Showing Google reviews on your website, the right way

Key takeaways

Showing Google reviews on your website turns your reputation into on-page proof. Use a lightweight widget or quote selected reviews with the reviewer's name and date, and always link to your Google profile so visitors can check. Spiegel Research Center found purchase likelihood was 270% higher for products with five reviews than with none.

• Purchase likelihood was 270% higher with five reviews than none (Spiegel).
• Show reviewer names and dates, and link to the Google profile.
• Heavy third-party widgets can slow pages; check speed.
• Do not filter out every critical review; it looks curated.

Why show Google reviews on your website?

Most buyers check reviews before contacting a business, and many do it on Google. Showing reviews on your site saves them the trip and puts proof next to the decision. Research from Northwestern University's Spiegel Research Center found displaying reviews raised purchase likelihood substantially, with the biggest jump from no reviews to the first few.

• How website design influences brand credibility
• The four types of website credibility, explained

What are the options for displaying them?

There are three common approaches, each with trade-offs.

• Widget: shows live reviews automatically; can add scripts that slow the page.
• Quoted reviews: copy selected reviews as text with name, date and star rating; fast, needs updating.
• Rating badge: shows your average and count with a link; light and simple.

• Third-party scripts: the hidden reason your site is slow
• Does a slow website damage trust in your brand?

What do the rules allow?

Quote reviews accurately and do not edit their meaning. UK law under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 bans fake reviews and publishing reviews in a misleading way, such as hiding negative ones while implying a full picture. Google's policies prohibit fake or incentivised reviews and selectively asking only happy customers.

• Fake reviews law in the UK: what businesses must know
• Should you show negative reviews on your website?

Where should reviews go?

Put an overall rating and two or three short reviews near the top of the homepage, then relevant reviews on each service page, beside the contact form and on pricing pages. Match reviews to the page: a review mentioning boiler repairs belongs on the boiler repair page.

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• Testimonials and case studies on your website

When do reviews on your site not help?

They help less if you have very few reviews, if they are years old or if your rating is poor. Fix the review flow first by asking every satisfied customer. Reviews will not help either if they are impossible to verify, such as anonymous quotes with no link to an independent platform.

• New business website: credibility before you have reviews

What does this look like in practice?

A pattern we see: a business installs a review carousel that loads several scripts and slows the homepage noticeably on phones. Replacing it with three quoted reviews, the star average and a 'Read all reviews on Google' link keeps the proof and restores speed.

• See client work
• Website Design & Development for UK businesses

Google reviews display checklist

• Show rating, count and a link to your Google profile.
• Quote reviews accurately with name and date.
• Match reviews to the service on each page.
• Check widgets do not slow the page.
• Refresh quoted reviews every quarter.

• The website credibility score: rate your site out of 10
• Review stars in Google results: who can still get them

Next step

Pick your three best recent Google reviews and add them, with names and dates, to your homepage this week.