Why are my Facebook reviews not showing up?

Facebook reviews are valuable to businesses. Customers value reviews from genuine patrons who can provide details about their experience, as it helps them build trust in your company.

An essential element of brand reputation management and online marketing, Facebook reviews are important to have on your business page. But if those reviews don’t show up, you’ll miss out on the benefits they could offer your business. Fortunately, there are several ways to fix that issue.

Does my business need Facebook reviews?

If you have a Facebook Business Page, then encouraging your customers to review your business maximizes the value you get from that page and the return on the time you’ve invested in your social media marketing.

Customer reviews add authenticity to a business page and help potential customers make buying decisions. Positive reviews may prompt a Facebook user following your page to stop into your store or make their first purchase on your website, converting that lead into a paying customer.

Even responding to negative reviews allows you the chance to demonstrate that you value your customers and are invested in customer satisfaction.

Why aren’t my Facebook reviews showing up?

There are several reasons you may not see your Facebook reviews. The first is that Facebook has transitioned from reviews to recommendations. Facebook is no longer using the star ratings that customers relied on for years. Instead, when leaving a review, customers are asked whether they would or would not recommend a business.

While Facebook has done away with star ratings, the meat of the reviews — the comments — are still there. With Facebook recommendations, customers can continue to leave detailed feedback about your business. The star ratings you received are still used and factor into your business’s overall rating.

Keep in mind that there is a delay between when a customer leaves a review and when it posts on your business page. A customer might leave a review while still in your store, but it may not show up for several hours.

If you do not see any reviews or page ratings, and your customers can’t find a way to leave ratings for you, you may need to turn on your reviews. If your review section is hidden, it will be difficult for customers to figure out how to review your business.

How to fix missing Facebook reviews

If you do not see reviews because your Facebook reviews are off, you can fix the issue in just a few minutes.

Facebook gives businesses the option to turn their reviews off, which will hide your existing reviews and prevent followers from being able to leave new reviews. This can be helpful if you’re experiencing problems with spam or fake reviews, or if you’ll be away from your business temporarily and won’t have time to monitor reviews.

When you turn your reviews off, Facebook will save your existing reviews. You can enable reviews in the future, and your old reviews will be visible again.

To turn your business reviews on:

1. Log into your Facebook account and go to your business Facebook page.
2. Under your “Manage Page” section, click on the “Settings” button. You will see a menu on the left-hand side of the page and should click on the “Templates and Tabs” section.
3. Look for “Reviews” and toggle the option to “On.”

Your reviews tab will now be visible, and customers will be able to leave new reviews and see the previous page reviews.

How to get more Facebook reviews for your business

Once you’ve turned your Facebook reviews on, you will need to encourage customers to leave testimonials about your business. You can do that in several ways.

Share reviews on your website

Embedding some Facebook reviews on your website not only builds buyer confidence in your business, but also reminds them that they can leave a review. Include a call to action on your site, asking customers to take a few minutes to write a review. Provide the link to your business Facebook profile, so it’s easy for them to get to your page.

Encourage new customers to leave a review

If you engage with new customers in person at your store, thank them for their business and ask them to leave a review at the end of the checkout process. If you don’t see new customers in person, follow up with a thank-you email or SMS message and include a link to your Facebook page so they can quickly leave a review.

Reach out to your entire social network

Periodically post on your social media profiles and ask customers to leave a review. Explain how critical reviews are for small businesses, and remind them that it only takes a few minutes. Direct them to your Facebook profile with a link, and thank them for taking the time to support your business.

Manage your social media with Broadly

Facebook is critical for businesses, and online reviews are crucial to your small business’s digital marketing and reputation management. Broadly can help you gather more Facebook reviews and monitor what people say about your business online.

Ready to learn how Broadly can help you with review management and more?