Key takeaways
- Your Google review link opens the review form for your business, so customers skip the searching.
- You make it in your Business Profile on a computer: Read reviews, then Get more reviews.
- Send it by text or email, or put the QR code on invoices and signs.
- Ask every customer, not just the happy ones. Never offer a discount or reward for a review.
- Customers need a Google account to leave one, but it doesn’t have to be a Gmail address.
How to get your Google review link
Sign in to your Google Business Profile on a computer, choose Read reviews, then Get more reviews. Copy the link, or download the QR code. Send either to your customers and they land straight on your review form.
Say you’re a sparky in Chermside and you’ve just finished a job. You text the customer the link while you’re packing the ute. They tap it, write two lines and they’re done. That’s the idea.
The steps
- Go to business.google.com on a computer and sign in with the Google account that manages your profile.
- Choose Read reviews.
- Choose Get more reviews.
- Copy the review link. For the QR code, right-click it and choose Save image as.
- Test it. Open the link on your phone and check it shows your business, and the right location if you have more than one.
Google says the QR code can only be made from a computer browser, not on a phone, at the moment. Google changes its menus now and then, so if yours looks different, look for the same wording. If you’re not sure which account manages your profile, our Business Profile guide covers who should own it.
Where to use it
Use it where the customer already is when the job is done.
- A text message straight after the job. This is the easiest one for most trades.
- Your invoice or quote, as a link or a printed QR code.
- Your email after the job, or in your email signature.
- A sign or display if people come to you, like a shopfront or counter.
Google also lists WhatsApp and Facebook as ways to send the request, and receipts and thank-you emails as places to put it.
How to ask
Ask while the job is fresh, and keep it short. Something like this works:
Hi Dave, thanks for having us out today. If you’re happy with the work, a quick Google review would really help us. Here’s the link: [link]. Cheers, [your name]
If you spoke to them on site, mention it first in person and send the link afterwards. It makes the text feel less random. One reminder a week or so later is fine. After that, leave it.
What Google doesn’t allow
Google’s policy is that reviews must reflect a genuine experience, and it removes reviews that break its rules. The ones that catch businesses out:
- Rewards. No discounts, freebies or prizes in exchange for a review. That includes offering something to change or remove a bad one.
- Only asking happy customers. Google says businesses can’t discourage negative reviews or selectively ask for positive ones. If you only send the link to people who told you they were pleased, that’s selective.
- Pressure. Don’t demand a review, ask for a set number of them or tell people what to write.
- Reviews from your own people. Staff, contractors, family and competitors can’t review you.
Google says you can encourage genuine reviews as long as you don’t offer an incentive or try to steer the rating or the wording. In Australia, the ACCC, the consumer watchdog, also publishes guidance on online reviews and takes reports about fake ones, so it’s worth playing it straight.
Once the review comes in
Reply to it. Google says more reviews and positive ratings can help your local ranking, and customers read the replies as well. Our guide to how to respond to Google reviews has examples for good and bad ones.
If a review you know is real doesn’t show up, Google says its automatic spam detection can occasionally remove a genuine one. In that case you can contact Google support.
Questions people ask
Does a customer need a Gmail account to leave a review?
They need a Google account, but Google says they can create one using an email address that isn’t Gmail.
Can I give a discount for a Google review?
No. Google treats free or discounted goods or services in exchange for a review as fake and misleading content, and it is strictly prohibited.
Can I make the QR code on my phone?
Google says review QR codes can currently only be generated on a computer browser. You can make it on a computer, save the image, and then use it from your phone.
Can I send the link by WhatsApp or Facebook?
Yes. Google lists email, WhatsApp and Facebook as ways to share your review request, along with a printed QR code.
How many reviews do I need?
There’s no magic number. Ask every customer, after every job, and the count builds up on its own.
Want a hand getting your profile in order? We set up and tidy Business Profiles for trades and service businesses around South East Queensland as part of our SEO work. Or send us your website and ask for a free website check.