Reviews can be the difference between making a sale and scaring away potential customers. Getting reviews is just the first step, next you need to start responding to any reviews you get. You might think “Shouldn’t getting reviews be enough?”, in some cases it might be, but when you have several serious competitors, responding to your online reviews can be what it takes to drive a customer to choose you over your competition.

You show you care and are more credible

When you take the time out of your day to respond to your reviews in an honest and genuine way, you show your customers that you care about them and your business. You show that you’re listening to what your customers say. Your positive reviews are easy to respond to, they make you feel good, they let other potential customers know that your product/services are worth their time and money. However, the really important reviews to respond to are the negative ones.

Your negative reviews can drive away potential customers and even ruin the image of your business. By taking the time to respond to negative reviews and trying to solve the issue the customer is having you can turn a negative review into a positive one, or at the very least you show that you care enough to try solving any issues your customer has, this will increase your credibility far more than responding to positive reviews will.

You can show your personality/brand

When you’re responding to comments you have the opportunity to show your personality and brand. Don’t just copy/paste the same response to each review. Use the reviewer’s name, thank them for their feedback, and create a custom response to their review. The way you phrase things and the words you use can show a lot about your personality and your business’s brand, don’t let the opportunity to showcase that slip you by.

Improve your local SEO

When you have a smaller business or a ton of competition it’s important to focus on your local SEO. Google themselves have confirmed that responding to reviews helps your SEO. When people search for a business on Google, Google wants to show them the best results, the most credible businesses. When you respond to both positive and negative reviews it signals to Google that you are a credible business that people can trust, so they’ll show you higher in search results than your competition.

Responding to most, if not all, of your online reviews can really help your business bring in more customers and rank higher in search results. It can be a little tedious to monitor and respond to all the reviews yourself when they start pouring in. If you want any help monitoring your online reviews, Evermore Presence is here for you. Reach out for more info today.