How do you get 5 star reviews on Google? You get 5 star reviews on Google by asking first for private ratings, fixing problems for low-rating customers, then asking for a Google review.
For full details on how to get 5 star reviews on Google, see our ultimate guide on how to get Google reviews.
How do Google review stars work? Google lets customers rate a business on a 5 star scale, then calculates an overall rating for the business, which Google displays in search results.
How do you calculate a Google 5 star rating? Google calculates a 5 star rating as the average of all reviews rounded to 0.1 stars. So 20 reviews averaging 4.15 stars would show a 4.2 star rating.
How do you increase your Google review star rating? You increase your google review star rating by first asking for private ratings, fixing problems for low-rating customers, then asking for a review.
How to get 5 star reviews on Google:
- First ask for private ratings
- Fix problems for low-rating customers
- Ask for a Google review
- Comply with Google’s review gating policies
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- How do you get a star rating on Google results?
- How do you ask customers for Google reviews that get results?
- How do you get good Google reviews?
1) First ask for private ratings
Before you ask each customer for a Google review, make sure you’ve done everything possible to earn that customer’s 5 star rating.
Don’t ask customers for a private rating when you see the customer face to face. Many customers will tell you a higher rating than what they will actually leave on Google, because they don’t want to be rude or offend you.
Instead, send the customers an email or text message—depending on their preferred means of communication—asking them to rate the business formally. You’re much more likely to get their honest opinion when they don’t feel they’ll offend you.
When a customer gives you a 5 star rating privately, immediately thank the customer and ask if they would be so kind as to share their experiences publicly in a Google review. Most likely, if they gave you a private 5 stars, they’ll also give you a public 5 star review on Google.
You can systematically do all of this using our online review management tool. The app asks for private ratings by email or SMS text messages, then immediately asks customers who give high ratings to write a 5 star review on Google.
2) Fix problems for low-rating customers
When a customer gives you fewer stars than the current average star rating for your business, then you should take steps to improve their experience before asking again for a public review.
Your first step should be to ask the customer for feedback on what you could have done to earn a 5 star review.
Once you know why the customer gave you a lower-than-average star rating, you can reach out to the customer to fix the problem.
Once again our google review management tool can help.
First, set up the system to ask for feedback if someone gives a low private rating. To do this, just go to Dashboard, then Manage review pages. Click the Edit button for the Google review page, change the Min Stars for Review field to the lowest number of stars a customer can give you privately that warrants asking for an immediate review without first asking for feedback. We recommend you enter a number that is equal to or greater than your current average star rating on Google. Then click the Save button.
Now, anyone who gives a private rating that equal to or greater than the number you entered will immediately be asked for a review on Google and referred to your Google page. But anyone who enters a private rating that’s lower than the number you entered will first get asked for feedback, so you can fix any problems before asking them for the Google review.
Next, set up the system to avoid asking for a Google review after they leave private feedback. To do this, just go to Dashboard, then Customize feedback. Select No review request and then click the Save button.
Now, anyone who leaves a low private rating and gets asked for feedback will be thanked for their feedback, but not asked for a Google review. It will be up to you to ask them for the Google review after you have had a chance to fix their problems, improve their experience, and (hopefully) earn their 5 star review on Google.
3) Ask for a Google review
After you’ve done everything you can to fully satisfy a customer, it’s time to ask for a Google review.
When you ask for the review, it’s vitally important to make it as easy as possible for the customer to leave you a review. Even minor inconveniences will cause customers to abandon the process and just not leave a review.
The link you give customers is the most important way you can make it easy for customers to give you a review, and maximize your conversion rates.
How do you make a Google review 5 star link? You cannot make a Google review 5 star link that fills in 5 stars automatically without Google deleting every review that results from the link.
You can however generate a Google review link that does not fill in 5 stars automatically, but maximizes your chances of getting a review.
How do you get a Google review link? You get a high-converting Google review link by using the free Google Review Link Generator to look up your business by name and location.
The link generator gives you a link that goes to a special Google review page that makes it quick and easy for customers to leave a review.
Don’t use a URL that sends a customer to a search results page or a general Google Maps search page. These pages are generally confusing to most customers. They don’t make it clear what “next step” the customer should take.
Instead, use the link provided by the link generator, which takes the customer directly to an input box where they can click on the number of stars and write their review without any guesswork.
When you use these high-converting Google review links, you’ll see a much higher conversion rate for customers actually writing reviews instead of abandoning the process altogether.
4) Comply with Google’s review gating policies
Make sure you always ask every customer for a Google review, regardless of how they rated your business privately.
Even if you are unable to satisfy an unhappy customer and you know they’ll give you a bad review, ask for the review anyway.
That’s because it’s against Google’s review gating policies to ask only happy customers for reviews.
If you wish to systematically ask every customer for a Google review rather than manually asking after you’ve tried to fix each customer’s problems, our system lets you do that, too. Just go to Dashboard, then Customize feedback. Select Review request instead of No review request and then click the Save button.
Now, whenever an unhappy customer gives you a private rating, the system will ask for feedback, just as before. But once the customer gives feedback, the customer will be thanked, asked for a Google review, and then immediately referred to your Google review page to write the review.
The downside of this setting is that you don’t have time to fix the customer’s problems before asking for the review. So we recommend using the No review request setting instead, spending the time to increase each customer’s satisfaction level, and then manually asking them for the review after you’ve done everything you can to earn the highest star rating possible.
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