Does Responding to Google Reviews Help You Rank Higher?
By Clay Lawrence, Review Harvest · · 3 min video
The short version
No. For the most part, responding to Google reviews makes no noticeable or substantial difference to where you rank, and putting keywords in your replies does not either. Reply anyway, because people reading your reviews are more likely to hire a business that answers them thoughtfully, and how you handle a negative review tells them how you will treat them.
Do this, in order
- 1
Reply to all of your reviews
Write nice, thoughtful responses. People reading your reviews are more likely to work with you than if you have not responded to any of them.
- 2
Leave the keywords out of your replies
Keywords in owner responses may have worked back in the day. Now they make no difference to your ranking, so write the reply for the reader.
- 3
Answer a negative review for the next customer reading it
Apologize and say you want to make it right, even if the review is fake or from a competitor. An angry reply tells every future customer that if things go badly, you get mean.
- 4
Automate the replies if you cannot keep up
Review Harvest responds to your four and five star reviews for you.
Does replying to Google reviews improve your ranking?
No. For the most part, responding to reviews has no noticeable or substantial effect on where you rank on Google. It belongs on the short list of the most common local SEO myths, right next to geotagging images.
Whitespark runs a local SEO research study every year. In the comparison shown, which was roughly 2022 to 2023, two factors dropped sharply:
- Keywords in owner review responses went from number 71, already not mattering much, to number 147, which is close to last.
- The presence of owner responses in general went from number 55 to number 111.
So a reply might help a tiny bit. It will not help in any way you would notice.
Do keywords in your replies help?
No. This is one of those tactics that may have worked back in the day. A few people posted about it, and it caught on like wildfire because it is easy: anybody can reply to a review and drop keywords into it. It does not help you rank anymore.
Myths like this last a long time. Google My Business was renamed Google Business Profile about four years ago, and people still call it Google My Business.
Why reply if it does not help you rank?
Because it helps you get hired. The people looking at your Google Business Profile are reading your reviews. If every review has a nice, thoughtful response, they are more likely to work with you than with a business that has not responded to any.
That is a conversion rate factor. The reply does not bring more people to your profile. It turns more of the people already looking into customers.
How should you reply to a negative review?
Write to the potential customer who is reading it, not to the person who left it.
- Apologize.
- Say you want to make it right.
- Do this even if the review is fake, and even if it is from a competitor.
Do not be a jerk in the reply. Every future customer will read your angry response and think: if things go bad, this owner is going to get mean. A calm, thoughtful reply every time tells them the opposite.
Can review replies be automated?
Yes. If you use Review Harvest, it responds to your four and five star reviews for you.
Common questions
Does responding to Google reviews help SEO?
No. For the most part, responding to reviews makes no noticeable or substantial difference in your Google rankings. In Whitespark's yearly local SEO study, the presence of owner responses dropped from number 55 to number 111 on the list of ranking factors. It may help a tiny bit, but nothing you would notice.
Do keywords in review responses help you rank?
No. It may have worked years ago, and it spread because it is easy to do. In Whitespark's study, keywords in owner review responses went from number 71 to number 147, which is close to last on the list.
Should you still respond to Google reviews?
Yes. People looking at your Google Business Profile read your reviews and your replies. If you have nice, thoughtful responses, they are more likely to work with you than if you have not responded at all. It is a conversion factor, not a ranking factor.
How should you respond to a negative Google review?
Apologize and say you want to make it right, even if you think the review is fake or from a competitor. You are writing to the potential customers who will read it, not to the reviewer. If your reply is angry, they conclude that you will get mean when something goes wrong.
