Elementor · 4 min read
How to embed Google reviews in Elementor
Elementor already has the piece you need: the HTML widget, included in the free version. Drag it into any container, paste one line, and your live Google reviews sit inside your Elementor design — no Pro licence and no extra plugin.
Last reviewed by the Reviews Widget product team.
Why the HTML widget, not a review add-on
Elementor sites tend to run a lot of plugins already, and each review add-on brings PHP, its own update cycle and another suspect when the editor misbehaves. The HTML widget adds one line of markup and nothing else, which is the least invasive option available.
Step-by-step in the Elementor editor
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Free plan, no credit card. Your reviews are embedded before you finish this guide.
Build and style the widget first, copy the script tag, then in Elementor search the widget panel for "HTML", drag it into position, paste into the HTML Code field and click Update. Verify on the published URL, because the editor canvas sandboxes scripts.
- 1
Create your free Reviews Widget
Sign up, search your business name to attach your Google Business Profile, and let the first fetch pull in your reviews and aggregate rating.
- 2
Style it to your Elementor design
Set the layout, colours, corner radius and font scale to match your Elementor global styles, and check the live preview at each breakpoint.
- 3
Copy the embed snippet
Open the Embed tab and copy the one-line script tag.
- 4
Open the page with Elementor
In wp-admin, open the page and choose Edit with Elementor.
- 5
Drag in an HTML widget
Search 'HTML' in the widget panel and drag the HTML widget into the container or column where the reviews belong. This widget ships with free Elementor — no Pro licence needed.
- 6
Paste the snippet and update
Paste the script tag into the HTML Code field and click Update. Elementor's editor sandboxes some scripts, so treat an empty box in the editor as normal.
- 7
Preview the live page and verify
Open the published URL in a new tab, clear any caching plugin, and confirm the reviews render. Run the page through Google's Rich Results Test to see the JSON-LD parse.
Matching your Elementor design
Style the widget in the Reviews Widget dashboard rather than fighting it with Elementor custom CSS — the widget renders inside a shadow root, so external CSS deliberately cannot reach inside it. Copy your Elementor global colours and radius values into the widget's design panel and the two match exactly.
| Placement | Recommended layout | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Full-width container below the hero | Grid or masonry | Uses the width without leaving gaps |
| Two- or three-column section | List | Readable in a narrow column |
| Sidebar | List or star badge | Compact and vertical |
| Above a contact form | Carousel | Proof without pushing the form down the page |
| Sitewide via a footer template | Floating star badge | Persistent, no repeated heavy block |
Containers, columns and responsive widths
The widget responds to the width of its container, not the browser window, so an Elementor column that is narrow on desktop gets the stacked mobile treatment automatically. You do not need per-breakpoint overrides for it.
Leave the HTML widget's height on auto. Setting a fixed height on the widget or its parent container is the usual cause of clipped reviews after adding a load-more button or the aggregate rating header.
Troubleshooting
| Symptom | Likely cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Empty HTML widget in the editor canvas | Elementor sandboxes scripts in the editor | Check the published page or Preview Changes |
| Reviews render, then disappear on the live site | An optimisation plugin delaying JavaScript | Exclude the snippet from delay and combine rules |
| Content clipped at the bottom | Fixed height on the widget or container | Set height to auto |
| Reviews overflow a narrow column | Container overflow hidden | Allow the container to size to content |
| Old design after restyling | Page cache or Elementor CSS cache | Purge the cache and regenerate Elementor CSS |
| Snippet stripped on paste | Pasted into a Text Editor widget | Use the HTML widget instead |
Sources & further reading
- Elementor — HTML widget — Official documentation for the widget that accepts the snippet
- Elementor — containers — How container widths affect embedded content
- Google Search Central — review snippet guidelines — Self-serving review rules