As a business owner, one of your top priorities is to interact with your customers. Much of the time, that means engaging with your community by responding to Google reviews online. As one of the top search engines available, you can easily wager that customers are learning about your business from what they find on Google. By seeing how you respond to your business reviews, potential customers gain a perspective on how you do business, and that could be the deciding factor on whether or not they bring their business to you.
How to Respond to Google Reviews in 4 Steps:
- Login into Google My Business
- Select “Reviews” from the main menu
- Click “Reply” in order to respond to a review
- Click “Post” after you’ve written your response
The following dives deeper into each of these steps:
1. Login into Google My Business
Head over to Google My Business or www.google.com/business and enter your login credentials to sign-in to your dashboard.
2. Select “Reviews” from the main menu.
Open up your main menu by clicking the three horizontal bars in the top right, and select “Reviews” from that menu to take a look at all of your customer reviews.
3. Click “Reply” in order to respond to a review.
Select a review that doesn’t have a response yet, and click “Reply” in order to enter a response.
4. Submit your reply after you’ve written your response.
Just keep in mind that your Google review responses will be made public, so make sure you are using appropriate language and adhering to Google’s local content policies. The customer who you are responding to will also receive an email with your response.
Final Tips on Responding to Google Reviews
Responding to your online reviews, whether they are positive or negative, is a good practice for all business owners because it shows that you care about your customers’ experiences.
A great way to stay on top of your reviews is to set-up notifications so that you receive an email alert whenever a new customer leaves a review.
When responding to a negative review, try to see it as an opportunity to improve and reinforce your brand in order to turn around the experience of your customer. Additionally, you want to come off as fair and helpful, rather than overly emotional or angry in your response, and always be sure to have a solution ready for any problem.
Always show gratitude in your review responses by using the names of your customers in your response, and thank them for taking the time out of their day to write a review. Part of showing your gratitude means customizing each response to each of your customers, rather than copying and pasting a blanket response for everyone.
Learning how to respond to Google reviews is a part of developing sound online reputation management for your business. Showing that you truly care about your customers’ experiences and the ‘human’ side to your business on an online platform can go a long way in improving your business.
