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While it’s easy to leave a review of a business on Google Maps, it’s tougher to pitch that review just right. It’s very easy to be overly harsh based on a single bad experience or heap too much praise on a business you know well and love as a result. Thankfully, I’m here to help you craft the perfect Google Maps review…
Leaving Google Maps Reviews for Businesses
If you ever use Google Maps, you’ll be familiar with the reviews left for businesses. These reviews contribute to the overall star rating a business has on Google, contain personal accounts of people’s experience using a business, and may even include photos showing as well as telling the story of a business.
Some businesses openly ask customers to leave reviews, especially if they’ve clearly had an enjoyable experience. However, regardless of what sort of experience you have, you’re able to very easily aid other potential customers by detailing your own personal account of a visit.
I started reviewing businesses on Google Mapswhile on vacation in 2023 and have thoroughly enjoyed doing so. I strive to be firm but fair, leaving a positive review when a business has exceeded expectations and a negative review when things aren’t quite up to scratch.
In leaving reviews on various businesses, both local and further afield, I’ve learned some important lessons that help me craft better reviews. There are some basic guidelines to adhere to, and advice on what to include and what not to include (including photos).
How to Craft a Good Review (the Basics)
The first ingredient you need to write the perfect Google Maps review is first-hand experience with the business in question. This may seem obvious, but unfortunately,people have been known to leave fake reviews, whether on Google Maps or other platforms. I have only ever left reviews on businesses I have visited at least once.
So, call in and use the business, whether it’s a grocery store, restaurant, coffee shop, or hotel, before you even think about writing a review. Even then, multiple visits would be ideal to build a broader picture of the business in question, but if it’s a one-off visit, your review will have to be based on that singular experience.
Next, consider your visit(s) as a whole. Rather than focus on one specific part of it/them, think about the business in a broader sense. Did it deliver what was promised? Was the customer service good, bad, or indifferent? Would you willingly return or even recommend the business to family and friends?
Start with the overall star rating (out of five) and then build your review around that. Essentially, whatever you write needs to justify the star rating. If, in a fit of pique, you have left a business a one-star review, then you need to explicitly explain why it deserves such a terrible score. Getting food poisoning from a meal in a restaurant would likely justify a one-star review, but your food being slightly cold or the server being a little surly probably doesn’t.
What to Include (and What to Leave Out)
It’s important to understand what is and isn’t appropriate to include in a Google Maps review, especially if you’re only visiting a business once. Your experience on that visit is important, obviously, but it can produce a skewed review that isn’t entirely accurate.
If you visit a business regularly, seek to produce a review that’s an amalgamation of all of your visits.Businesses are very reliant on their staff, and if the staff rotate between visits, your experience could be affected. However, you can still make an accurate assessment based on the overall vibe.
If you visit a business just once, writing a review presents some challenges. It’s far too easy to have one good stay at a hotel, one good meal in a restaurant, or one good night in a bar and give a glowing review. The opposite is also true, with your one bad experience not mirroring other people’s experiences.
Always be honest when leaving a review. However, that doesn’t mean including every little thing that may have been wrong, whether that was an errant hair on a hotel’s floor or one dish in a restaurant that wasn’t as good as you were expecting it to be. You should also avoid naming staff who you personally didn’t find agreeable enough, as that could get them fired.
How to Be Firm But Fair When Leaving a Review
Being firm but fair in a Google Maps review means carefully considering what you’re writing rather than reacting with a knee-jerk response immediately after visiting a business. As suggested above, basing a review on one visit or even one small part of that visit could lead to you leaving an unfair review that isn’t actually very useful to other potential customers.
My policy thus far has been not to review businesses that I havea.only visited once andb.had a bad experience with. This is to avoid harshly condemning a business to a poor, potentially damaging review based on it having an off day. Everyone has them, and it’s good to give businesses the benefit of the doubt, especially if prior reviews have been good. However, I will leave a glowing review if I have a great experience on a single visit, as that’s a lot less risky.
Another way to ensure that you’re being fair in your reviews is to take a quick look at other reviews before writing your own. This isn’t intended to render your own experience less important but more to help you see clearly whether your own experience was similar to other people’s experiences or an exception (good or bad).
The Importance of Adding a Photo to Your Review
Once you have written your review, you should strongly consider adding a photo of the business alongside it. That is if you take one during your visit. First and foremost, this proves beyond reasonable doubt that you actually visited the business in person and that your account, whether positive or negative, is genuine. Not only have people been known to leave fake reviews to harm a business,AI is now an ominous threat to legitimacy.
Beyond that, a photo or photos add some flavor to a review. You’re showing as well as telling people what to expect from visiting that business, which potential customers will appreciate. Pictures of meals in restaurants, the seating at a bar, or the cleanliness of a room in a hotel all help create a picture that is impossible to build with words alone.
My best-received Google Maps review includes a photo of the owner standing behind the bar, which has been viewed hundreds of times. It not only proves that I frequent the business, but it has also added a face to it. Businesses can be cold, money-making machines, so showing the person behind this particular one breaks that illusion down.
A Step-By-Step Guide to Crafting a Perfect Google Maps Review
Now that you know how to craft the perfect Google Maps review, let’s summarize:
I recommend that everyone starts leaving reviews on Google Maps, especially if you’ve had either an excellent or terrible experience. These reviews can help everyone involved, but especially future customers considering visiting the business themselves. Just be sure to follow the advice above in order to pitch your Google Maps review just right.
