Google Business Profile (GBP) reviews help people a great deal in the selection of the right products and services online. People prefer those businesses that have more reviews on their GBP. On the other hand, those businesses that have fewer or no reviews at all hardly get any clicks. For a local business to enhance its search rankings, it is crucial to gather as many right reviews as possible. These reviews help businesses build a solid online reputation. But the big question is why a business should respond to reviews on their Google business profile.
In this article, we’ll discuss exactly that. So, let us find out the importance of responding to reviews on Google business profiles as well as how you should reply to the reviews that you get from customers.
In order to grow your local business, we have experts in our local marketing agency who can assist you with Google My Business and local SEO services in & near Scranton, PA.
Consumers Highly Trust GBP Reviews
Many businesses may think that online reviews do not matter much. But you should be surprised to learn that consumers trust online reviews as much as they trust a personal recommendation from family or friends.
According to a survey conducted by BrightLocal, it has been found that as many as 79% of consumers trust online reviews in the same way as they trust personal recommendations. And if the review comes from the most popular search engine Google, you can understand how much people will trust that review. That is exactly why reviews on your business profiles matter a great deal. If you plan to attract more clicks and conversions, you should try to collect as many reviews on your Google business profiles as you can.
Also, consumers trust those businesses more that have both good as well as bad reviews on their business profiles.
Responding to GBP Reviews is Incredibly Important
Now that you have understood why consumers want to buy products or hire services from those businesses that have more reviews on their GBPs, it is also crucial to know why responding to reviews matters.
When customers leave reviews on your Google business page, they expect a response in a timely manner. This is an excellent opportunity for local businesses to engage with customers. What is to be kept in mind is that you respond to the reviews as fast as you can. You need to post your reply while the review is still fresh. There is no use getting back to a review after weeks or months. By that time, the customer will have forgotten that they actually posted a review.
It is not just customers that need your response. In fact, Google itself wants business owners to respond to online reviews in a timely manner. And the search engine wants you to do that regardless of whether the review is a good or bad one. So, it is crucial to respond to a review.
On their Google Business Profile Help page, Google provides tips on how you can read and reply to customer reviews about your business. Online reviews offer useful feedback about the quality of your products and services and how you treat those who choose to do business with you. By responding to these reviews, you establish trust with customers. When you post a reply to a customer review, you post it publicly as the business owner. It may take a little time before your reply appears across Google. But as soon as your response is published, the reviewer gets a notification about the same. Once they have read what you have to say, they can go ahead and update the review on your Google business profile.
Learn from Negative Reviews
Having a couple of bad reviews does not have a big impact in terms of your rankings in Google local search results and your online reputation. But you should not ignore bad reviews. In fact, you should try to respond to bad reviews as well while offering the reviewer a genuine apology and solution.
Smart businesses look at negative reviews as learning opportunities. In these online reviews, you will always find something to learn and improve. While responding to bad reviews, you should be very cautious. How you reply to these reviews will remain on the profile for everyone to see. Anyone from any part of the world can access negative reviews and your replies to those reviews, anytime. Therefore, you should think carefully and respond in a manner that satisfies the reviewer’s concern. If you respond in the right way, the reviewer may also decide to delete their negative review or at least modify what the reviewer had originally posted.
If you have a good average rating, you should not worry much about a couple of bad or negative reviews about your business. A few bad reviews in a pool of positive reviews will not hurt your search rankings.
Want to Know More?
The digital marketing space is constantly evolving. If you want your website to stand out quickly in the midst of all that competition out there, you should use GBP reviews as a powerful tool. Genuine consumer reviews will expand your online visibility and generate more clicks and conversions. At Evolve Local Marketing in & near Scranton, PA, we specialize in helping a wide range of clients create a solid impression with an authentic GBP profile and genuine online reviews from customers. To know more about how GBP reviews can help you generate more leads, you should reach out to one of our search marketing specialists and have a detailed discussion.
For your free consultation with one of our digital marketing experts in Scranton, you can give our office a phone call at (570) 818-5097 or write us an email using the contact form below.