Reviews, More Important Than Ever

July 1, 2019 Published by ontarget

Before you purchase a product or service what is one of the first things you do? You look at the product and/or company reviews. Do you use that information to make your purchase? Of course you do, almost everyone does. Your Google My Business (GMB) has just added a new function for users that makes your reviews even more important than they were before.

Google implemented a button on your Google My Business listing called “Ask a Question”. When someone clicks on this button it allows them to ask your business a question and their question stays on your page for everyone to see. As other people enter a question the past questions (and answers – if you manage them) show up as well.

GMB - Ask a Question

This all looks great and doesn’t seem to affect your reviews. However, as someone enters their question, Google filters your reviews and shows the ones that may be relevant to the users question. This makes it even more important for you to manage your Google reviews well. If you don’t have time to do that we can help you with it.

Google - Ask A Question in Action

 

The Good Part of GMB

If you have good reviews this new “Ask a Question” within Google My Business can help your company generate more prospects/leads. Below is an example of how this new functionality can benefit your business:

The good side of GMB's Ask a Question

 

The Bad Part of GMB

If you don’t manage your Google My Business reviews very well, this new function can work against you. It presents reviews that help answer the users questions however, it doesn’t take into consideration what reviews it presents. Unfortunately, you do not have any control over what reviews are presented. The only thing you can do is take your reviews seriously and hire a company like ours to help you manage your online reviews.

Where Ask A Question can go bad

It’s not always clear on how Google is associating what the user enters as a question and the content within your reviews. Some times this new process may benefit your business and others it may hinder your business. Please give us a call to learn how we can help you with this new function.

Make Sure To Answer Questions

You will be notified when someone posts a question. It’s very important to be prompt when answering their question. You also want to make sure you provide as much detail as possible. Short one or two word answers do not help.

GMB Answers

Reputation Management is Important

You probably already knew that but it’s very important to manage your brand reputation online. People are using reviews to help them make their final decision. Make sure your online reviews are managed properly.

Contact us and we can talk through your specific situation.

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