Ask co-signers for a Google review

Google doesn't allow ads for bail bond agencies, so much of the traffic your agency gets from Google search depends on how your Google Business Profile ranks, and Google reviews are one of the things that ranking looks at. The best moment to ask for one is when a co-signer learns the defendant is out. When you turn on Google reviews, Vonda asks every co-signer then: on their bail page, in the release email and in the release text.

Before you startCopy Anchor Link

• Only admins can change it. Agents don't see Settings in the sidebar.
• You need your Google review link. It's the link that opens the review box of your Google Business Profile, the place on Google Maps that every Google review of your agency belongs to. It isn't your website's address. The steps below show where to find it.
• It's off until you turn it on. Until then, nothing changes for your co-signers.

Get your Google review linkCopy Anchor Link

1. Sign in to Google with the account that manages your Google Business Profile, and open your profile. Searching for your agency's name while signed in shows it.
2. Choose Ask for reviews.
3. Copy the link it shows. It looks like https://g.page/r/…/review. A link that starts with https://search.google.com/local/writereview works too.

Turn on Google reviewsCopy Anchor Link

Vonda checks the link before it saves:

• With the switch on, the link is required. Otherwise you'll see Enter your Google review link.
• It has to start with https://.
• It has to be a Google address. A link to another site is refused with Enter the review link from your Google Business Profile, so a typo never reaches your clients. Google's own addresses are accepted: google.com and its subdomains, g.page, goo.gl and maps.app.goo.gl.

What co-signers seeCopy Anchor Link

Every co-signer on a posting is asked, whoever recorded the release: an agent who clicked Mark Released, or the jail on Appear. The request is the same for everyone, including co-signers who aren't the primary and co-signers whose payment plan is still running.

• On their bail page, the card that says the defendant is released also asks How did [your agency] do? A Google review helps other families find help when they need it. Below it, a Leave a Google review button opens your review link in a new tab, so they don't lose their bail page. It stays for as long as the posting is Released. Once the bail is exonerated or the posting is closed, the request is gone.
• In the release email, below the View your bail button, the same sentence and a Leave a Google review button.
• In the release text, the message ends with How did we do? Leave [your agency] a Google review: and your link. A text with the link is longer than one without it.

Co-signers are asked by message once, when the defendant is released. There are no reminders. A co-signer who never verified an email or phone number doesn't get the message, but still sees the request on their bail page. The messages your agency gets about the release don't carry it.

Turn Google reviews off, or change the linkCopy Anchor Link

Click the switch so it reads Off, then click Save. Your link is kept, greyed out, so you can turn the switch back on without looking for it again. To change the link, edit it and click Save.

Google reviews is read live, not saved with each posting:

• Turning it on reaches postings that are already released. Their co-signers see the request on their bail page straight away. Messages that were already sent aren't sent again.
• Turning it off removes the request from every bail page at once. Release emails and texts already sent stay in the co-signer's inbox, and later ones go without it.
• Changing the link changes it on every bail page and in every release message sent from then on.

See What your clients see for the rest of what co-signers get from your agency, and Who gets notified for every message Vonda sends.