Google Reviews
What are Google Reviews?
Google Reviews are a powerful tool to get your website ranking and to position yourself locally as a leading agency.
Why is it important?
Building a positive, protective bank of 5-star Google Reviews protects your agency from malicious 1-star reviews having a significant impact on your star ranking, thereby affecting consumer willingness to contact your agency.
Your Google reviews are important for two key reasons; they are tied with your rankings in the Local Map Pack results, where your goal should be in the top three, and the organic ranking of your website. These results are especially prominent on mobile devices where around three-quarters of people make their real estate searches.
When to ask for Google reviews?
It’s as simple as asking for one when something good happens.
- You’ve sold a house above the vendor’s reserve price
- Meeting the seller’s timeline in terms of how quickly they want their property sold
- You sell a house off-market, exceeding vendor’s expectations
- You’ve helped someone secure their dream home
- After you’ve sent a landlord/rental provider a really positive inspection condition report
- After finding a very good tenant/renter for a property, and having it leased in record time
- You’ve leased a property seamlessly to a tenant/renter after they’ve been searching for a while
- You have sorted a maintenance issue outside business hours making the tenant/renter very thankful
Essentially, you need to ask for a review every time you exceed someone’s expectations.
How to ask for Google reviews?
By sending your clients the link to your Google review page via SMS or email. You must not use below pro forma template to send blanket emails to your whole customer database in an office. That approach has been proven ineffective and is also a breach of Google’s terms of service.
SUBJECT LINE: Thank you for choosing First National Real Estate | Was everything OK?
BODY COPY:
Hi [insert name],
Thank you again for choosing First National Real Estate [office]. We appreciate you have a choice and are happy to have had the opportunity to be of service.
If there's anything we can do to improve, please let us know. It’s through direct feedback that we are able to continually improve.
Google reviews help people work out which local real estate agents are right for them.
If you can spare a moment to write us a review, we’d be grateful and here’s the link to our review panel:
[add link]
We look forward to being of service to you again.
Kind regards,
[insert name]
SUBJECT LINE: Thank you for buying through First National Real Estate | Was everything OK?
BODY COPY:
Hi [insert name],
First National Real Estate [office] is really pleased to have helped you into your new home.
If there's anything we can do to improve, please let us know. It’s through the direct feedback of our buyers that we are able to continually refine our service offering.
Google reviews help people work out which local real estate agents are right for them.
If you can spare a moment to write us a review, we’d be very grateful. Here’s the link to our review panel:
[add link]
We look forward to our ongoing association.
Kind regards,
[insert name]
SUBJECT LINE: Thank you for choosing First National Real Estate property management services | Would you care to offer a review?
BODY COPY:
Hi [insert name],
First National Real Estate [office] greatly appreciates your loyalty. We know you have a choice and are delighted to have you as an ongoing customer.
If there's anything we can do to improve, please let us know. It’s through the direct feedback of our landlords that we are able to continually refine our service offering.
Google reviews help people work out which local real estate agents provide the best property management services.
If you can spare a moment to write us a review, we’d be grateful and here’s the link to our review panel:
[add link]
We look forward to our ongoing association.
Kind regards,
[insert name]
SUBJECT LINE: Thank you for choosing First National Real Estate | Was everything OK?
BODY COPY:
Hi [insert name],
First National Real Estate [office] wants to thank you for being such a great tenant. We appreciate you have a choice and are delighted to have you as our customer.
If there's anything we can do to improve, please let us know. It’s through the direct feedback of our tenants that we are able to continually improve.
Google reviews help people work out which local real estate agents are the best to rent through.
If you can spare a moment to write us a review, we’d be grateful and here’s the link to our review panel:
[add link]
We look forward continuing to be of service.
Kind regards,
[insert name]
Why respond to Google reviews?
It’s very important that your agency’s Gmail account is configured to forward a notification to an email address that is monitored 24/7 (Ideally the person who has been delegated the role of sending out the requests). That way, the moment a good or bad review is received, the agency gets notification and can respond asap. Google measures responsiveness and agencies that collect reviews, gradually, over time, and respond always to positive or negative reviews, will see their website lifted through the organic rankings and eventually will be displayed within the top 3 agencies in the Map Pack.