Showing Google reviews on your website

There are three ways to show Google reviews on your website: link to them, quote a few by hand, or embed a widget that pulls them in automatically. For most small businesses, the best mix is a clear link to your Google reviews plus two or three short quotes copied with the reviewer's name. Widgets can work, but they slow pages down, cost money, and break more often than people expect. Whatever you choose, keep it honest and current.

Why show Google reviews at all

Visitors trust Google reviews because you did not write them and cannot easily remove them. Showing them on your site saves a step: people who were going to look you up on Google anyway can see the reviews right where they are deciding. They also give your own claims some backing. "Careful, tidy, on time" means more when a stranger said it.

Option 1: link to your reviews

The simplest and most honest option. Put a button or link on your site that opens your Google reviews.

How to get the link:

Sign in to your Google Business Profile, either by searching your business name on Google while signed in, or at business.google.com.
Look for the option to get more reviews or share a review form. Google gives you a short link.
That link opens a page where people can read and write reviews.

You can also search your business on Google Maps, open your listing, tap "Share" and copy the link, which opens your listing with its reviews. Google changes the wording of these menus from time to time; the help pages at support.google.com show the current steps.

Where to put it:

Under any reviews on your home page: "Read all our reviews on Google".
On your reviews or testimonials page.
In your footer.
In the email you send after a job, to ask for a review.

Pros: free, always current, no extra code slowing the page, nothing to break. Cons: visitors leave your site to read the reviews.

Option 2: quote a few reviews yourself

Pick two to five reviews that are specific and recent, and copy them onto your site as text. For each one:

Copy the words exactly. Shorten with "..." if needed, but never change the meaning.
Use the reviewer's name the way it appears on Google.
Add "Google review" and the month and year.
Put the link to your full Google reviews nearby.

Place them where they help: a review about a bathroom on the bathroom page, a review about fast response on the contact page.

Update the selection every few months. A review from 2019 at the top of your home page suggests nothing has happened since.

Several services offer a box that shows your latest Google reviews on your site automatically, often with your star rating. Some builders include one.

Things to know before you add one:

Many cost a monthly fee, and stop working when you stop paying.
They load from another company's server, which can slow the page and sometimes show an empty box.
You have less control over which reviews appear and how it looks on phones.
Some only show a filtered selection by default, such as only five-star reviews. Check the settings.
They can break when Google changes how it shares reviews, which has happened before.

If you want one, test the page on your phone before and after adding it, and check how long it takes to appear. Our guide on testing your website speed shows how.

A simpler embedded option is a Google map of your location on the contact page. It shows your business pin, and people can tap through to your listing and its reviews.

Keep it honest

Reviews only work because people trust them. A few things break that trust:

Showing a rating that is not your real one. If you write "five-star rated" on your site, it should match your current Google average. Better to show the real number or no number.
Only showing perfect reviews in a way that misleads. Choosing good reviews to quote is normal. A widget filtered to hide everything below five stars while saying "what our customers say" is close to the line.
Editing reviews. Never change a reviewer's words.
Adding star ratings in your site's hidden code for reviews you collected yourself. Google has guidance that it does not show review stars in search for businesses marking up reviews of themselves on their own site. Our guide on structured data for local businesses explains this plainly.
Buying or swapping reviews. Google and the FTC treat fake reviews seriously. See why buying reviews backfires.

Keeping reviews current

Every few months, look at your latest Google reviews and swap one or two quotes on your site for newer ones.
Check the link still opens your listing, especially after any change to your Google Business Profile.
If you use a widget, glance at it monthly to make sure it still shows reviews and not an error.
Reply to new reviews on Google, good and bad. Visitors who click through read your replies too.

What about bad reviews?

You do not have to show negative reviews on your own site. But do not hide from them on Google. A calm, polite reply to a poor review, explaining what happened and what you did about it, often reassures readers more than another five-star review. Our guide on responding to Google reviews has examples.

What to do this week

Get your Google review link from your Business Profile and test it on your phone.
Add it to your home page, reviews page and footer.
Pick three specific, recent Google reviews and quote them on the matching pages, with names and dates.
If you have a widget, check its settings and how quickly it loads on a phone.
Set a reminder to refresh the quotes in three months.

If you want to see your reviews placed next to the services they describe on a new site, you can see your site rebuilt first and choose the quotes yourself.