Google reviews and your Business Profile: a guide for beauty pros

01Before Instagram and websites, clients see the Google map

“Manicure near me”, “lash extensions Riga”, “cosmetologist Jelgava”. When a client searches like that, the first thing they see is often not websites but a map with three businesses, stars and the number of reviews. Many choose right there, without opening a single website.

A Google Business Profile is free, and a master who works alone or from home can have one too. This article covers how Google decides what to show, what to fill in, how to collect and answer reviews, and what you mustn't do.

02How Google decides who to show

Google itself says that local results come down to three things:

1. Relevance. How well your profile matches the search. The right category, services and description matter most here.
2. Distance.How close you are to the person searching. You can't change that.
3. Prominence. How well known the business is. The number of reviews, the rating and how often you are mentioned and linked to elsewhere all count.

That means two things are fully in your hands: how well your profile is filled in and how regularly new reviews come in.

03A profile that works: 10 things

You create the profile at business.google.com. Google will check that the business is real. Exactly how depends on the case: by video, by phone or another way. Once the profile is verified, go through this list:

How to add your booking link to Google Maps step by step is in How to add your booking link to Google Maps and Instagram.

04Why the number of reviews matters more than the rating

Clients don't only compare stars. A profile with 4.9 and three reviews looks less trustworthy than 4.7 with sixty. Three things matter:

• Count. More reviews mean the rating can be trusted.
• Freshness. A last review from two years ago suggests the business has closed.
• Replies. Clients see how you talk to people, including when something went wrong.

05The maths of stars

The rating is a plain average, so one bad review is a disaster for a profile with five reviews and barely changes one with fifty. Put in your own numbers:

That is why reviews need to be asked for regularly, not only when the rating drops. The more you have, the calmer you can be about each new one.

06How to reply to reviews

Reply to all of them, including short “all great” ones. For a positive one, a single personal sentence is enough. For a negative one, reply calmly, not straight away: calm down first, then write. This reply will be read not only by this client but by everyone who opens your profile.

You can't delete a review yourself. If it breaks Google's rules, for example it was written by someone who was never your client, or it contains abusive language, you can report it for Google to review.

07What you mustn’t do

The rules on reviews are stricter than many people think. Google sets them out in its policies, and in the European Union consumer law has also banned fake reviews since 2022. Test yourself:

08How it works in RINDIQ

RINDIQ Reviews(on the Professional and Business plans) asks for reviews automatically and the same way for everyone: once a client has been to you a set number of times, they get an email asking for one. If they don't leave a review, there is one reminder a few days later, and that's it. No client gets more than two automatic requests.

• In the review settings you can enter your Google review link. After a client leaves a review in RINDIQ, the thank-you screen invites them to write the same on Google.
• You choose which reviews appear on your booking page, and each one shows it was written by a real client after a visit.
• If you want to ask one particular client, you can do it with one button on their client page.

If you are still wondering whether you need a website when you already have a Google profile and Instagram, read Do I need a website if I have Instagram?.