A company I’m doing work for has some SEO results on the first page when you search for their company name that is the complain board forums and a few other review sites. I’ve been given the task with making these go away and they asked me a question I wasn’t sure the answer to, will responding to those complaints and trying to take care of the customer contribute to them showing up on the first page of Google?
My guess is yes because it’s new frequently fresh content, but what is your experience/opinion?
in terms of SEO, it may have an effect, though the size of the effect can’t really be determined. Your response there could also attract new links to that page, and so on and on…
However, if your client can respond to the complaints in a civil manner, apologise and show that they’re willing to resolve the issue, then by all means encourage them to do this, because no matter on which page that complaint comes up on Google, potential customers will find it, and it always looks good if the company takes complaints serious.
Here’s a hotel in NY that has even incorporated reviews in their site from tripadvisor and where the owner responds to negative comments: