Google reviews on WordPress
Most ways of getting Google reviews onto a WordPress site involve installing a plugin, and a plugin is a permanent commitment: another entry in your plugin count, another thing to update, another candidate when something breaks after a WordPress core release. Zyff's widget is a Custom HTML block instead. You build it here, copy two lines, and paste them into the page — WordPress stores them as content, so there is nothing to update, nothing that can conflict with your theme, and nothing to reinstall when you migrate hosts. It works the same on the block editor, the classic editor, a full-site-editing block theme, Elementor and Divi, because all of them accept raw HTML somewhere.
Build and style the widget in the Google Reviews widget builder, then follow the WordPress steps below to put it on your site.
How to add Google reviews to WordPress
Build your widget
In Zyff's Google Reviews builder, search for your business, pick one of the six layouts, then set your filters and colors. When it looks right, copy the embed code — it is one <div> and one <script> tag.
Open the page in the block editor
In wp-admin go to Pages (or Posts) and edit the page where the reviews should appear. Click the + button where you want the block, search for "Custom HTML", and insert it. This must be the Custom HTML block — a Paragraph block escapes the tags and prints your code on the page as text.
Paste both lines into the block
Paste the whole snippet, keeping the div and the script tag together. The block editor shows the raw code while editing; click the "Preview" tab on the block to render it, since WordPress does not execute scripts in the editing view.
Or use the classic editor or a widget area
On the classic editor, switch from the Visual tab to the Text tab before pasting, or WordPress will strip the script. For a sidebar or footer, go to Appearance > Widgets and drop in a Custom HTML widget. On a block theme, use Appearance > Editor and add the Custom HTML block to the template.
Update, then purge your cache
Click Update and view the live page. If you run WP Rocket, W3 Total Cache, LiteSpeed Cache or a host-level cache such as SiteGround or Kinsta, purge it — a cached copy of the old page is the usual reason a freshly pasted widget does not show up.
WordPress-specific things worth knowing
WordPress.com needs a Business plan; WordPress.org does not
Self-hosted WordPress from wordpress.org runs custom HTML and scripts on any host, on any plan. WordPress.com is different: custom code including script tags requires the Business plan or higher. On the Free, Personal or Premium tiers the script is stripped silently, so the widget never appears.
The Paragraph block will not work
If you paste into a Paragraph block WordPress escapes the angle brackets and your visitors see the literal code as text. That is the single most common failure here, and the fix is always the same — delete it and use a Custom HTML block.
Blocks do not execute scripts while you are editing
The block editor renders the Custom HTML block as source until you click its Preview tab, and even then some setups only run the script on the published page. Judge the result from the live page, not the editor.
Page builders have their own HTML element
Elementor has an HTML widget, Divi has a Code module, Beaver Builder has an HTML module, and WPBakery has Raw HTML. Any of them takes the same snippet. You do not need the Custom HTML block as well.
Security plugins can strip embeds
Wordfence, Sucuri and some managed hosts filter script tags from post content for non-administrator roles. If the snippet vanishes on save, check whether the user account you are editing with has the unfiltered_html capability.
It does not add to your plugin count
Nothing installs, so there is no new plugin to update, nothing to audit for vulnerabilities, and no compatibility question when WordPress ships a major release. Removing the widget is deleting a block.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need a WordPress plugin to show Google reviews?
No. Zyff's widget is a Custom HTML block, so nothing is installed on your site. That means no plugin to keep updated, nothing extra to load on every request, and no chance of a conflict with your theme or with another plugin after a WordPress core update. If you later want to remove the reviews, you delete the block.
Which WordPress plans support a Google reviews widget?
Any self-hosted WordPress.org site works, whatever your host or plan, because you control what goes in the page. On WordPress.com, script tags require the Business plan or higher — on Free, Personal and Premium the script is removed when the page is saved, so the widget will not render.
Why is my embed code showing as plain text on the page?
You pasted it into a Paragraph block, or into the Visual tab of the classic editor. Both escape HTML so it displays as text rather than running. Delete it, insert a Custom HTML block instead, and paste again — or in the classic editor, switch to the Text tab first.
Can I put Google reviews in my WordPress sidebar or footer?
Yes. Go to Appearance > Widgets and add a Custom HTML widget to the sidebar or footer area, then paste the same snippet. For a narrow sidebar, build the widget with the Badge or Slider layout and set the width to fill its container — the six-card grid is designed for full-width sections.
Does it work with Elementor, Divi or a block theme?
Yes, all of them. Elementor has an HTML widget, Divi has a Code module, and a full-site-editing block theme takes the Custom HTML block through Appearance > Editor. The snippet is plain HTML, so anywhere your builder accepts raw code is a valid place for it.
Will the widget slow my WordPress site down?
It adds one small script that loads after your page content and fetches your reviews from Zyff's cache, so it does not block rendering. Because nothing is installed, there is no plugin code running on every request either — which is where most of the cost of a plugin-based reviews widget actually sits.