Get More Reviews

In order to get more reviews, you may have to ask for them. Yelp prohibits asking for reviews but other sites are ok with it.

Collect Email Addresses

First off, you will want to ask your client if they are collecting customers email addresses. If they are not, you’ll want to have them start doing that. The best way is by using a CRM, invoicing software or some other tool. If they want to do it the old school way, they can simply add them to an Excel sheet for you. You’ll want to collect their first name as well if you can.

Send Emails

Next, you will want to send out emails to these customers asking them to leave a review. Obviously, it would make sense to only email customers that you know are satisfied. But most sites don’t want you to do this. They call it review gating. For example, Google says: “Don’t discourage or prohibit negative reviews or selectively solicit positive reviews from customers.”

When you send off these emails, make sure to spread them out so that your client doesn’t get a bunch of reviews all at once. That can look unnatural and attract attention. I’d say to send out no more than ten emails per day for small clients.

Email Template

Here’s an email template you can use to ask customers to leave a review. It can also help give them some ideas of what to include in their review.

_____________


Hi [name],

My name is [name] and I'm contacting you on behalf of [business owner] from [business name].

Online reviews from awesome customers like you can help others feel confident about choosing [business name] and will really help them to grow their business. Could you take 60 seconds to leave them a review on Google? Simply sign into your Google account and click here to leave a review. ← Add a link to their GMB listing here. You can use this tool if needed: https://www.brightlocal.com/free-local-seo-tools/google-id-and-review-link-generator/

They would really appreciate it. Thank you in advance for helping them out!

Not sure what to write about? The best reviews offer a wealth of detail and a helpful tip or two for others considering their services. Here are some questions that should give you some ideas about what to write about:

1) What service did they complete for you?
2) Which location did you have this service at?
3) What do you like about working with [business name]?
4) Did you work with any specific people you’d like to mention?

The more detail you can provide, the better, but we’d love a brief review as well if you’re short on time or inspiration.

Thank you,
[name]

Further Reading: https://whitespark.ca/blog/how-to-get-keywords-in-your-reviews-whitespark-weekly/