we recommend creating a google link that takes your customers directly to the reviews section of your Google business page. 

That way, leaving a review is a matter of making a couple of clicks or taps.

To generate your link, open your profile and find the ‘’Get more reviews’’ section of the dashboard. Next, hit the ‘’Share review form’’ button. 

That’s it, really, you have a direct link you can share wherever you want online. 

social
If you want to take it a step further, you can create a QR code for this link and display it in your physical store.

Put the review link in your email signature

If you’re doing any form of email marketing like the one instance we previously mentioned, don’t forget that it could also be a chance to take a step further.

For example, you can put the link in your email signature. Every time a customer opens your email, they can easily navigate to the review section of your page and leave a quick review. 

The good thing about Google review management concepts is that they’re mostly simple. For example, this is the sort of thing you can do for free by investing a few minutes of your time. However, if you want that link to pop a bit more without detracting from your brand, you can use any tool for generating eye-catching signatures.

Ask for reviews on social media

Social media is an inevitable part of today’s online marketing and it certainly has its place in Google review management concepts. The best thing about marketing on social media is that it’s very laid-back and conversational so you can use it to your advantage.

Regardless of the platform, don’t be shy about asking your followers to leave a review. Make sure to share the direct link as you don’t want your followers to jump through hoops to give you positive feedback.

Add Google reviews to your website

In your efforts to perfect Google review management concepts, make sure that those reviews are available on your website. If you’re using WordPress, you can do it quickly as there is a cool little widget that does most of the heavy lifting.

This is going to accomplish two things: leaving reviews will be easier and all your new customers will see your shining reviews displayed on your website. 

Concept 2: Responding to Reviews

Among the most important Google review management concepts is to make a habit of responding to reviews - especially if they start pouring in after incorporating the aforementioned best practices. 

Our advice is to answer as soon as possible so you can capitalize on the opportunity to initiate a conversation with a customer. They will appreciate that you took your time to respond to their comment even when it’s with something short and simple. 

Just go to the dashboard on your business profile find the Latest Reviews section and click on Manage Reviews. 

When you click on the Your Reply option, you can start responding to reviews.

Concept 3: Responding to Negative Reviews

In a perfect world, there would be no negative reviews. However, unfavorable feedback is something every business runs into, sooner or later, and yours will likely be on that list.

Because of that, learning how to properly respond to them is among the most important of the Google review management concepts.

This is your opportunity to show that you care about your customers and the feedback they provide. To minimize the impact of a bad review, respond to it right away, be sincere about the problem(s) that your customer pointed out, and try to offer a solution.

Apologizing is something we should all learn to do and the same goes for your response - show that you care about your customers by acknowledging that you’re sorry. 

Let’s see an example of what a good response to a negative comment might look like (feel free to use it as a template):

Thank you (INSERT NAME), we appreciate your feedback!

We’re sorry that our service/product didn’t match your expectations. We will try our best to address this issue as soon as possible. 

Feel free to share with us any further concerns or your suggestions at (EMAIL OR A PHONE NUMBER).

Concept 4: Handling Spam and Fake Reviews

The last of the Google review management concepts we will address is something all businesses run into - fake reviews.

Google does have a spam filter in place that automatically filters spam reviews, but it’s not perfect. Some manage to fly under the radar, so to speak, so you need to report them manually.

Once you open your Google reviews, click on the three dots next to reviews and you’ll see the Flag as inappropriate button. 

Now, even though you can’t delete reviews directly, you can use this technique to flag them, and Google will automatically remove them for you after a short assessment period. In the meantime, you can brush up on all the other Google review management concepts and reinforce your knowledge and practices.

Connect With Your Customers

With these simple, yet effective Google review management concepts, you’ll have no trouble increasing the credibility of your business at virtually no cost.

For smaller businesses, this is also an organic way to improve their local SEO ranking. It helps level the playing field in their competitive field with larger organizations that have far more resources.

Depending on the number of customers and clients you have, keeping track of all the things that best Google review management concepts suggest might be harder or easier. If you have too many reviews flowing in and you’d like to approach review management with more efficiency, feel free to contact Oamii. 

We’re a Florida-based marketing agency that knows just how much Google review management concepts matter. That’s why we’re working hard on creating a software solution that can help businesses like yours stay on top of reviews not only on Google but on other review platforms as well 

Call us at 561-228-4111 today or fill out our form for more details!