How to Ask for Reviews

Asking for reviews can feel a wee bit scary, maybe even a little awkward! But it really doesn't have to be and it is something that will really help to boost your sales and SEO.

Why is it important to have reviews/testimonials?

Recommendations for your services increase your credibility as a professional business. Everyone reads reviews or listens to them when their friends tell them about an experience they had.

"Have you been to this restaurant? Is it any good?" People always want more information about things they are considering spending money on. People want to know if it is worth it. These mini little reviews people pass along to their social circles can be the difference between you gaining more business or losing potential clients.

So yes you want to provide a good experience for people but you also want to be able to ask people to share those positive experiences so your business can grow and you can reach more potential clients.

For people who don't have anyone they can directly ask for a recommendation, then they read the reviews.

So get over your awkwardness and make sure you are asking your clients/customers for reviews! Worse case? They don't respond. No worries, no harm done.
Most likely though, you'll get a quote you can post to social media, add to your website and even get people to directly post to Google Reviews.

But how do I ask?

Via email:

‍It does not have to be some big elaborate, wordy process - all it takes is a quick, snappy to-the-point email!

Here is a template of the email I send my clients;

Hi,

Hope all is awesome with you!
We are looking to feature your new website on our social media. 

There is a space for a client review and I wondered if you could post a review here? Then we can copy it and add it to our site?

I want to thank you in advance for taking the time, I know how busy you are and I truly appreciate it, it means a lot to us.

Kind regards,

Via social media:

‍This is another super easy way to encourage reviews, it is the more casual approach and reaches a wider audience. Make sure you put it in your own voice! Remember this is you asking for someone to review your services.

Here are a few more options for ways to ask for a review:

• Would you be willing to provide us with some feedback on how we did?
• We'd love it if you could leave a review of your experience with us.
• Would you be willing to tell others about your experience with our company?
• If you had one word to describe our service, what would it be?
• Any insight or comments about our work would be greatly appreciated!
• We'd love for you to share your thoughts about our services on social media or an online review platform.

Sending your Google My Business Review (GMB) link:

My advice would be to send this to people who you know had a good experience with you and your business. These are the reviews we want people to see.
** If you do get a bad review - ask why! What can you do to improve their experience?

What we often do is send a "Ask for a Review" script so our clients can easily ask for a review, and then if it is positive, follow up by sending the GMB review link.

How to find your link?

1. Go to your Google My Business homepage that looks like this:

2. In the far right bottom corner - you'll see "Ask for reviews"
3. Click on that and your link will pop up!
This is the link to send to your clients.

Add a Call to Action

Another way is to very simply add a Call to Action button at the end of an email or newsletter that you might already be sending out.

To summarise, google reviews are especially helpful in boosting your website's SEO and they are super easy for people to do! It will literally take them about 3 minutes - particularly if they have already voiced how much they appreciated you/your services!

So get asking! And don't forget to review your favorite businesses too, as every little bit counts!