The LocalGap blog
Google reviews and local competitor analysis, explained
Plain-language guides for owners of restaurants, trades, salons, clinics and other local businesses.
Basics
Why Google Reviews Matter for Your Local Business
How Google reviews affect whether people find you, choose you and trust you, and why reading your competitors' reviews matters just as much as collecting your own.
· 5 min read
Getting reviews
How to Get More Google Reviews for Your Business
Simple, rule-friendly ways to get more Google reviews from real customers: when to ask, what to say, how to share your review link and what to avoid.
· 6 min read
Competitor analysis
How to Analyze Competitors Using Google Reviews
A step-by-step method for reading your competitors' Google reviews, spotting patterns in praise and complaints, and turning them into changes you can make this week.
· 7 min read
Managing reviews
How to Respond to Negative Google Reviews
How to reply to a bad Google review calmly and professionally, with a simple template, what never to say and when to ask Google to remove a review.
· 5 min read
Competitor analysis
Local Competitor Analysis for Small Business
What local competitor analysis is, what to look at, free ways to do it and how to turn what you learn into a plan, written for owners rather than marketers.
· 6 min read