Reviews from your customers can provide valuable feedback for your business, and replying to reviews can help build your customers’ trust. When you reply to a review, your response will appear below your customer’s review on Google Search and Maps under the label “Response from the owner”. People on Google will see both the customer review and your response when they look at your Google reviews.

According to the Google My Business support page, businesses should interact with customers by responding to reviews that they leave about your business. Responding to reviews shows that you value your customers and the feedback that they leave about your business. This statement is then followed by high-quality, positive reviews from your customers will improve your business’s visibility and increase the likelihood that a potential customer will visit your location.

Whether you receive a positive or negative review, it’s important to respond to that review in an effort to show your customers and search engines your commitment to customer satisfaction. You’ve spent a great deal of time and effort attracting customers, and retaining them is just as important.

Steps for responding to Google Reviews

1. Sign in to Google My Business.
2. If you have multiple locations, open the one you’d like to manage.
3. Click Reviews from the menu.
4. Click Respond to respond to a customer review.
5. Write a response and click Submit.

Tips for responding to reviews

Business owner responses allow you to build relationships with customers, but they’re also public. When replying to your customers, keep the following guidelines in mind:

1. Be nice and don’t get personal. This isn’t just a guideline it’s also a good idea as a business owner. It’s difficult to win an argument with a frustrated customer, and you want to avoid burning bridges. Keep your responses useful, readable, and courteous. In addition, responses should comply with our local content policy.
2. Keep it short and sweet. Users are looking for useful and genuine responses, but they can easily be overwhelmed by a long response.
3. Thank your reviewers. Respond to happy reviewers when you have new or relevant information to share. You don’t need to thank every reviewer publicly, since each response reaches lots of customers.
4. Be a friend, not a salesperson. Your reviewers are already customers, so there’s no need to offer incentives or advertisements. Tell reviewers something new about your business, or share something they might not have learned from their first visit.