Is It Illegal to Ask for Google Reviews
v Warnings Yous Need to Hear About Google's Review Policy
One of the best means to boost your brand online is through positive user reviews. Unfortunately, well-nigh people don't have the time to get out comments near a business unless they had a bad experience. According to a recent survey, customers are 21 percent more probable to exit a negative review than a positive one. It'southward ane of the golden rules – if you practice your task correctly, no one notices or cares.
Because of this disparity between positive and negative reviews, some companies will bend over backward to become customers to leave loftier marks on Google and other platforms. Yet, this process is kind of catchy to navigate since Google has some strict review policies. So, before you lot first hustling for those five-star ratings, be sure to keep these warnings in heed.
1. You Can Solicit Reviews – To a Signal
One of the best means to get customer reviews is to inquire for them. However, your asking can't be as well direct or suggestive. For example, asking someone to review your business after their purchase or service is fine. Asking for them to leave you a five-star review is questionable. While you can encourage positive reviews (if you similar our service, please charge per unit us on Google!), you can't discourage negative ones.
2. You lot Tin can't Buy Reviews
Since online ratings can have such a profound impact on your business, you may be tempted to incentivize customers to leave positive feedback. If you're feeling extra industrious, you might opt to pay people to get out reviews, whether they've patronized your visitor or non. Unfortunately, this do is both forbidden past Google and illegal, according to the Federal Trade Commission.
The FTC has strict guidelines on this kind of solicitation, and it pushes back difficult confronting businesses that do it. The FTC considers paid reviews to be "fake advert" and could slap your visitor with a hefty fine. Even worse, Google will take down all your paid reviews, and so you lot'll current of air upwards worse off than earlier.
Some other tactic that some companies have used in the past is running a contest for leaving a review. I instance is a law firm that offered costless zoo passes to clients who left a review. This practice violated Google's guidelines, and so it deleted all the customer ratings.
3. You Tin can't Solicit Reviews "In Bulk"
While the specific definition of "in majority" is somewhat open to interpretation, Google does offer a fleck of elbowroom for businesses who want to encourage more than customers to go out reviews. Here are some examples:
- Posting on Social Media – If you lot have a generic post on your wall that asks for reviews, that should be okay. Although your followers can see it, they aren't being asked direct. If you lot tagged a bunch of people in the post, that could violate the rule.
- Automated Emails – One excellent way to solicit reviews is to send a follow-up email to customers after using your product or service. Fifty-fifty though this procedure is automatic, it doesn't violate the "in bulk" definition because y'all're merely sending one message to a specific individual.
- Mass Emails – On the other hand, if you send a review email to your entire subscriber list, that could be considered "majority" solicitation. That said, it tin be difficult to evidence, depending on the language yous use and the size of your list.
Overall, this dominion is designed to prevent businesses from asking large groups of customers to leave a review. Instead, information technology'due south better to address everyone individually with an email or Google Review QR code on a receipt.
4. You Tin can't Remove Bad Reviews
Although you tin't prevent someone from leaving a negative review, what if yous just took it off your Google My Business listing? This way, new customers won't come across the bad ratings and only focus on the proficient ones. Unfortunately, this tactic violates Google's guidelines and is incommunicable to do. You lot can't remove reviews – only Google tin. That said, if you think that a review is disingenuous or simulated, y'all can submit a merits to the Google Review team.
5. You Can't Have Employees, Friends, or Family unit Go out Reviews
Finally, don't try to go for the piece of cake reviews and solicit people yous know. The problem with this strategy is that the reviews are going to be biased. Asking employees adds a whole other layer of violations because information technology could be considered a "quid pro quo" state of affairs. Essentially, employees may call back that they must leave a review or face workplace consequences.
Tips on Asking for Google Reviews
With so many guidelines and restrictions, information technology tin can be hard to know what's allowed and recommended. Hither are some peak tips on getting more people to leave positive reviews on Google and other platforms.
Ask Every Customer
Equally we mentioned, bulk solicitation indicates asking a agglomeration of customers at once. However, y'all can ask the same number of people with i-on-one interactions. Incorporate your Google Review QR code or link wherever you lot tin – your website, invoices, receipts, and emails. When customers are reminded of leaving a review, they're more likely to follow through.
Answer to Reviews
When customers tin can see that a business pays attending and responds to reviews, they'll be encouraged to leave more than. This is especially truthful if you address negative reviews. For example, if someone has a bad experience, you lot tin can respond to them with a message to achieve out to you directly.
Make it Easy
The fewer obstacles people take to face when leaving a review, the more likely they'll practice it. Having your QR code handy is an fantabulous pick since customers can just scan it with their phones and get-go typing.
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Source: https://biziq.com/blog/google-review-policy-warnings/
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