How to Embed Google Reviews on Your Website (2026)

Ninety-seven percent of consumers read online reviews before choosing a local business (BrightLocal 2026). Most of those reviews live on Google. Most business websites do not show them. That disconnect is a problem: customers land on your homepage, form a first impression without any social proof, and only go to Google if they want to double-check you. By then you've already had your chance to build trust and missed it.

This guide walks through every reasonable way to embed Google reviews on your website, ranks them by effort and quality, and gives you the exact steps for WordPress, Shopify, Squarespace, Wix, and plain HTML. It covers the honest tradeoffs so you can pick the right method for your budget and technical comfort level.

The Quick Answer (TL;DR)

There are three realistic ways to put your Google reviews on your website:

For most small businesses, option 2 (a third-party widget) is the right answer. The rest of this guide shows you how to evaluate widgets honestly and how to install one on any site builder.

Why Display Google Reviews on Your Website at All?

If you already have a Google Business Profile, customers can find your reviews. So why bother putting them on your site?

Two reasons, both backed by research:

• Purchase likelihood jumps 270% with just 5 reviews displayed. The Spiegel Research Center at Northwestern studied how reviews affect conversion on e-commerce pages and found the lift starts almost immediately. The first handful of reviews does most of the work. (Spiegel Research Center)
• Shoppers who interact with on-site reviews convert 108.8% higher than the average visitor. That's PowerReviews data across their network, measuring what happens when a visitor actually reads a review on the page they're on rather than navigating away. (PowerReviews)

The simple version: trust has to be built where the customer already is. You can't count on them to leave your site, find your Google profile, read reviews, and come back. Most won't. Showing reviews in context (on your pricing page, service pages, or homepage) is how you close that gap.

Method 1: Embed a Google Maps iframe (Free, Limited)

Google lets you embed a Google Maps snippet that includes your business location, overall star rating, and a link to your full review page. It's free, takes one minute, and does not require any third-party tool.

What it looks like: a small embedded map showing your business pin, your business name, your overall star rating (e.g. "4.8 ★★★★★ 127 reviews"), and a clickable link to see your reviews on Google. It does NOT show individual review text.

How to get the embed code

1. Go to google.com/maps and search for your business.
2. Click your business listing on the left panel.
3. Click the "Share" button.
4. Switch to the "Embed a map" tab.
5. Copy the iframe code and paste it into your website's HTML.

The resulting code looks something like:

<iframe src="https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=..." width="600" height="450" style="border:0;" allowfullscreen="" loading="lazy"></iframe>

When this is enough: a contact page or "find us" section where you'd embed a map anyway. The star rating functions as ambient social proof.

When this isn't enough: anywhere you want customers to actually read what other customers said. Testimonial sections, landing pages, pricing pages. The map iframe can't do that.

Method 2: Use a Third-Party Review Widget

A review widget is a small piece of code you paste into your site that pulls live reviews from your Google Business Profile and displays them as proper review cards: reviewer name, star rating, date, and the actual review text. Reviews update automatically as new ones come in.

What to look for in a review widget

• Auto-updates from Google. The whole point is that new reviews show up without you touching anything. If a tool requires you to manually refresh or re-sync, pass.
• Responsive layout. Looks right on mobile, tablet, and desktop without extra CSS work on your part.
• Rating filter. You should be able to show only 4 and 5-star reviews by default. Not because you're hiding negative reviews (customers will find those on Google anyway), but because your homepage is a first impression and a lone 3-star review from three years ago doesn't help anyone.
• Works on your platform. WordPress, Shopify, Squarespace, Wix, and custom HTML are all standard. If a widget requires a dedicated app or a specific theme, that's a red flag.
• Honest pricing. Watch for free tiers that are really trial tiers (200 views per month, then you hit a paywall). Watch for "contact sales" for anything you'd expect to see a price on.

Honest comparison of the main options

Pricing verified April 2026. View counts and features are from each tool's public pricing page.

The honest take: if you only want a widget and nothing else, Elfsight's free tier or Shapo's free tier are fine starting points. If you want the widget alongside review management (responding to reviews, sending review requests), Reply Champion bundles them into one price instead of stacking subscriptions. Trustindex is the right call if you want 30+ layout options and don't mind annual billing.

Method 3: Manual Screenshots (Don't)

The fastest way to "put reviews on your site" is to screenshot your Google reviews and paste the images into a testimonial section. It takes ten minutes. A lot of businesses do it. Here's why you shouldn't.

• Screenshots go stale. You take the screenshots once. A week later, you have new reviews, but the ones on your site are frozen in time. Old dates look suspicious to anyone paying attention.
• No Google authentication. A real review widget shows the Google logo, links back to the Google profile, and signals "this is real, go verify." A screenshot could be anything. Savvy visitors discount it.
• It's tempting to edit. Once you're working with images, it's easy to "lightly touch up" a review. That's a compliance and ethics problem if a customer ever calls you out.
• It doesn't scale. Every time you want to refresh, you repeat the whole process. A widget updates automatically.

The only time screenshots make sense is for a single one-off piece of collateral (a PDF case study, a print brochure) where dynamic content isn't possible. Not for your website.

Step-by-Step: Installing a Widget on Your Platform

Once you've picked a widget tool, you'll get a snippet that looks roughly like this:

<div id="reviewsWidget"></div>
<script src="https://example.com/widget.js"></script>

The exact code varies by tool, but the installation steps are the same on every platform.

WordPress

Two paths depending on your editor:

1. Block editor (Gutenberg): Edit the page or post. Add a new block and search for "Custom HTML." Paste the snippet. Preview to confirm the widget renders.
2. Classic editor: Switch to the "Text" tab (not "Visual"). Paste the snippet. Switch back and save.
3. Elementor / Divi / other page builders: Drop in an "HTML" or "Code" widget and paste the snippet inside.

If your theme or security plugin strips scripts, you may need to whitelist the widget's script URL. This is rare on major themes.

Shopify

1. Go to Online Store > Pages and open the page where you want the widget.
2. In the editor toolbar, click Insert HTML (the </> icon).
3. Paste the snippet and save.
4. For themed sections (homepage, product pages), use Online Store > Themes > Customize and add a "Custom HTML" section.

Squarespace

1. Edit the page. Click + to add a new block.
2. Choose Code block.
3. Paste the snippet. Make sure "Display Source" is unchecked so the code executes rather than showing as text.
4. Save and publish.

Wix

1. In the editor, click Add (+) > Embed Code > Embed HTML.
2. Click "Enter code" on the placeholder and paste the snippet.
3. Resize the frame to match the space you want the widget to occupy.
4. Publish.

Webflow

1. Drag an "Embed" element onto the page from the Add panel.
2. Paste the snippet into the embed editor.
3. Save and publish to staging or production.

Plain HTML / custom site

Paste the snippet directly into your HTML wherever you want the widget to appear, typically inside the main content area. No build step required.

What to Avoid

A few things that feel like shortcuts but backfire:

• Cherry-picking only 5-star reviews while your Google profile shows a 4.2 average. Customers notice, and Google's own review guidelines push back on misleading presentations. Showing 4+ stars by default is fine. Showing only 5-star "hand-picked testimonials" when reality is different is a trust hit.
• Editing review text to fix typos or tone. Even small edits break the authenticity that makes reviews work. Leave them exactly as written.
• Buying fake reviews to fill the widget out. Google actively detects and removes fake reviews, and being caught by a customer is worse than having fewer reviews. If you need more reviews, use a review request campaign instead.
• Hiding negative reviews without responding to them. The widget on your site can filter by rating, but that doesn't delete the negative review on Google. A thoughtful public response to a negative review often does more for your credibility than hiding it.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I embed Google reviews on my website for free?

Partially. Google's own Maps iframe is free and shows your overall star rating and review count, but not individual review text. Free tiers exist for third-party widgets (Elfsight free up to 200 views per month, Shapo free with limits), which is often enough for a small site. If you want unlimited views and full features, expect to pay $5 to $60 per month depending on the tool.

Do embedded Google reviews help SEO?

Indirectly. Widgets usually load inside an iframe, which Google Search does not typically index as part of your page content. So the review text itself isn't directly boosting your rankings. What does help is the conversion lift: more visitors who see reviews convert, which over time improves engagement metrics. If you want review text to show up in search, publish a separate reviews or testimonials page with the text as plain HTML in addition to the widget.

How often do embedded reviews update?

Most widgets sync every few hours to once a day. A few sync in near real time. Check the tool's documentation. Manual screenshots, by contrast, never update unless you re-take them.

Can I choose which reviews appear in the widget?

Most widgets let you filter by minimum star rating (show 4 and 5-star only, for example) and by review date. A few let you hide specific reviews manually. Avoid tools that let you edit review text: authenticity is the whole point, and edited reviews aren't worth anything.

Will the widget work on mobile?

A good widget is responsive by default: it shows fewer review cards side-by-side on a narrow screen and adjusts typography to stay readable. Before you commit to a tool, load a demo on your phone to confirm.

What happens to the widget if my subscription to the widget tool ends?

Behavior varies. Some tools stop rendering entirely and show a broken iframe. Others show a placeholder ("widget unavailable") that doesn't break the page. A few keep showing stale cached reviews until you notice. Ask before you sign up, especially if you're on a month-to-month plan.

Pulling It Together

If you have a website and Google reviews, there's no reason not to connect the two. The Google Maps iframe is free and takes two minutes. A real review widget takes ten minutes and does the job properly. Manual screenshots take an hour and age badly.

For most small businesses, the right move is a widget tool that also gives you something else you need. If you just want a widget, Elfsight's free tier or Shapo are fine. If you want the widget plus AI responses, review request campaigns, and a single bill instead of three, Reply Champion is built for that, starting at $10/mo.