Protecting Your Google Reviews: What Funeral Homes Should Know About Review Rules

You know Google reviews can boost your website in search engine results, but how do you encourage more reviews? As a funeral home, you have to account for both compassion and Google guidelines when asking clientele for reviews. 

Asking for a Google review at the time of service is likely only a good idea if loved ones are adamant about supporting your business because they’re thankful for the service you provided. But you can include a review request or link in later follow-up communication with clientele—as long as you follow Google’s rules for solicitating reviews. 

Failure to abide by Google guidelines can result in censure, including the loss of all existing Google reviews—and a potentially related drop in page traffic and rank. 

If you want to make Google reviews part of your funeral home online marketing, here are some rules to keep in mind: 

• Don’t solicit reviews in bulk; if you send emails asking for reviews, make them specific to each family.
• Don’t review your own business or have employees or friends who haven’t used your services write reviews on your behalf.
• Do encourage honest reviews from clientele.
• Don’t use language that specifically attempts to discourage negative reviews in your requests.
• Don’t encourage reviews with anything that might be considered essentially a bribe, such as money, discounts, or contests.

These are the rules for Google reviews. Every review platform has its own guidelines, and not all sites encourage you to solicit reviews. Make sure you know what the specific rules are before you integrate any review site into your funeral home marketing strategy.  

And remember that one of the best ways to garner online reviews is to continuously provide stellar, compassionate service to families during their time of need.   

(NOTE:€¯Monitoring your funeral home€™s online reputation is a requirement for success in the digital age. Try our free€¯Review Scan now€¯for an instant reputation report on your funeral home.)