A well rated and maintained Google My Business profile is one of the most important online assets your business must have. It’s a free service by Google that enables your company to show up in local category-related search queries. Another key feature is that it allows your customers to rate your products or services.

Click to jump to How to create a direct Google My Business link for customers to write a review.

If you’ve been in the business for awhile, you already know how hard is to get that 5-star rating and the only proven method that works is asking for it. You must ask for a high rating with every time and with every customer. A positive Google review is priceless as it does wonders for your local rankings and conversions.

Getting started with Google My Business

Companies registered with Google My Business have an opportunity to show up as one of the first three recommended local businesses (after paid ads) if it is set up properly. This can have a powerful impact on your findability and positively affect customer buying decisions.

To get started, you'll need a Gmail account. If you already have one, go here and follow the instructions. It's pretty straightforward. If you don’t have a Gmail account, sign up for free here.

To activate your Google My Business listing, you'll have to confirm your location by entering the PIN code that will be sent to your provided address via snail mail. It takes about a week to receive it.

How to create a Google review link for your business

Once you've activated your account, to take your listing to the next level, start collecting reviews from your satisfied clients. To eliminate every possible technical obstacle and making your customers life easier we recommend sharing a direct link to rate your business.

Below are two ways to generate a direct Google review link (#2 method is highly recommended):

#1 Follow Google guidelines

Search for your business on Google. Find your business listing and click “Write a review.” Copy and paste the URL you see in your address bar.

This method isn’t the best because it’s not attached to your Google Place ID? but the business name. If you want a more dependable and friendlier link use our Google review link generator.

#2 Use Google Place ID based, short review link generator by Angle180

Our free tool generates a short URL link that is based on your Google Place ID. You then share it with your customers which sends them directly to your Google “Rate and review” page.

To generate your review link:

Type your business name in the “Enter a location” field on the map and choose your company from the list... Your review link will appear under the map. Copy the short URL to your clipboard. Your link should look similar to this: http://bit.ly/blahblah

How do I get more Google reviews?

The effort and persistence you must put into getting a positive review is sometimes equal to doing the job itself. But this is one of the reasons why reviews matter so much. I encourage you to go out of your way serving your clients and collecting 5-star ratings for your business.

Asking customers to rate your business is the best tactic for growing your number of reviews. Every time you send out an email or text message to your customers, include the direct link to your review page.

By including the review link in your email signature, social media or even business card can help you gain additional reviews.

Additionally, you can track your review link statistics to measure the engagement of your promotional efforts and adjust the tactics accordingly. Simply copy your Bitlink into a browser bar and add a “+” at the end to see stats such as number of visits, location and referral sources.

Another thing to remember is that every time you get a review, take action to thank your customers through your Google My Business platform, as it is also a factor of a well-maintained profile.

How to ask your clients for reviews on Google?

If you are in B2B industry, asking for review should be easier as many other business owners understand the importance of reviews and are familiar with the process. Sometimes people are simply busy, but when you genuinely ask for their feedback they are happy to give it to you.

Email templates for requesting online reviews

Although we recommend asking for reviews in person, you may not have a lot of facetime with a customer. In those case, an email request is the second best option.

Crafting a feedback request email doesn’t always come easily. At the very least, make sure your email includes why you are asking for a review, how to leave a review and your gratitude for their feedback.

The importance of the subject line . Let’s be honest, all of your hard work will be worthless if a client decides to not even open the email. One small thing that will increase your conversion rate is to include a question mark in the subject line. It’s in our blood to answer questions immediately. If you don’t believe me, just try it out.

. Let’s be honest, all of your hard work will be worthless if a client decides to not even open the email. One small thing that will increase your conversion rate is to include a question mark in the subject line. It’s in our blood to answer questions immediately. If you don’t believe me, just try it out. A/B testing. Every product, client, and the situation is different. Testing is the only true way to find out what works for your target audience. Don’t make huge uncalculated changes. Test one change at the time and eventually you will find the right email for your target audience.

Sounds good? Let’s begin!

Feedback request email template for a product:

Subject line: (name), how was your recent purchase at (company)? Hello (name), Now that you’ve been using our product for some time, would you be willing to write a review of (product) on Google? It will only take a few minutes and your honest feedback will help others as you decide if our product is right for their business. Just follow this link to share your thoughts: (link) If there’s anything else I can help you with, please let me know. Thank you,

(Your name)

(Company)

Review request email sample for a B2B company:

Subject line: What do you think of (service)? Hello (company owner’s name), It has been our sincere pleasure to work with you! As a fellow business owner, I’m sure that you know the importance of online reviews. That’s why I’m asking you for a favor. Could you please write a quick review for my company? It’ll take just a couple of minutes and that would be very helpful for our business: In case your expectations were not met in any way, please let me know by replying to this email. We continuously try to improve our service so your feedback is highly appreciated. Thank you! Sincerely,

(Your name)

(Company)

Keep in mind that for an even better response rate you will need to tweak the template a little bit. Make it personal if you can and mention some work details to the client so that they know that it’s not just another template. If you want your clients to care about your business, you need to care about them too.

Are you worried about the negative reviews?

This is why in the second template we highlighted the option to talk about the negative feedback by responding to the email. Encourage people to express their concerns in private so that you could help them before they decide to write a negative review publicly.

To be completely honest with you, there are even more reasons to collect reviews if the negative feedback worries you. Imagine that there isn’t much information about your business out there and somebody writes a negative review. You'll have a hard time making the positive information shine through. However, if you have 50 positive reviews and just one negative, it will not impact your business nearly as much.

Our research of hundreds of 1-Star Google reviews shows that most of the problems come from unmet expectations and a lack of empathy and respect.

Why Google reviews are important in 2018

Online reviews are today’s word of mouth. By reading reviews, customers realize what others liked or disliked and this mitigates risks and helps prevent a shopping decision they would regret.

Google posts the number of stars you received which immediately warrants attention. This makes it more likely for people to click on your site. We all know that the more people click on your link the better your site looks to Google.

Google itself states that review count and score is factored into local search ranking . Knowing that Google keeps the details of the search algorithm confidential, the fact that this is publicly stated tells the story.

. Knowing that Google keeps the details of the search algorithm confidential, the fact that this is publicly stated tells the story. 93% of prospects read online reviews when deciding if a business is worth their attention.

when deciding if a business is worth their attention. Client reviews are trusted 12 times more than the descriptions that come from company owners, according to the study from eMarketer. Does that surprise you? Probably not. And this will stay true today, tomorrow and after 15 years.

Gathering reviews isn’t the easiest job in the world but it’s definitely worth your time and effort. Google shows the number of reviews that your business has which proves that they find the number important to your prospects. Having more reviews not only ranks you higher on Google but also makes your business look reliable and well established.