Knowing what online reviews are saying about your business is important. But so is knowing how to respond.

It’s important because online reviews have a huge impact on businesses, both their online presence and their actual revenue. It has been reported that simply having more online reviews leads directly to more revenue.

We all know there are tremendous benefits to having several online reviews, including:

Free advertising. Each time a customer leaves a positive review for your business, your products and services are being advertised to, potentially millions, of online searchers.
Improved search engine rankings. That’s right, having authentic reviews on Google, positive and negative, improves your overall SEO rankings.
Trustworthy recommendations. Over 80% of consumers trust online reviews as much as word-of-mouth recommendations from family and friends.
Constructive criticism and suggestions from your customers.

Because reviews benefit your business so much, it is important to customers that they know their reviews are being read and responded to.

Not only are review responses beneficial to the customer who left the review, but online reviews influence the buying decisions of potential customers. 97% of consumers who read online reviews, will also read the response left by the business. This means you should not only be concerned with what online reviews are saying about your online business, but also how and if you reply.

What online reviews say about your online business is important, but what you do about online reviews is also important. How you handle online reviews can have a huge effect on your online presence, online revenue and even relations with current and future customers.

For more insights on marketing strategy that actually works for small business, subscribe to the FreshLime Newsletter here. Connect with Jay Bean, CEO and Founder of FreshLime and Small Business Marketing Expert on LinkedIn and Twitter. And last of all, if any of these tips have helped you or if you have anything to add please comment below. We’d love to hear from you!