How to write a review on Google

There is a lot of talk about how important customer opinions and reviews are in SEO. But in this post we want to talk specifically about Google reviews. Those that we find so hard to leave but that we so impatiently expect from our online customers.

So let’s start step by step and then get to know this Google functionality and know how we can take advantage of the opinions that users leave there.

Reviews and SEO

do they really help your online business? Here we talked about the importance of reviews at all levels, and although a review is not a direct SEO factor, since Google cares a lot about the user experience – and this also includes the degree of satisfaction – it is a significant “secondary” factor.

This is the case for reviews and opinions in general – that’s why product stars are marked with structured data within the store. But if, as in this case, the review is being given by the user to Google directly, imagine its value. And if we talk about local SEO, having a Google my Business listing is essential and of course, so are your reviews.

In fact, it is common that the first companies that appear in searches are those that have better ratings.

And be careful, because as you can see, it is not so important the number of reviews, but the total rating they provide.

So, let’s finally talk about Google reviews and everything they imply, so that you can learn more about this indirect SEO factor.

Google Reviews

what exactly is a Google review? At first it was about writing ratings of sites, physical businesses. But with the advent of the Internet, it is now very common to also leave reviews for websites and their products and services.

It’s just the same old feedback, but reflected on your Google my Business page. If you search for any business, such as Innovadeluxe, we have several user reviews, as you can see in the screenshot:

From the total number of reviews and the score left, an average is made, giving a rating from 1 (very bad) to 5 (very good).

Considerations to take into account:

• Anonymous reviews are not allowed. If you leave a review on a business, anyone who clicks on your username will see all the other reviews you have written on others.
• No private reviews.

Because it is not only important that your business appears in a search, but if you have not yet created a brand image, the first thing that many users will do is to see what others think of you.

And as mentioned before, since Google reviews are public, they are an important reason for a potential customer to enter your online store. All they have to do is log into your business profile and see various reviews. They can even sort them by relevance or topics.

Like everything, this has a picaresque side and a dark side. The picaresque side is that there are companies that buy reviews, so they inflate their data and in reality what you see in their profile is not real. The dark side is that, precisely because Google values them so much, if a customer is dissatisfied with you or gets angry, they can leave bad reviews from several accounts and negatively affect your business. Not only in terms of the users who read them, but also in terms of positioning.

Obviously, Google knows this and has a Google review policy that fights against fake or inappropriate reviews. But the truth is that it is difficult to control.

Having clarified this point, let’s get down to the nitty-gritty.

How to write a review

To write a review on Google, it depends a bit on what device you use, but in general, you should follow these steps:

• Be logged in to your email account from which you write the reviews
• Locate the Google My Business listing of the company by searching its name in Google. Or you can also get there from Google Maps.
• Look for the “Write a review” button, like the one you can see in the image:

It will open a window like this one, where you can mark the number of stars you want to give it, even choose a predefined opinion. And apart from that, you can add text or even, if it is of a physical site or a product that has arrived to you, photos.

Also, since reviews are so important, you have the option to receive an email every time someone writes one. This way you will always have them under control – as long as they leave you a reasonable number, if there are hundreds a month, you probably won’t even have time to read them.

Remove reviews on Google

Okay, we already know how to write a review on Google. But what if you want to do the opposite? How can you delete reviews from Google? This step will depend on whether you are the user who made the review or a company that wants to delete a malicious and/or fake review. Let’s look at both cases.

Delete a review as a user

This option is very simple. All you have to do is log in to your account, go to the menu at the top left and there you will see the option “Your contributions”, which includes the section “Your reviews”. From there you can go to the one you want and delete it by following the instructions.

Deleting a review that has been left on your business

This is something you can’t do at the business level. Except for the reviews that are written on a personal level as a customer, Google has control of everything that is published.

What you can do, however, is to contact Google if you want to report a false prejudicial review. All you have to do is go to the review in question and mark it as inappropriate. This message will reach Google and from there, you just have to follow the steps they indicate and in many cases, be patient.

If the review is negative but from a real profile, which you can identify as your customer, even if it could be deleted, it is advisable to respond and try to clarify what has happened. To respond to a review, you will have to access it from a computer, be logged into your company profile and simply click on the Reply option that appears under the review in question. Many times, as can happen with the comments on a blog, if you talk to that person and everything is clarified, it is also a good example of how you manage a crisis and can even end in a positive comment.

And of course, the best thing is that the positive reviews “neutralize” the negative ones. It is normal to have negative opinions, because there are different colors for every taste. But as long as the positive ones are many more, nothing happens.

Conclusion

As in everything related to SEO, Google is the big giant – at least in Europe. Therefore, it is important to know the tools it puts at our disposal. In the case of Google reviews, both in the sense of how users can use it to boost our business, but also to know what we can do about it.

Never underestimate what a good review can do for you, and much less if that review is given to Google directly. SEO is a set of direct and indirect factors and it all adds up to help the organic visibility of your online business.

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