Simple Ways to Put Your Best Customer Feedback in Front of Website Visitors—and Turn More of Them Into Leads
Here’s something worth thinking about.
Someone lands on your website.
They don’t know you.
They don’t know whether you’re good.
They don’t know whether you’ll turn up on time, do what you promised or disappear the moment they’ve paid you.
So naturally, they’re a little skeptical.
Then they see this:
★★★★★
“Excellent service. Arrived on time, did a fantastic job and I would definitely recommend them.”
Suddenly, what you say about your business matters a little less.
Because one of your customers is saying it for you.
That’s why adding Google reviews to your website can be so valuable.
Here are some of the easiest ways to do it.
Option 1: Use a Google Reviews Website Widget
For most small businesses, this is probably the simplest solution.
There are numerous website tools and plugins designed to display Google reviews directly on your website.
You connect the widget to your business, choose how you want the reviews displayed, and add it to your site.
Depending on the tool, you might display:
- Your Google star rating
- Total number of reviews
- Individual customer reviews
- Customer names
- Review dates
- A button to see more reviews
You can often customize the layout to match your website.
This can work especially well with WordPress, Wix, Squarespace, Shopify and other popular website builders.
You generally don’t need to be a programmer.
Install the widget, connect your Google Business Profile information and place the review section where you want it.
Simple.
Option 2: Use the Google Maps Platform
If you have a developer—or enjoy making life more complicated than necessary—you can create a more customized integration.
Google Maps Platform’s Places tools can retrieve place information including ratings and reviews. Google currently documents both Places API and Maps JavaScript API options for retrieving review data.
This gives you more control over how reviews are integrated into your website.
But there is a catch.
It requires technical setup, and you need to follow Google’s applicable usage, attribution and billing requirements.
For the average local business owner who simply wants a nice-looking review section on a website, a reputable review widget will usually be easier.
Option 3: Add Selected Reviews Manually
There is another wonderfully simple option.
Choose several of your strongest customer reviews and feature them as testimonials on your website.
For example:
★★★★★
“Fantastic company. They explained everything clearly, arrived when promised and did an excellent job.”
— John Smith
You can place these throughout your website.
Your homepage.
Your service pages.
Your contact page.
Your quote request page.
This gives you complete control over the design and allows you to position reviews beside the services they relate to.
If you want visitors to verify a particular review, Google also provides a way to share a direct link to an individual customer review.
The disadvantage of manually adding reviews is obvious.
They don’t automatically update.
If you receive 20 fantastic new Google reviews next month, somebody has to update the website.
That’s why an automatically updating review widget can be attractive.
Where Should You Put Google Reviews?
This part is important.
Don’t hide all your reviews on a page called “Testimonials” that hardly anybody visits.
Put them where customers are making decisions.
Have some near the top of your homepage.
Put relevant reviews on important service pages.
Add reviews near your contact form.
Put them beside your “Get a Quote” or “Book Now” button.
Why?
Because that’s where reassurance matters.
Your customer is thinking about taking the next step.
A strong review can give them another reason to do it.
Add a “Leave Us a Review” Button
You can also use your website to generate more reviews.
Google allows businesses to create a direct review link and QR code from their Business Profile. That link can take customers straight to the review process rather than making them search for your business manually.
So you could add a button saying:
Leave Us a Google Review
You might place this on a thank-you page customers see after completing a purchase, booking or service.
You can also use the same link in emails and text messages.
Don’t Overdo It
There is one small mistake worth avoiding.
You don’t need 47 reviews covering half your homepage.
Your website still needs to explain what you do and give people an obvious next step.
Use reviews strategically.
Three excellent reviews beside an important call-to-action may be far more useful than an enormous wall of testimonials nobody reads.
Think of reviews as reassurance.
The visitor sees your offer.
They become interested.
Then the reviews tell them:
“Other people trusted this company, and they were happy they did.”
Let Your Customers Do Some of the Selling
You can tell website visitors that you’re reliable.
You can say you provide excellent service.
You can tell them you care about customers.
But naturally, they expect you to say that.
When customers say it?
That’s different.
So bring your Google reviews onto your website.
Display your rating.
Show real customer experiences.
Put reviews near the places where visitors are deciding whether to contact you.
And make it easy for existing customers to leave new reviews.
Because sometimes the most convincing sales copy on your website isn’t written by you.
It’s written by the people you’ve already helped.