Simply click this big button to get a Google review link to give to your customers, so they can easily write Google reviews for your business.
This is the quickest, easiest way to get a Google review link.
The button will take you to our free Google review link generator.
Just search for your business by name and location, and click the “This is my business” button to get your Google review link URL. Then give the link to your customers. That’s it! You’re done!
The Google review link you get will give your customers the easiest way to write a review for your business. The link will also avoid the “technical difficulties” that other types of Google review links can cause your customers.
Must Read Next: How to Get Google Reviews: The Ultimate Guide – Learn how to get more Google reviews and ensure a high star rating now that you have your Google review link.
Long Answer (If You Want the Details)
If you’re still reading, you either prefer to do things the hard way or you’re just curious about what all the hubbub is about different types of Google review links.
So below you’ll find all the details you’ll ever care to know about the perils of using a bad Google review link, the joys of having a good Google review link, and specific step-by-step instructions on how to generate your own direct Google review link—either manually or automagically.
Then you’ll learn more about all the best ways to get your Google review link into the hands of your customers to start generating positive reviews.
The Perils of a Bad Google Review Link
There’s one “good way” to give your customers a Google review link that will maximize how many customers actually leave you a Google review. And there are many “bad ways” to give customers a Google review link that will cause technical problems and low conversion rates.
We often see business owners make the classic copy/paste mistake. They find their business in Google search results or Google Maps and then simply copy and paste the link in their browser. Sometimes they go the extra step of clicking on a link to view the company’s reviews before copying and pasting.
In fact, Google itself tells businesses to take this approach in their official instructions on creating a link to write reviews.
But then Google includes a curious caveat…
Now why on Earth would Google’s own instructions not “work for you?”
We know why, because we’ve helped many businesses with their customer reviews and we’ve seen all sorts of problems these copy/paste URLs cause.
Customers Experience “Technical Difficulties”
First, let’s start with the technical problems. Some of your customers will most likely experience “technical difficulties” using a link that was copied and pasted from Google search results or Google Maps.
Sometimes these “technical difficulties” manifest themselves as links that don’t go to the “Write a review” page. Other times, the “technical difficulties” prevent the search results from loading properly at all.
Worse yet, you’ll never know. Some customers will have no difficulties at all while others do.
That’s because a typical Google review link copied and pasted from Google search results or Google Maps includes a lot of information in the URL itself that’s specific to you personally. It might include data about you as a user, your location, the device you’re using, when you conducted the search, and who-knows-what other information.
If your customer is in a different location, uses a different device, clicks the link at a later date, or just happens to be a different person from you, then the same URL that works so beautifully for you may not work at all for that customer.
Customers Get Confused
In most cases, the link you copy and paste from Google search results or Google Maps will send customers to a page that confuses them. And a confused customer is a customer who gives up and doesn’t actually write a review…no matter how happy they are with your business.
When you copy and paste a link from search results, customers end up on a page that looks something like this…
At this point, customers are presented with a whole page full of options and links to click. How are they supposed to know they’re supposed to click on the number of reviews your business has…
…so they can go to a pop-up…
…where they’re then supposed to click on the “write a review” button…
…so they can then finally get to a pop-up they can use…
…so they can finally write a review for you?
Whenever one of our member businesses use a copy/paste link that sends a customer to a generic search results page, we see them get very few reviews.
Then we advise them to generate a Google review link the right way.
We almost always see their conversion rates skyrocket as soon as they make the change.
How to Botch Your Google Review Link
There are 4 common copy/paste methods for creating a bad Google review link that will cause technical difficulties, confusion and low conversion rates:
- Copy/paste from Google search results
- Copy/paste from the “write a review” pop-up after searching Google search results, clicking the number of reviews, then clicking the “write a review” button
- Copy/paste from Google Maps search results
- Copy/paste from the “write a review” pop-up after searching Google Maps, clicking the number of reviews, then clicking the “write a review” button
Out of these 4 methods, every one of them has the potential to cause technical difficulties for some customers. And all but 1 of them causes customer confusion that leads to low conversion rates from your review requests—the 1 exception being #2 above.
So now that you know how NOT to generate a Google review link, let’s get into the good stuff…the one good way to generate a link that doesn’t cause any technical difficulties and sends customers directly to the “write a review” pop-up for zero customer confusion and maximum conversion rates.
The One Good Way to Get a Google Review Link
Here’s the one true URL pattern to rule them all:
https://search.google.com/local/writereview?placeid=MY-PLACE-ID
Just replace MY-PLACE-ID with the unique Google Place ID for your own business, and the link will work perfectly for all your customers!
To generate a Google review link that uses this URL pattern, you have 2 choices:
- Generate the link manually using a Google tool to find your Place ID
- Generate the link automagically using our free Google review link generator tool to generate the entire URL for you, including the Place ID
How to Generate a Google Review Link Manually
So you like taking the DIY approach to generating your Google review link? Here’s how….
First, go to Google’s Place ID finder and search for your business to get your Place ID
Once you have your Place ID, use this URL pattern, replacing MY-PLACE-ID with your actual Place ID:
https://search.google.com/local/writereview?placeid=MY-PLACE-ID
That’s all there is to it!
Can’t find your business in the Google Place ID finder? Uh oh. See “Troubleshooting” below.
How to Generate a Google Review Link Automagically
This is the simplest, easiest, fastest, and least error-prone way to generate a Google review link that will not cause technical difficulties and will make it crazy-easy for your customers to leave you a review, boosting your conversion rates sky high.
Just go to our free Google review link generator, search for your business by name and location.
Then click the “This is my business” button for the business that’s yours, and you’ll get your Google review link.
Click “Visit link” to test the link and see where it will send your customers.
Click “Copy link to clipboard” to copy and paste the link into an email or text message to your customers.
That’s it. You’re done!
Troubleshooting
If you can’t find your business in our Google review link generator or in Google’s Place ID finder, try this troubleshooting tip….
First check to make sure you can find your business as a knowledge card on the right side of Google search results. It looks like this….
Use the exact same search term information in either our Google review link generator (if you’re using the automagical method) or the Google Place ID finder (if you’re using the manual method).
If you still can’t find your business, even when using the same information you used to successfully find your knowledge card in Google search, then that means there’s probably something wrong with your Google My Business account.
We’ve seen a variety of problems that can cause this.
If your business doesn’t have a complete street address, your business may not show up. So check to make sure your business street address is complete and shows up in Google Maps when you search for it exactly as it is listed in your Google My Business account.
If Google gets confused between your business and another business in their system with a similar name or location, then your business may not show up. So search for other businesses with a similar name close to your location. If this is the problem, you’ll need to contact Google support via your Google My Business account and ask for help.
How to Send Customers Your New Google Review Link (Now That You Have It)
Now that you have a Google review link that won’t cause technical difficulties or confusion for your customers, let’s get to the exciting part…using it to get more customer reviews!
Send customers an email within a day to a week of their experience with your business.
The best time to request a review is immediately after concluding business with a customer. That’s when their emotions are still running high and their memories are still vivid. Strong emotions cause higher conversion rates. So the longer you wait, the fewer customers will actually write a review.
SMS
Send customers an SMS text message instead of an email if the customer prefers text messaging.
Be sure to ask about the customer’s preferred communication means before sending an SMS instead of an email. The last thing you want to do is irritate a customer right as you ask them to review your business.
Since text messages have character limits, use a shortener service like bit.ly to shorten your Google review link before sending. That will give you more room for a nice message and spend less room on the link itself.
Pre-Screen for Positive Reviews
Don’t risk getting a review that hurts your Google profile.
Even if a review is positive, if a customer gives you fewer stars than your current average star rating, that review will bring your overall average down.
Pre-screen customers first. When you send that first email or SMS, tell the customer you value their feedback, and ask how the would rate their experience on a 5-point scale.
If the customer would give you a rating that’s higher than your current Google rating, then send a follow-up email or text to thank them and give them the Google review link to encourage writing a review.
If the customer would give you a lower rating than your current Google average, still send a follow-up email or text to thank them. But don’t encourage a Google review, and don’t give them your Google review link. Instead, ask how you could have done even better to earn a 5-star rating. Their feedback may be even more valuable to improving your business than yet another 5-star Google review.
Send Follow-Ups
We see businesses often double the number of reviews they get when they send follow-up emails or SMS text messages to customers who don’t respond.
For SMS text messages, try not to send a follow-up any sooner than 7 days after the first message. Consumers tend to dislike frequent SMS follow-ups more than frequent email follow-ups.
We normally recommend 2 or 3 follow-ups after the initial email or SMS, and see good results from this practice.
Automate to Make It Easy
If you’re too busy to send review requests on a daily or weekly basis, and certainly don’t have time to pre-screen customers for positive reviews, and have no time to keep track of follow-ups to customers who don’t reply to the first communication…never fear! We’re here to help.
Give our Google review management tool a try. You’ll find it’s a huge time saver and gets results. It implements advanced review-generating techniques like pre-screening and follow-ups effortlessly. And its pricing makes it a no-brainer for even the smallest businesses.
