How to show Google Star Ratings in Search Results [Step by step guide]

When searching for any product or service on Google, have you observed that some websites in the search results show star ratings that appear below their description? If yes, you'd agree that the first thing that comes to your mind is, I can trust this website because Google has evaluated it thoroughly, and that's why the reviews are visible here in the first place.

The star ratings you see are not only there for visual appeal; they can play a significant role in how many people would likely click on that website link. It's proven that websites with star ratings can get up to 35% more clicks than those that don't. The psychological reason is that your potential customers will trust reviews more than a website self-claiming itself to be great.

Addressing the elephant in the room now, how do you ensure these star ratings appear when someone comes across your business during a Google search?
The simple but not-so-simple answer is, “Review Schema Markup”. Here's an example to show how your star ratings would look in a search result once you get it right.

In this blog, let's understand everything in layman's terms so that you will be 100% clear about implementing a review schema to get those shining star ratings during Google search.

Before we jump in, let's understand some fundamentals to grasp the topics more smoothly. And to know what Review Schema is, let's first know about rich snippets and structured data.

While searching for anything on Google, you would usually observe a list of websites that contain a title, a link, and a short description. But in a few instances, you would see a few extra cool things like:

• Yellow star ratings show how people have rated something.
• The price of a particular product.
• The total reviews it holds.
• Publishing date of an article.
• Or, details about an event, such as the time and place.

This type of extra information is what we term as Rich Snippets.

They usually show up because the business/website owner has added something to their website called Schema Markup. This is like telling Google to show specific things that they want to showcase during a Google search. Then, Google will make the given information(rich snippets) visible to an end user through search results.

Because they catch people’s attention! If you see stars, you might click that link instead of a boring one. That means websites with rich snippets usually get more clicks.

Now it's clear what rich snippets mean and the logic behind them. The way or type in which the information is given to Google to show the rich snippets is called structured data.

Here’s an example:
Imagine you are in a grocery store, but none of the products have any labels to specify what they are. It's hard to get them scanned for billing, as the system can't understand what it is. To make the system understand, we name them through bar code, that's exactly what structured data is. It gives names/labels for each of your website pages so that Google can understand and comprehend easily.

To create these Google-understandable labels, websites currently use a system, and that's called Schema.org. Think of it as a giant dictionary that has a language that websites can speak, which Google will understand.

Overall, when a website uses structured data with the help of Schema.org, it’s like you are telling Google, “Dude, listen, this part of the page is a review!” or “Hey! This is the price of the product!”. Now, Google would easily know and be able to show rich snippets in the user's Google search results based on the schema you give it. You can check the different types of schemas that Google understands.

The review schema is used to showcase reviews as rich snippets over Google search results. Let me elaborate, you know how websites use structured data to speak to Google and give it the information it wants. If reviews are what we want to showcase over search results, we use a specific type of structured data, and that’s a Review Schema.

This helps Google to understand things such as:

• What is the review about (is it a toy, book, restaurant, etc)
• How many stars someone has given (such as 4 out of 5 stars)
• How many folks have left reviews (total reviews)
• Who wrote the review (if it's available)

Whenever any website adds review schema, that's like raising a hand and saying, “Google, listen, do me a favour, show my star ratings in the user's Google search results!”

If you see the bigger picture, when users search, they can see your star ratings immediately, and it will grab their attention. Attention that might be sufficient to make them click on your link. Because not all sites in a search result hold this, consider it like an award Google gives to worthy sites.

Here are 4 proven pointers that will convince you to display star ratings over Google search results.

1. Increases Click-Through Rate (CTR)

One of the best and most significant benefits is that you'll get more visitors on your website. More visitors = Better sales.

It's purely psychological; when you see a few websites in the search results, you are likely to click on the one that shows reviews. It's a social proof and validation from Google that screams, “Hey, click on this link, I've validated them from my end”.

Research has proven that websites with rich snippets, such as reviews, can easily help in increasing sales, as 7 out of 10 users prefer to purchase based only on reading reviews.

2. Builds Trust and Credibility

Trust and credibility are what you need to survive and then scale in this competitive digital era. When a user searches for a product or service, they’re often bombarded with tons of options to choose from. When this happens, they are at the benefit of filtering out a few things straight away. Sometimes, the first thing they'd look for is not whether the solution/product is useful or not, but whether they should believe the vendor/website/business.

Having positive reviews on your website is great only when someone has entered your website in the first place. But to help you stand out in the Google search results and make people click on you, the rich snippets related to star reviews(review schema) are what will get the job done.

3. Helps Users Make Faster Decisions

Consumers are often faced with so many options that they eventually end up not buying anything. It just gets confusing and all over the place from an end-user's perspective.

Star ratings over Google search results make it simple and easy for a potential customer. If they see what they want with high ratings and added proof of validation from Google, they would not think too much and just click on the link to see what it is. Because users don’t want to keep wandering around in the name of research. The star ratings would make their journey easy and also improve your CTR.

4. Gives You a Competitive Edge in Crowded Search Results

As the title says, you’d be the interesting silence in between the chaotic noise. Digital space has too much noise. Even if your website ranks high for a specific search term, you will still face competition to get that click. With star ratings, you will stand out in the chaos of “Look at me! Click on me! Buy from me!”.

Rich snippets with review schema will make it clear to your end users' perception for easy decision making.

When it comes to deciding the spot to add a review schema inside your website. You need to be strategic. Here are 5 proven spots where, if you add a review schema, have the highest chances of Google displaying it in search results. And, decide the spot based on your business type (explained inside pointers).

1. Product Pages

If you run an e-commerce store, the best and most obvious spot to add review schema is in your product pages.

When users search for a specific product, your website would show up with star ratings related to that product. This would make it easy for them to just click on the link, validate again, and purchase.

In a nutshell, it helps users evaluate the quality of your offering at a glance.

2. Service Pages

Places such as restaurants, medical clinics, contractors, etc, can benefit from adding a review schema to their service page that contains reviews. As a local business, star ratings would appear whenever a user searches for places around, which would lead to quick decision-making as they have clarity and validation of the service on offer.

3. Blog Posts or Articles

If you are into product reviews, comparisons, or giving out help guides on your website. Then it would be best if you add a review schema to your blog posts or articles.

What happens now is, when users search for information related to your blog/article, they’ll see star ratings right in the search results and will want to read your content as it’s deemed valuable. This gives you better credibility and helps to stand out.

4. Homepage (Using Aggregated Reviews)

If you are not focusing on selling individual products, and rather have a corporate website or a local business which you want users to explore fully, it's best to show the reviews of your company or local business over the homepage, and add the review schema to that.

By showcasing the average ratings from customer reviews through rich snippets, you can give potential customers a quick sense of your overall credibility.

5. Google Business Profile

If you are a local business, you must sync your Google reviews to your website. Because your Google Business Profile already pops up with customer reviews in search results.

By adding a review schema to your site that has Google reviews embedded, you can make sure that Google pulls your reviews and star ratings directly from your Google business profile. Overall, it leads to better credibility and revenue.

Now let's say you’ve got a few reviews on your website, and you don't want to wait any longer for your star ratings to show up on Google. Here's a simple step-by-step guide to help you quickly.

Step 1: Choose the Right Schema Type

Before you start, there's one last important thing to do: you have to decide on a label (schema type) based on what your webpage is all about. Here, you need to select “Review Schema”. Think of it like selecting the right poster/sticker for your school project so that your teacher knows what it is about at first glance.

In general, here are the 4 most common label types:

• Product: You can use this if the page is about something people can buy, maybe like a toy, laptop, or backpack.
• Local Business: This can be used if your page is all about a business in your town, such as a pizza place, hair salon, or dentist.
• Software Application: This comes in handy if your page is about an app or software, such as a game, tool, etc, which people can download.
• Article: Use this only if your page contains blogs, reviews about a product, or similar, for example, an article that says, “Top 5 headphones for children!”

Each of these is like a different kind of school project sticker for Google as a teacher, it helps it to understand what your page is showing reviews for.

Step 2: Choose the Format to Add the Code (JSON-LD vs Microdata)

After picking the right type of review schema for your website page (like Product, Local Business, etc.), now it's time to add the schema code to your website so Google can comprehend it.

But hold on, there are two ways to do this:

1. JSON-LD

It's the easiest and one of the most recommended ways by Google. This is like writing on a sticky note and sticking it to a wall, it makes sure it doesn't mess up the wall.

You can easily keep all of the information in one neat block of code, and it definitely won’t get in the way of other stuff on your current page.

2. Microdata

This one is a bit trickier. It’s like hiding little stickers/labels inside each part of your webpage. You would have to inject the code inside your HTML, which at times might get messy and confusing, especially if you're not a coding guru.

So, which one should you use?
Go ahead with JSON-LD. It’s cleaner, easier, and makes Google happy.

Step 3: Example: Adding Your Star Rating through JSON-LD

To help you understand how to add star ratings through JSON-LD, here's a super simple example with a website named AITO. Let’s see their schema, where they have added it, and how it looks over the Google search results.

This is the schema code they have used:

<div class="row" itemprop="aggregateRating" itemscope="itemscope" itemtype="http://schema.org/AggregateRating">
    <div class="col-sm-12 col-md-4 rating">
        <span>Overall Company Rating</span>
        <div class="percent">
            <i class="active">
                <svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 48.742663 48.743998">
                    <defs>
                        <clipPath>
                            <path d="M1066.93 1049.11h29.66v-35.75h-29.66z"></path>
                        </clipPath>
                        <clipPath id="rnd6042060">
                            <path d="M753.462 1049.11h28.903v-35.75h-28.903z"></path>
                        </clipPath>
                        <clipPath id="rnd2123776">
                            <path d="M145.192 1468.044h160.715v120.672H145.192z"></path>
                        </clipPath>
                    </defs>
                    <g clip-path="url(#rnd2123776)" transform="matrix(1.33333 0 0 -1.33333 -336.782 2091.242)">
                        <path d="M270.865 1568.432c-10.095 0-18.279-8.184-18.279-18.279s8.184-18.28 18.279-18.28 18.278 8.185 18.278 18.28c0 3.748-1.13 7.23-3.065 10.13-.065-.073-16.84-18.858-19.565-21.054-.464-.375-.862-.462-.862-.462-.363-.077-1.513-.12-2.11 1.317-.625 1.508-1.772 7.839-1.772 7.839-.166 1.426-.31 2.384-.402 3.918-.11 1.794-.081 1.933.483 2.792.393.598 1.554 1.141 2.385 1.352.916.233 2.237.233 2.58.018.43-.268.509-.592.606-1.114.522-2.833.902-5.291 1.062-5.708.158-.41.23-.58.665-.576.277.002.761.41.927.576l7.335 7.169 6.767 6.32c-3.334 3.545-8.063 5.762-13.312 5.762z" fill="#007ec7"></path>
                    </g>
                </svg>
            </i>
            <img src="/images/shared/rating-check.png" />
            <i class="active">
                <svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 48.742663 48.743998">
                    <defs>
                        <clipPath>
                            <path d="M1066.93 1049.11h29.66v-35.75h-29.66z"></path>
                        </clipPath>
                        <clipPath id="rnd6042060">
                            <path d="M753.462 1049.11h28.903v-35.75h-28.903z"></path>
                        </clipPath>
                        <clipPath id="rnd2123776">
                            <path d="M145.192 1468.044h160.715v120.672H145.192z"></path>
                        </clipPath>
                    </defs>
                    <g clip-path="url(#rnd2123776)" transform="matrix(1.33333 0 0 -1.33333 -336.782 2091.242)">
                        <path d="M270.865 1568.432c-10.095 0-18.279-8.184-18.279-18.279s8.184-18.28 18.279-18.28 18.278 8.185 18.278 18.28c0 3.748-1.13 7.23-3.065 10.13-.065-.073-16.84-18.858-19.565-21.054-.464-.375-.862-.462-.862-.462-.363-.077-1.513-.12-2.11 1.317-.625 1.508-1.772 7.839-1.772 7.839-.166 1.426-.31 2.384-.402 3.918-.11 1.794-.081 1.933.483 2.792.393.598 1.554 1.141 2.385 1.352.916.233 2.237.233 2.58.018.43-.268.509-.592.606-1.114.522-2.833.902-5.291 1.062-5.708.158-.41.23-.58.665-.576.277.002.761.41.927.576l7.335 7.169 6.767 6.32c-3.334 3.545-8.063 5.762-13.312 5.762z" fill="#007ec7"></path>
                    </g>
                </svg>
            </i>
        </div>
    </div>
</div>
                                

Similarly, you can create the schema in this format and paste it inside the <head> section of your relevant webpage (or probably use a plugin or CMS tool if you don't want to do it manually).

Now, this is how it currently looks over the Google search results.

Step 4: Play Fair: Tips for Accuracy and Compliance

Here are 3 super important rules you must follow:

• Be Authentic: If your page showcases 4.8 stars, make sure your code also says the same. Don't lie, Google would then just ignore your request to show ratings.
• No Fake Reviews: Fake reviews would get your site in trouble. Google is smarter than you think; it can easily figure it out and stop showing your review stars.
• Ensure Visibility: Make sure people can easily see the reviews on your website page. Never hide them behind tabs, dropdowns, or even pop-ups. If a visitor can’t find your reviews, Google won't consider your request to show them either.

2. Keep Your Data Accurate and Real

Never write fake reviews or change numbers to look better. Google would catch this, and if it does, in some cases, it might even lower your site’s trust. Google would want to see what your visitors see. So, if your code says "4.8 stars," that better matches up to your page as well!

Always make sure that the:

• The rating value in the code matches the page
• The number of reviews is correct as per the page
• Reviewer names (if shown) should be real

Google Rich Results Test Tool

Google’s Rich Results Test Tool is built to check how Google will display your schema markup when showing the search results. This tool can show you whether the page is eligible for rich snippets like review stars.

You can just enter your page URL or the code, the tool will show:

• If your review schema is correct or not
• If your page is eligible for rich snippets (such as star ratings)
• Also, show mistakes that would stop the stars from showing up

Schema Markup Validator

There's another helpful tool, which is the Schema Markup Validator, which checks if your schema is structured correctly and is following the necessary syntax. This tool will help you identify errors that would prevent your review stars from appearing.

Let’s say you wrote this in your code:
"ratingValu": "4.8"

The tool will catch the mistake and say:
“Mate! Did you mean ratingValue?”

The tool checks:

• If your schema code is written in the right way
• If all required parts are present (such as reviewCount, ratingValue, etc.)
• If the structure strictly follows the Schema.org rules

json
{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "Product",
  "name": "Feedspace Video Testimonial Tool",
  "aggregateRating": {
    "@type": "AggregateRating",
    "ratingValue": "4.8",
    "reviewCount": "165"
  }
}
                        

json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@type": "Product",
    "name": "Feedspace Video Testimonial Tool",
    "aggregateRating": {
        "@type": "AggregateRating",
        "ratingValu": "5",
        "reviewCount": "200"
    }
}
                        

Chirag Lathiya

• Author

LinkedIn