What makes a good Google Review - with examples

Choose Google and Yelp reviews that convert—social proof for your socials, made easy!

Look out for these four characteristics of Google reviews that pack an extra punch for your social proof content pillar. Not all reviews will have all four, but try to choose reviews with at least one to get the most out of your reviews-based content.

Review too long for alt-text, so I am including here: “So within 24 hours, I went from thinking that we’d be having to purchase a new violin, or in the best case scenario a very extensive and costly repair, and my daughter not having her own violin for class for a while—to having her own violin completely repaired, good as new, for $5, over a weekend, and back to orchestra class Monday morning without missing a beat.”

1: Customer Journey

Your potential clients/customers want to know exactly what to expect when they walk in your doors. Having pictures of your menu on your Google listing (restaurant), your service prices and policies (salon/spa), and accurate hours are all part of this. These are the things you can control, though.

Reviews are the window people have into your business that isn’t filtered by you. So a good review is one that gives curious buyers an insight into the whole experience from the customer’s point of view.

2: Funny/Exaggerated Claims

Anyone can say “food was good, drinks were well-mixed and not watery.” The problem is that it goes in one ear and out the other—it’s boring, and frankly, kind of the bare minimum.

But telling people that you traveled hundreds of miles, 12+ hours for the food? It has shock value: the good kind.

These reviews are more likely to get your followers engaging with your content...and coming into your business!

3: Emphasized Longevity

Nobody goes to the same restaurant more than once or twice if they don’t like it. Nobody uses the same photographer for every life event and annual family shoot if the pictures are just ‘meh.’

So when your reviews get specific and call out repeat purchases or long-standing patronage, that means something to potential buyers. It communicates that what you’re selling isn’t just okay, it’s improving people’s lives.

Over and over and over again.

4: Specific Benefits

Whether you are selling a product, experience, or a service, good marketing positions that offering as a solution to your target customers’ needs. When they’re researching your offer, it’s a sort of job interview they’re putting you through: are you/your product/your service the right hire for this particular job? Good Google reviews are like previous employer recommendations. A reference letter.

“Was a good worker” means less to a potential new boss than “when we were coming up against a hard deadline and we weren’t sure if we had the manpower to get it done, he came into the office every day for two weeks until the project was completed.” In the same way, “she does a good job” means less to someone in the research phase than “our goals are being met and exceeded” or “she brings fresh ideas and puts great care into each project.”

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Checklist:

• Does this review take the reader through the customer journey?

• Does this review include a witty or exaggerated claim that will help the reader remember something about my business?

• Does this review quantify the customer’s loyalty to provide insight to the long-standing quality of my offer?

• Is this review specific enough to communicate the benefits my offer provides in a way that will resonate with my ideal buyer?