How to Add a Google Review Widget to Your WordPress Site

Your Google reviews are some of the most persuasive content on the internet, and most businesses leave them buried on a platform they don't control. Embedding them on your WordPress site puts that social proof in front of every visitor — on your terms, on your pages.

Here's the complete guide to getting it done in under 10 minutes.

Option 1: Plugin-Based Installation

Plugins are the easiest route for non-developers. There are several WordPress plugins designed specifically for this.

Recommended plugins:

• WP Google Review Slider (free + paid): Pulls directly from Google Business Profile. Auto-updates as new reviews come in. Offers carousel, list, and badge display formats.
• Widgets for Google Reviews by Trustindex: Clean UI, mobile responsive, good free tier.
• Social Reviews & Recommendations by Smash Balloon: More comprehensive, covers multiple platforms (Google, Facebook, Yelp) in one widget.

Generic plugin installation steps:

1. In WordPress admin, go to Plugins > Add New
2. Search for your chosen plugin by name
3. Click Install, then Activate
4. Go to the plugin's settings page
5. Connect your Google Business Profile (usually via a Google API key or OAuth login)
6. Copy the shortcode the plugin generates (e.g., [google-reviews])
7. Paste the shortcode into any page, post, or widget area

The plugin handles the rest: pulling your reviews from Google, formatting them, and keeping them updated automatically.

Option 2: Laudy Widget (Copy-Paste Script)

If you use Laudy for review management, the embed widget is already included in your account. This is the cleanest option because it stays in sync with Laudy's platform automatically.

Getting your Laudy widget code:

1. Log into your Laudy dashboard
2. Go to Settings > Widget
3. Customize the display (rating threshold, number of reviews, color scheme, layout)
4. Copy the generated script snippet

The snippet looks like this:

<script src="https://widget.laudy.com/embed.js"
  data-token="YOUR_TOKEN"
  data-theme="light"
  data-layout="carousel">
</script>

Placing it in WordPress:

Method A: Using "Insert Headers and Footers" plugin (best for non-coders):

1. Install and activate the free "Insert Headers and Footers" plugin by WPCode
2. Go to WPCode > Header & Footer
3. For global placement (widget appears across the site), paste your script in the Footer section
4. Save changes
5. Add a <div id="laudy-reviews-widget"></div> placeholder on any page where you want the widget to appear

Method B: Gutenberg block (for page-specific placement):

1. Edit the page where you want reviews to appear
2. Add a Custom HTML block
3. Paste the full script snippet including the container div
4. Update and preview

Elementor and Divi Placement

Elementor:

1. Edit your page with Elementor
2. Drag an "HTML" widget into your desired section
3. Paste the Laudy script or plugin shortcode into the HTML widget content area
4. Apply changes and preview

For the best visual result in Elementor, create a dedicated reviews section with a heading ("What Our Customers Say"), place the HTML widget inside, and set a light background color to make the widget stand out.

Divi:

1. Add a new module to your section
2. Select the "Code" module
3. Paste your script or shortcode
4. Save and preview

Both page builders also support plugin shortcodes, so if you installed a plugin-based solution, just use the shortcode inside a Text or Shortcode module instead.

Performance Considerations

Embedding third-party scripts adds page load weight. For most businesses this is negligible, but if you care about Core Web Vitals scores, here's how to minimize impact:

Async loading: Make sure your widget script loads asynchronously. The async attribute prevents the script from blocking page rendering:

<script async src="https://widget.laudy.com/embed.js" ...></script>

Lazy loading: Some review widgets support loading only when the visitor scrolls near the widget area. Laudy's widget supports this via the data-lazy="true" attribute. This is especially valuable for long pages where the reviews section is far below the fold.

Caching: If you use a caching plugin (WP Rocket, W3 Total Cache, LiteSpeed Cache), add the widget domain to your excluded external scripts list to prevent caching issues with live review data.

Keeping Reviews Auto-Updated

The biggest advantage of a proper embed (vs screenshotting your reviews and uploading images) is that new reviews appear automatically. You don't need to touch your site when a new review comes in.

Both plugin-based and Laudy widget approaches pull live data on page load. Your visitors always see your most current reviews, including your current star average.

Where to place the widget for maximum impact:

• Homepage (above the fold on desktop, accessible on mobile)
• Services or Products page
• Contact page (removes hesitation at the conversion point)
• About page

Avoid putting it only in the footer. Footers are rarely read and the conversion impact there is minimal.

Laudy's embeddable review widget keeps your best reviews front and center on your website, updating automatically as new ones come in. Sign up for Laudy and get your widget code in minutes.