HOW TO RESPOND TO YOUR FIRST GOOGLE REVIEW: A GOOGLE MY BUSINESS REVIEWS TUTORIAL

If you are using the Google My Business App, hopefully, you are also receiving reviews. Today I’m going to show you how to respond to those reviews when you receive them.

First, let me say a few things about receiving reviews on Google My Business.

As a small business owner, one of the things that you always want to make sure that you do is respond to those reviews.
In responding to those reviews, whether they are positive or negative, you always want to be polite.
Never, ever have an argument with someone on the Google review platform, (and even off of the review platform).

Now, let’s jump into how to respond to the reviews using the Google My Business App.

The very first thing you want to do is make sure of course, that you have the Google My Business App downloaded on your mobile device.
In the screenshots below, and in the video above, I’m using a Google Pixel, which is an Android phone. Therefore, what I’m going to show you will be the Google Play Store.
If you have an iPhone, you will need to go to your App Store to download the Google My Business App. Also, know that what you see on your screen may not look exactly as it looks on an Android.

Once you are in the Google Play Store, make sure that you install the Google My Business App.

As you can see above, I have already downloaded it, so what I’m going to do is click on the ‘Open’ button to open the app to respond to a review. If you don’t already have the app installed on your phone, you go ahead and click on ‘Install’ and open the app.

Once you’ve opened the Google My Business App, one of the things you want to make sure that you do, if you are managing multiple Google My Business Listings, you want to go ahead and click on the dropdown arrow at the very top of the screen to go to the listing that received the review you want to respond to.

Click on the business name, then look at the bottom of the app’s screen (see screenshot above) where you will see several icons:

Home
Customers
Profile
More

What you want to do is, click on ‘Customers’. This is where you will find your ‘Reviews’. You will also find your ‘Messages’ and your ‘Followers’ on the ‘Customer’ screen.

The review I’m going to respond to is the very first one from Jane Smith, a Renewal & Reinvention Coach I’ve been working with — who also happens to be an amazing human being.

Jane’s review actually came in on June 10th, so I apologize to you Jane, for not responding in a timely manner. I knew I wanted to do this post and video, so I waited until I had time to do so. (This is a do as I say not as I did moment.)

Always make sure you respond to reviews as soon as Google lets you know you received a review.
If you have the Google My Business App downloaded on your phone, you should actually get a notification that you have received a review.
You may need to turn on notifications in the app settings.

What you want to do now is read the review carefully, so that you can respond to every part of it. If it is a long review, you may notice that the review is excerpted. If it is, just click on it and you will see the entire Google review.

Type your response to your customer or client. As you can see below, I added a butterfly emoji, because I know Jane’s branding includes a butterfly — i.e., Get to know your clients. They are not just numbers. That’s a free tip. ;-). In my response to Jane, I said,

Thanks so much for your kind words. It was my pleasure. I look forward to working with you again. 🦋

Try not to sound cookie-cutter like this response. Meaning, do not say the same thing to everyone and make sure that you are using different language. Personalize it, make the person feel like you are talking to them directly. I usually do a more in-depth response mentioning the service they scheduled and mentioning their name. I actually went back and edited the review since I made the video to include all of these things.

Thanks so much for your kind words, Jane. It was my pleasure helping you set up and navigate your Facebook Business Page better. I look forward to working with you again! 🦋

After you’ve written your review:

Click on the arrow that’s pointing, right at the top of the review screen. This will save the review.
You now see a message that pops up at the bottom of the screen that says, ‘your response has been submitted’. It goes away quickly so you may miss it.
Google will send your customer or client an email telling them that you responded to their review.
They won’t be able to reply to your response, so don’t get upset if you don’t get a reply back from them.

If you want to edit your review response, just click on the review on the ‘Reviews’ screen. This brings you to the ‘Edit response’ screen. On this screen, you simply edit your review response or type additional information if you want.

So that’s that! This is how you respond to Google reviews using the Google My Business App. Remember to WATCH >> the video if you prefer to learn that way.

If you have any questions in reference to Google My Business or need help setting yours up, I am a Google High Impact Partner and can help you.

If you are already one of my clients, this service is free of charge.
If you are not currently one of my clients, you will find information on how to schedule a Google My Business training here >>.
Wondering how to become a client? Just book a social media training or any service, and the Google My Business training will be free to you!

BONUS:

Hopefully, you won’t receive any negative reviews, but if you do:

What you want to do is respond to the negative review and say to people, ‘I’m sorry, you’ve had that experience. Please email us at [business email address], or please call us at [business phone number] to resolve this issue.’
If you’ve never even worked with that individual or don’t know who they are, reach out to me using the link above to see if I can help you resolve this problem. In some instances it is possible. (This is a whole ‘nother topic. LOL!)
When the issue is resolved, ask the person to go back to the review and write a positive review to let people know how you actually handled it.

Related Articles:

Author: Romona Foster

Romona Foster is the Social Media Trainer and Consultant at Social Media How To’s with Romona. Romona teaches small businesses and nonprofits how to use Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, Google My Business — and the best practices of Email Marketing, Online Marketing, Affiliate Marketing, and Personal Branding. She is a featured contributor with Business2Community and is a Constant Contact Community blogger.

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If you are using the Google My Business App, hopefully, you are also receiving reviews. Today I’m going to show you how to respond to those reviews when you receive them.

First, let me say a few things about receiving reviews on Google My Business.

As a small business owner, one of the things that you always want to make sure that you do is respond to those reviews.

In responding to those reviews, whether they are positive or negative, you always want to be polite.

Never, ever have an argument with someone on the Google review platform, (and even off of the review platform).

Now, let’s jump into how to respond to the reviews using the Google My Business App.

The very first thing you want to do is make sure of course, that you have the Google My Business App downloaded on your mobile device.

In the screenshots below, and in the video above, I’m using a Google Pixel, which is an Android phone. Therefore, what I’m going to show you will be the Google Play Store.

If you have an iPhone, you will need to go to your App Store to download the Google My Business App. Also, know that what you see on your screen may not look exactly as it looks on an Android.

Once you are in the Google Play Store, make sure that you install the Google My Business App.

As you can see above, I have already downloaded it, so what I’m going to do is click on the ‘Open’ button to open the app to respond to a review. If you don’t already have the app installed on your phone, you go ahead and click on ‘Install’ and open the app.

Click on the business name, then look at the bottom of the app’s screen (see screenshot above) where you will see several icons:

Home

Customers

Profile

More

What you want to do is, click on ‘Customers’. This is where you will find your ‘Reviews’. You will also find your ‘Messages’ and your ‘Followers’ on the ‘Customer’ screen.

The review I’m going to respond to is the very first one from Jane Smith, a Renewal & Reinvention Coach I’ve been working with — who also happens to be an amazing human being.

Jane’s review actually came in on June 10th, so I apologize to you Jane, for not responding in a timely manner. I knew I wanted to do this post and video, so I waited until I had time to do so. (This is a do as I say not as I did moment.)

Always make sure you respond to reviews as soon as Google lets you know you received a review.

If you have the Google My Business App downloaded on your phone, you should actually get a notification that you have received a review.

You may need to turn on notifications in the app settings.

What you want to do now is read the review carefully, so that you can respond to every part of it. If it is a long review, you may notice that the review is excerpted. If it is, just click on it and you will see the entire Google review.

Type your response to your customer or client. As you can see below, I added a butterfly emoji, because I know Jane’s branding includes a butterfly — i.e., Get to know your clients. They are not just numbers. That’s a free tip. ;-). In my response to Jane, I said,

Thanks so much for your kind words. It was my pleasure. I look forward to working with you again. 🦋

Thanks so much for your kind words, Jane. It was my pleasure helping you set up and navigate your Facebook Business Page better. I look forward to working with you again! 🦋

After you’ve written your review:

Click on the arrow that’s pointing, right at the top of the review screen. This will save the review.

You now see a message that pops up at the bottom of the screen that says, ‘your response has been submitted’. It goes away quickly so you may miss it.

Google will send your customer or client an email telling them that you responded to their review.

They won’t be able to reply to your response, so don’t get upset if you don’t get a reply back from them.

If you want to edit your review response, just click on the review on the ‘Reviews’ screen. This brings you to the ‘Edit response’ screen. On this screen, you simply edit your review response or type additional information if you want.

So that’s that! This is how you respond to Google reviews using the Google My Business App. Remember to WATCH >> the video if you prefer to learn that way.

If you have any questions in reference to Google My Business or need help setting yours up, I am a Google High Impact Partner and can help you.

If you are already one of my clients, this service is free of charge.

If you are not currently one of my clients, you will find information on how to schedule a Google My Business training here >>.

Wondering how to become a client? Just book a social media training or any service, and the Google My Business training will be free to you!

BONUS:

Hopefully, you won’t receive any negative reviews, but if you do:

What you want to do is respond to the negative review and say to people, ‘I’m sorry, you’ve had that experience. Please email us at [business email address], or please call us at [business phone number] to resolve this issue.’

If you’ve never even worked with that individual or don’t know who they are, reach out to me using the link above to see if I can help you resolve this problem. In some instances it is possible. (This is a whole ‘nother topic. LOL!)

When the issue is resolved, ask the person to go back to the review and write a positive review to let people know how you actually handled it.

Author: Romona Foster