Google My Business: How to Manage Reviews And Why?

In the gastronomic sector it is always important what diners who have sat at the table of a restaurant think, and what they have perceived about it when they have tried it, food quality, food preparation, service, price, etc. That is why the reviews left by customers are very important. And in this post we are going to explain you how to manage them in Google My Business, a very useful tool for businesses to manage and coordinate the online presence, also how to get positive reviews and how to manage the negative ones and why they are so important for the business, especially in gastronomy.

Google My Business Reviews

The reviews offer the customer valuable information and useful and profitable opinions for the restaurant, that is why the diner should be reminded that he has the possibility to write reviews and rate his experience, it is easy and fast and can be done from any device, mobile, computer, tablet. It is also advisable to respond to all reviews, whether positive or negative, that there is feedback from the restaurant, giving to understand that every opinion matters. These reviews should always be honest and unbiased, a frank opinion about the customer’s experience in the restaurant, so do not offer incentives in exchange for these reviews to be positive and optimistic.

Why Google My Business is important

Google My Business is a free, easy-to-use online tool for businesses and organizations to manage their online presence on Google products such as Search and Maps. To help customers find your business, you can also verify and edit information. And it also allows the reviews so valuable for our restaurant. Its functionalities are explained in another of our posts “Google My Business: Its vital importance for hotels and restaurants”.

– Businesses here appear on the first page, regardless of how your company is positioned, helping to have more visibility online. In short, it makes it easier for them to find you.

– It shows useful information about your business: opening hours, opening days, website, phone number, address and/or a page to make an appointment. The user has all the information he needs to find you or contact you easily, without having to go to the website.

– It allows customers to write ratings and reviews about their experience, increasing the trust and credibility of potential customers. This is very positive when you strive to provide a good service.

– It offers statistics. This information allows you to keep track of your company’s popularity.

Having a presence on the Internet, nowadays, is key for business, especially for gastronomy. So we have brought you a summary of five reasons why Google My Business is important.

5 reasons why Google My Business is important

1- Improves digital presence.

This service allows you to tell the story of the business, provide useful information and thus make yourself known and provide a good image.

2- Improve SEO.

It allows you to appear first in Google searches and acquire notoriety, since Google My Business rewards those who are in its directory.

3- It offers tracking statistics.

Google My Business allows the business to know relevant information about their customers and thus know their behavior, it also offers tracking statistics, how many times they have visited the website, how many times they have seen the photos etc.

4- The business appears on Google Maps.

This makes the business easier to find, also if the customer has geolocation activated and makes a search like “Mexican food near me”, the closest business will appear first.

Interact with customers.

5- Thanks to reviews, it is possible to respond to customer opinions and learn about their needs. This increases the trust and credibility of potential customers.

The importance of taking care of reviews

Reviews are the main source of information for future diners, so they are of vital importance. In addition, the more reviews, the higher the web positioning, which means that if customers participate by writing and giving their opinion about their experience in Google, the higher the chances of finding the restaurant. The reviews are the “word of mouth” of these times, nowadays diners who are planning to go to a restaurant consult it before in these.

How to get positive reviews

It usually works to ask for opinions and ask diners, invite them to describe their experience on Google. Also, it is important to give a solution to negative reviews so that the customer perceives that it was a mistake or something punctual. Or participate in the reviews of other restaurants or partners, so that they give them back to you. Of course, it is unthinkable to buy or falsify positive reviews, they are avoided.

How to manage negative reviews

Verify all reviews, many competing restaurants write negative reviews to gain more importance. Once the review has been verified, you must act by responding and giving a quick solution in a polite and pleasant way and try to talk to the user privately. And, of course, improving the product or service for which it has been criticized.