Reviews dominate consumer influence. Did you know that 89% of consumers read local businesses’ responses to reviews? If you aren’t responding to reviews, you’re missing an opportunity to further influence consumers and connect with your customer.

Responding to reviews helps create a dialogue between consumers and the business. Don’t let uncertainty prevent you from engaging with customers. Replying to reviews, both positive and negative, has many benefits. Business who respond, enjoy better ratings, see a positive impact on their SEO, and the responses help set the tone for future customers.

Google notifies a customer when you reply to their review, which gives you an additional touchpoint with your customer. Responding also benefits prospective customers, as it’s a strong indication that as a business you listen and care about a customer’s experience.

Review responses help you create new content and present an opportunity to foster brand loyalty, while having an impact on your SEO. Even Google wants businesses to manage and respond to reviews, and other local search experts believe reviews account for 17% of how Google ranks a local business. At Whitespark, we couldn’t agree more, which is why we’ve integrated the ability to reply to Google reviews within the Reputation Builder under the Reviews Report and/or Success Report.

When you click the Reply button for a review in either report options, a window pops up and you simply add your custom response and click Submit.

You can now respond to a Google review notification at the click of a button, and quickly reply to reviews without having to login to your Google Business Profile (formerly Google My Business) account. You’ll increase your response times, engage with customers and develop better connections.

Get step-by-step instructions on how to authorize your GBP (GMB) listing in Reputation Builder, so you can start replying to reviews directly in the tool.