How do I embed all my Google My Business ratings and reviews on my own website?

Google My Business is a free tool that Google offers to companies allowing them to efficiently manage their online presence.

Google.com is by far the most visited website in the world. According to Statista, in June 2022 they received a cool 85.2 billion visits. A dizzying statistic that demonstrates the immense power and influence that search engines have over internet users. It is now very unlikely that an internet user can open their computer and not find themselves using, in any given moment, a Google service. This could take the form of the classic search engine, but also any one of the plethora of parallel services that this company has created or bought throughout the years. Gmail, Android, YouTube to name but a few.

Amongst the number of free tools that Google provides, is their offering to companies: Google Business (previously Google My Business). Google My Business is a free tool that Google offers to companies allowing them to efficiently manage their online presence. What this means is that companies can establish a direct link between themselves and the market in which they operate. This link is established via, amongst other means, ratings and reviews.

What are Google My Business Reviews?

Google My Business reviews are ways in which customers of a particular business can rate their experience of using them or one of their products or services. This is done via the awarding of between 1 to 5 stars and the comments left.

These comments and evaluations appear alongside the search results shown on Google for the associated company. As a result of positive comments left by previous users of the company, they might be the final factor that provokes a potential customer to continue onto the company´s website. On the other, the very sight of negative reviews could totally dissuade the very same potential customer from seeking further information.

Therefore, it is very important that hosts and property managers are clear about the potential repercussions, mentioned above, before signing up for this service.

How do reviews work on Google?

A review on Google consists of both a comment as well as the awarding of between 1 and 5 stars. As already mentioned, Google has made the mechanism for leaving these reviews and evaluations extremely simple to handle. In fact, Google encourages users through a variety of means, especially if users post frequent reviews of companies or places.

This is so important to Google because they consider that these evaluations, especially from more engaged users, provide valuable information regarding a variety of businesses. As a result, when we perform a Google search of the name of a company, we are occasionally presented with a box containing these assessments as well as a small number of related reviews.

How to improve my Google reviews

Unlike other platforms, Google does not “verify” comments, as such. They do, however, utilize geopositioning to ensure that the user has at least been physically present in the location of the business that they are reviewing. However, this could simply mean that they passed by, not that they necessarily entered and experienced what the business is offering…

As a result of this, anybody could look to damage a business´ reputation by leaving negative Google reviews. Although this might seem like a draw-back, it can also present a great opportunity.

Owners of vacation rentals have at their disposal numerous mechanisms with which to create positive reviews on Google and improve their reputation.

They can do this by simply asking satisfied customers, be it on social media, in person or via email, to leave a positive review.

In fact, there is nothing to stop a business from achieving positive ratings and reviews by deploying a campaign of email marketing, offering gifts or another type of benefit, by way of an incentive.

Why should we collate all Google My Business reviews on our own website?

Without doubt, Google My Business can provide hosts and property managers of vacation rentals with a multitude of benefits and opportunities to grow their business. This is especially true if their listings are awarded a high number of positive reviews. Moreover, every property manager knows that these benefits are amplified even further if the very same ratings and reviews are also transferred to our own website.

It has been proven that people have more confidence in ideas that are expressed across various platforms. The grouping of reviews obtained via platforms such as Google My Business together with those obtained via our own sites is the most effective strategy in promoting our website. What’s more, displayed together, they show that real people have given their stamp of approval to your listings, which can further result in more direct reservations.

The main reason why we should pay attention to the ratings and reviews of our previous guests displayed all over the web is that the users that arrive without any intervention from any other third-party platform are probably going to be our best customers. Right from the get-go they are our most economical guests, for whom we don’t have to pay any commission to any other platform that initially captured them their own advertisements.

In addition, the concentration of reviews in one place has further advantages: it boosts your visibility, enhances your profile, increases the possibilities of converting the potential customer visiting your website into a reservation and benefits the global positioning of your website. In summary, they can help your vacation rental business become even more competitive.

How can we fully utilize all the dispersed comments currently spread across Google My Business and similar sites?

As mentioned previously, 70% of consumers consult various reviews sites when choosing a company with which to book their vacation rental. Those who use Google My Business follow the trend. By showing customers all the information that they require grouped together on your own website, what in effect you manage to achieve is that they don’t need to consult any other website. As a result of this, your direct reservations will increase significantly.

But, what is the best way to compile all the ratings and reviews scattered across different websites and most productively combine them on your own website? All you need to do is integrate a widget, offered by a review aggregator such as Reyvoos. It´s simple, easy and very effective.

What is a widget?

For those not yet versed in the use a widget, it is a component that can be shown wherever you would like on your website. It is normally a visual component, therefore once added and configured, you’ll be able to see the result on the front-end of your webpage.

There are many varieties of widgets: widgets to add image galleries, widgets to add buttons or links and in our case, widgets to add ratings and reviews from Google My Business, as well as those from other verified third parties.

Google My Business ratings and reviews widget

It’s easy to add all your disparate ratings and reviews from Google My Business and other sites to your website, helping you to take full advantage of them. As well as displaying your verified Google My Business ratings and reviews, widgets allow you to improve your SEO positioning on Google and other search engines. Thanks to Rich Snippets (structured data), you can show the number of stars awarded to you by your guests on the list of Google search results.

For example, with Reyvoos, in just a few minutes you can include all of your external reviews on your website, generating more confidence amongst its visitors and obtaining more direct reservations. Widgets allow you to embed your reviews not only from Google My Business, but also the other main vacation rental platforms such as TripAdvisor, Vrbo, Airbnb, Expedia, Booking.com as well as other platforms such as TrustPilot and Facebook.