Restaurants
Your reviews are on Google, Tripadvisor, OpenTable and the delivery apps. Your website shows none of them. This fixes that.
Review widgets for beauty & salons
Salons and studios are chosen on photographs and reviews, in that order, and both need to be on the page a new client lands on.
The sources that matter for beauty & salons
Customers in this industry do not all review in the same place, and the platforms are not equally worth your effort.
Where to put them on the page
Under the hero, and on the booking page. Beauty sites are image-heavy and text-light, so a floating badge carries the rating across the rest of the site without occupying a section.
Full-width sections suit carousel and grid layouts; tight spaces suit a badge.
When to ask for a review
At the till, or by text the same evening. A QR code on the mirror or the card works because the phone is already in their hand.
Google allows asking and prohibits incentives. Yelp asks you not to solicit at all. More on asking.
Instagram comments are not reviews, and that is fine.
They are testimonials you selected, added by hand, and on a visual business they often read better than a star rating.
Questions
Other industries
Hotels
Guests who found you on an OTA are looking at your own site to decide whether to book direct. Reviews are what close that.
Ecommerce
Reviews on a product page are the last thing between a visitor and the buy button, which is why placement matters more here than anywhere else.
Local business
Most people who find you have already looked at your Google rating. The job of your website is to confirm it rather than to introduce it.