If potential customers are considering purchasing your products or using your services, there is a good chance they will search your company name on Google to decide whether you are the supplier worthy of their trust and money.
That is why it is absolutely vital to dominate the search results with positive stories and reviews.
When people actively look for you online, you need to convince them that you are as good as you claim to be.
In this blog post, you will learn how to start collecting reviews – completely free of charge! You can read more about reputation management here.
The aim is, of course, to fill Google’s search results with as many positive reviews as possible when people search for your brand name.
Create a free Trustpilot profile
See an example of a Trustpilot company profile here
Many people ask: “How much does Trustpilot cost?” Trustpilot is actually completely free if you just want to have a company profile and allow customers to review your product or service. One quick and easy way to collect reviews is to create a free company profile on Trustpilot and ask your customers for feedback.
Create your free Trustpilot company profile here
How to collect reviews via Trustpilot
Once you have created your company profile, simply copy the URL from your browser (see below) and send the link in an email to the customer from whom you would like a review.
It’s a good idea to start by saying you hope they had a positive experience and explain why you are asking for a review.
That is all it takes to get started collecting reviews. Remember to do this regularly, so that there are always some fresh, positive reviews at the top. 🙂 New reviews are most relevant for your customers, but they are also important for your overall TrustScore. Trustpilot gives more weight to recent reviews than old ones.
Create a free Google My Business profile
See an example of a Google My Business (also called business profile) here
Google My Business is your company’s own profile and appears when people search for you on Google or Google Maps. You need a Google login to create a Google My Business profile, and those wishing to review you also need a Google login. This is how Google can validate that the reviews on your business profile are written by real people.
Create your free Google business profile here.
Note: If you do not have a Google account, you will need to create one first. You can do that here
How to collect reviews via Google My Business
There are basically two ways to collect reviews. The easiest method is to ask people to search for your company name and then click “Write a review”. See the example below:
*NB: Individuals who wish to submit reviews must have a Google login.
The more advanced, but also more effective long-term method, is to create a unique link that you can send directly to the people you would like feedback from.
Here is how you do it:
-
- Visit Google Place ID Finder
- Copy your Place ID
- Replace <place_id> in this link with your Place ID: https://search.google.com/local/writereview?placeid=<place_id>. For example: https://search.google.com/local/writereview?placeid=ChIJ6TDjMgS8S0YRw9RZjy07qA0
- Send the link directly to your customers. They can now write a review simply by clicking on the link.
Create a free Facebook page
See an example of a Facebook page here
A Facebook page gives you plenty of opportunities to promote yourself, and Facebook also provides a review feature.
This is important for potential customers visiting your Facebook page, but reviews on Facebook also have a significant impact on Google’s search results. See the example below:
Create your free Facebook page here
How to collect reviews on Facebook
When collecting reviews on Facebook, simply add “/reviews/” to your Facebook page URL.
https://www.facebook.com/wemarketdk/
Becomes, for example
https://www.facebook.com/wemarketdk/reviews/
Email template for collecting reviews
To make things easy for you, we have included an email template below that you can copy and use to collect reviews. Note: Everything in <italics> in the template should be replaced with your own details.
Dear <customer name>,
I hope you have been happy with <your purchase from us/our collaboration.>
I would like to hear from some of my customers, so that others can get a sense of what it is like to work with us. With that in mind, I hope you will take a moment to write a short review of our collaboration? 🙂
If you would like to share your experience, you can use one of the three links below. In return, I promise a virtual hug:
Review on Trustpilot: https://dk.trustpilot.com/review/<YOUR-TRUSTPILOT-ADDRESS>
Review on Google: https://search.google.com/local/writereview?placeid=<YOUR-PLACE-ID>
Review on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/<YOUR-FACEBOOK-ADDRESS>/reviews
Thank you for your help!
Summary
There have never been as many touchpoints in the customer journey towards a purchase as there are today. The more smartphones and other devices involved, the more thorough customers are in researching companies they consider buying from.
For this reason, it is absolutely essential that your company’s good reputation is clearly visible in Google’s search results, so customers feel confident buying from you and choose your business over the competition.
Read also:
Guide: Google My Business
Increase conversions by responding to your reviews
Nothing is selling on my webshop – what is wrong?
