Online reputation management is an integral aspect of online marketing success. For local businesses, Google Reviews are the most critical aspect of online reputation management. Google Reviews play an important role in instilling trust in customers and local search optimization. However, one of the things our clients ask us most is, in fact, very basic: how do I find my Google reviews? And, more importantly, what should I respond with?
We always recommend to our clients to take care of their Google Business Listing as much as they take care of their website. Ignoring reviews is like ignoring the phone when it rings. In this tutorial, we shall take you through the simple steps to how to search Google reviews and how to reply to them to get loyalty and gain trust.
Step 1: Accessing Your Google Business Profile Dashboard
The very first thing that you need to do for reputation management is sign in to your Google Business Profile, previously known as Google My Business. To sign in to your Google Business Profile, you simply need to ensure that you have signed in to your Google account. You should be able to sign in to your profile manager or simply search your business name on Google. If you have successfully signed in to your Google account, you should be able to view your control panel directly from your Google search result page, where you can access your reviews on Google.
Step 2: Navigation to the Reviews Section
After getting access to your dashboard, it will take only a click to look for reviews. You will be able to view various options such as “Edit profile,” “Promote,” and “Customers” in your dashboard when searching for reviews. Click on the “Customers” tab or look for a button that has “Reviews.” This will open a window that displays all your business reviews. You will be able to choose which reviews to respond to by clicking “Newest,” “Highest rated,” and “Lowest rated.”
Step 3: Reading and Interpreting the Feedback
Before you even start to type out a response, take a moment to digest what is being communicated from the customer. Our recommendation would be to look for trends from the feedback you are receiving. Is there more than one customer complimenting one specific employee? Is there a concern with wait times? The analysis of sentiment from feedback is absolutely critical.
Reading Google reviews with five stars and no additional information is going to be handled much differently than feedback with three stars and a whole lot of information from them regarding their dissatisfaction with their experience. This section is essentially a free focus group, and there is a whole lot of information here regarding your success and areas of deficiency.
Step 4: Google Reviews Management
When you’re ready to go ahead with your response, just click the “Reply” link beside their review. “Thank you” is all you need with good reviews. To go above and beyond with good reviews, you could refer to some of the things in their review that you liked.
In bad reviews, you want to come across as professional and understanding. Answer their complaint without becoming defensive, and offer them an opportunity to resolve their complaint outside of Google by giving them your phone number or email. It lets consumers know you care about resolving their complaint and are actively working towards resolving their complaint.
We suggest responding quickly because it lets Google and consumers know you’re an active business owner.
Managing Your Online Reputation
Online reputation management through Google reviews can be a very easy task that can bring you a massive result in terms of your success as a brand. Interacting with customers not only helps you with customer services, but also lets the search engine know that you are a credible source.
In order to come on top in local searches, we suggest that you monitor your dashboard and let that data work for you as a brand. For further support with your digital presence, consider partnering with a Houston SEO company such as Key Light Collective to maximize your review management strategy!