What is a review widget? It’s an online reputation management tool designed to display customer ratings and reviews on your business website, attracting traffic, building credibility, driving conversions and fine-tuning your customer service.
About 92% of online consumers check online reviews. If you want the majority of your target audience to pay attention to yours, you may want to keep things centralized. Your website is a great place to gather your customer reviews from different review sites, and what better way to do it seamlessly than employing a review widget?
The Thrive review widget is a powerful tool. It shows your reviews from platforms like Google, Facebook and the Better Business Bureau (BBB) and allows your customers to leave feedback on-site.
This post discusses how to and why you should take advantage of this free review widget. We’ll also touch on the enhanced version of our widget, which you can fully access via our paid software solution. But first, let’s talk a bit about the importance of consolidating what your customers are saying about you online.
When you display reviews online, you encourage potential customers to deepen their understanding of your brand, products or services. Through customer ratings, rants and raves, you also enable them to find and decide on the right fit. You’re leveraging this phenomenon called social proof, in which people copy what other customers have done in hopes of making the correct choice about where their hard-earned money goes.
Social proof marketing renders managing your online reviews, which is a part of online reputation management, a necessity these days. With unique and wide-ranging features, the Thrive widget empowers you to set up and manage yours effectively – and you can get started for free.
What Differentiates the Thrive Widget From Other Review Widgets
The Thrive Internet Marketing Agency team created the free (and paid) review widget to centralize your online reviews. Instead of deploying a Facebook review widget, a Yelp review widget or any standalone version, we combine all your reviews from dozens of trusted review platforms. This system sets the Thrive widget apart from other review widgets because it’s an all-in-one version.
Here are a few more factors that make the Thrive reviews widget the best review widget:
1. It Pulls Reviews From 100 Major Review Sites
There’s no need for a separate BBB review widget, Yelp review widget, Facebook review widget or Google review widget for website integration. Thrive is dubbed the best free widget because it displays reviews from Google My Business, Facebook and BBB.
Take note that the customer review widget for website service also has a version that is included in the paid Thrive subscription. In this case, the widget includes reviews from over 100 sites.
2. It’s FREE and Mobile-Friendly
As we said, you can get the free review widget and cull reviews from three major sites or go all-out with plenty of customization options when you sign up for the Thrive reputation management software. Whichever version you end up with, this online reputation management tool consistently displays well on mobile and desktop. Its grids adapt to the device or screen size of the user to ensure a pleasant user experience (UX).
3. It Comes With a Lot of Customization
The colors of the widget button can be customized in both versions. On the subscription software dashboard, you can make further changes like only show the 4 stars and 5 stars.
“There’s a lot of customization,” said Tim Clarke, Thrive’s Senior Reputation Manager. “You can remove the photo [and] just leave the name. Remove the date or add the date.”
4. Full Website Widget Management
The code for the free version will be sent to you, and you can embed it on your site with ease. Our paying customers have the advantage of reaching out to our client support. We would gladly configure the settings, generate the code and install the widget on your website for no additional cost. Or you could ask us to send you the code and have it installed yourself.
How To Use the Thrive Review Widget (FREE Version)
The Thrive review widget appears at the top of the results when you Google “What is a review widget?” This means search giant Google recognizes Thrive as the best review widget for most businesses’ needs.
What, then, are you waiting for? Here are the steps on how to get reviews from various platforms streamlined and showcased on your website:
1. Log In With Your Preferred Account
You can choose to log in from your LinkedIn, Facebook or Gmail account. Enter your login credentials for your selected account when prompted.
2. Customize the Widget Settings and Appearance
Once you’ve successfully logged in, you can start tinkering with the elements on the dashboard page. Here, you can customize the widget button color and circle. Enter the hex code of your preferred color for each field.
You can also hover over the color options box, as pictured below. Dabble into color theory to create a color scheme that aligns with your website theme and target audience.
Then, choose which side of the website you want the widget tab to appear. You can also opt to show or hide your aggregate rating.
3. Update Review Site Account Information
Now, it’s time to enter your Google service schema settings. The schema is a code containing data that will help us collect your Google reviews. Type in your business name and address, website logo link or URL, telephone number and address.
You will also be asked to add your Facebook and BBB URL. So make sure you have your Facebook and BBB profile pages ready.
Lastly, review the widget settings and then click the “Submit” button to save all the changes you made. The review widget then starts to gather customer reviews, which can take up to four hours. Afterward, your code will be sent to you, and you can embed it on your website to run the free review widget.
How To Use the Thrive Widget (PAID Version)
Earlier, we said that you can also access the Thrive reviews widget on the software dashboard. This version is available to our paying customers. The paid Thrive widget is better because it provides more customization and design options. Check out the steps below to see what it looks like.
Here are the steps on how to display reviews online using this version:
1. Access the Widget
On the left sidebar, look for Widgets >> Review Widgets.
2. Add Widget Content
Enter your widget’s name and content. You can choose to show the summary, review or review and summary. Click “Next”.
3. Pick a Layout
There are several widget types to select from: slider, carousel, grid, list and quote.
List Type
Slider Type
4. Customize Review Sources & Other Details
This widget integrates reviews from exclusive review sources. In addition to the three offered in the non-subscription version, you have Airbnb, Booking, Expedia, Tripadvisor and Yelp. You can choose only what applies to your industry.
At the same time, you can tick off certain elements to display, as shown below:
5. Generate Code
Save your changes. If you’re knowledgeable, add custom CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) to further alter the colors, fonts, etc. Or, you can request us to do so without additional cost. Finally, receive your installation-ready code from us, or let us embed it for you.
Additional Tips
When users click on the widget tab, they will see your customer ratings and reviews right away. You can exclusively display the 4- and 5-star reviews from across the sites, reinforcing your social proof marketing plan. If you’re wondering about how to increase reviews, remember that a lot of positive reviews can affect purchase intent.
Okay, but what about the negative reviews? Here’s how to get reviews of this kind managed. When customers write a review on the website, the Thrive reviews widget lets them rate the business first. Then, the customer is directed to a private email form.
“We allow the customer to complain or vent, and the email goes directly to us and our client automatically,” said Clarke. “So this allows the business to follow up with the unhappy customer. But there’s no bad review on Google. It’s all internal. And they can try to fix the situation and make the customer happier.”
The Benefits of Using the Thrive Review Widget
1. Collates Reviews That Boost Your Credibility
Approximately 84% of consumers rely on trusted reviews the way they do personal recommendations. For these people, reading more positive reviews from reputable platforms increases their purchase intent.
Showcase your glowing reviews and high ratings on your website and bolster your social proof with the Thrive widget. It’s a BBB, Facebook and Google review widget for website pages rolled into one, so you’re sure it’s displaying feedback from credible sources.
2. Enhances Your Local Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Efforts
Moz listed review signals as a local search ranking factor. This means search engines use customer reviews to rank the most relevant results. For instance, Google may consider how many reviews you have (review quantity), how often you get new reviews (review velocity) and how many review sites your customer ratings and reviews appear on (review diversity).
The Thrive widget packs all of these powerful metrics in one place, sending a strong signal to Google that your website is trustworthy. In turn, you’re positioned in front of your target audience, especially at your locale where your business can benefit from expanding.
3. Converts Site Visitors Into Paying Customers
Have you ever wondered how much influence online reviews wield on buyer behavior? Research shows that business-to-consumer (B2C) sales could rise by a whopping 166% when ratings, reviews, comments and other user-generated content (UGC) are integrated into eCommerce stores. Again, with the Thrive reviews widget, you can put your social proof marketing gears to work, displaying feedback that compels visitors to complete desired actions.
4. Provides Insight Into Customer Behavior
Thrive is the best review widget because it gives you insight into your customer base. Since it is more than just a Yelp review widget, Facebook review widget or Google review widget for website pages – but rather an all-in-one – you can look into the platforms that are popular with your customers. Then, you can target and engage with them where they like to hang out more online.
5. Optimizes Overall Customer Experience
With Thrive’s customer review widget for website service, you can embed customizable ratings and reviews on your site. You can simplify how to increase reviews by making the review field accessible with a few clicks. You can also respond to existing reviews promptly, whether they’re positive or negative, sending the message to your customers that you value their feedback. All of these work together to deliver a seamless and delightful experience to them, encouraging them to return and buy again from you.
The All-In-One Powerful Review Widget
What’s a review widget worth?
The free Thrive reviews widget is an essential online reputation management tool because it efficiently consolidates your customer ratings and reviews from across the web. That makes it easy to monitor reviews, including bad ones. It also shows businesses how to increase reviews through social proof marketing and how to get reviews that sound more like angry rants fixed. As such, it is inexorably linked with the other services Thrive provides, from review monitoring and review generation to online reputation repair.
By itself, both the free and paid versions of the Thrive widget are a handy tool for attracting the majority of online consumers who like to check online reviews before making a purchase. It’s nifty and it packs a lot of punch.
In fact, the widget is one of our most popular features. Why? Because in this increasingly digital world, it highlights customer feedback, which has an influential role to maintain just as word of mouth impacted traditional marketing. This is where the Thrive review widget derives its power and purpose.
Download the Thrive reviews widget for FREE and start reaping the benefits now! Better yet, sign up for a free demo to learn more about the paid review widget option and its benefits to your customers.
