Enhancing Credibility and Content with Google Reviews Integration

The Challenge

Lexnest wanted to make their member profiles and content look better and more trustworthy on Brilliant Directories. A main need was to not just use the platform's standard internal review system, but to show trusted Google Reviews directly on member profiles. Also, they needed a very customized and good-looking way to show specific content like "Guides" and "People." This needed to match their specific information setup, and the standard BD layouts couldn't do it.

The Solution

We created and set up several custom solutions that worked closely with the Brilliant Directories platform to meet Lexnest's specific needs:

1. Robust Google Reviews Integration

   We built a custom PHP plugin to connect the Lexnest directory with the Google Places API. This system automatically gets, saves, and updates Google Reviews for members, so fresh, relevant feedback is always there. This included making a custom database setup good for review data and writing SQL code to match Google Place IDs with member profiles quickly.

2. Advanced Combined Rating System

   We built advanced logic to smoothly combine internal Brilliant Directories reviews with external Google Reviews. This system calculates and shows a dynamic, combined rating (including half stars and total review counts). This gives a more complete and trustworthy picture of a member's reputation. The logic is set to show Google reviews first if they are there, using internal ratings as a backup. This makes sure every profile has a rating shown.

3. Custom Content Type Presentation

   We created specialized, custom templates and display logic for their unique "Guides" and "People" content types. This made it possible to clearly show specific fields not normally used, like author, department, email, and phone number, right on the profile pages. We used custom CSS and grid layouts to make these content types look more organized and good.

4. Improved User Interface & Conditional Logic

   We made the overall user experience better by changing the order of tabs on member profiles dynamically. We added custom styles and scripts for the reviews section, profiles, and custom content types. Importantly, we used logic based on membership levels to control which key information and premium features users could see, adding value for different paid plans.

Technical Implementation Notes

This project needed a lot of server-side development with PHP and much work with the MySQL database. It required working with external APIs (Google Places) to get and sync data. A main technical success was adding advanced Schema.org markup (LocalBusiness, Review, AggregateRating, Article) all over the site. This greatly improved semantic SEO and helped search engines understand and show Lexnest's content and reviews better. Front-end customization included complex CSS and JavaScript to control layout and dynamic elements.