If you have a Google Business Profile, it can be challenging to deal with bad reviews. Also, negative results can harm your business due to the impact reviews have on customers and leads. Negative thoughts can serve as a way to push customers away, and it will impact how your website ranks on search engines. According to marketing specialists, 63.6% of consumers will advise reviews before engaging in a product or service. Otherwise, Google reviews are one of the most essential elements of ranking websites on search engines and can be more influential than proximity or pricing estimates.
Steps You Can Take To Remove Negative Reviews
Primarily, it would help if you started by opening up Google Maps on a computer. After pulling up your business on Maps, you can click on the menu that reads “Your Contributions.” After choosing “Your Contributions,” use the section that says “Reviews.” After doing so, you will have tons of editing and deleting reviews, or if your thoughts are positive, you could add a photo.
Although you can delete your Google Business Profile, it is essential to note that Google does not allow you to remove your bad reviews. Therefore, you have two options. The first is to ask Google to remove the negative thoughts or reviews that go against Google’s review policy. Otherwise, you may ask the reviewer directly to remove their negative review.
How To Flag Fake Reviews
When listing your business online, it can so happen that you receive fake reviews or ones that violate guidelines. Sometimes fake reviews can come from spammers or direct competitors. Meanwhile, they can also come from former employees or fake profiles.
If Google does not remove the fake reviews, you can handle it internally by taking steps to try to delete the review. Therefore, if you see a review that is not authentic, is harmful or violates the Google review policy, you can request that Google reviews it by flagging it. Here are the steps you will take to flag these reviews.
- Choose your business location and click Reviews from the menu
- Then choose the review that you want to be flagged and click the 3-dot menu
- After doing so, click “Flag as Inappropriate”
Do Not Use Just One Account
When removing negative reviews, it is essential to be persistent. When working with a large platform like Google, it can be difficult to notice your flagged review. Therefore, flag the review from multiple accounts for the best chance of removing your negative review. By doing so, you will be able to get attention from Google in a more timely fashion.
After providing ways to remove negative reviews from your Google Business Profile, it is essential to understand that Google will only remove reviews depending on the circumstance. When someone puts a bad review on Google, it will hurt your reputation. However, with the information we provided, we hope you will have less trouble going forward regarding removing negative reviews. Recently, Google My Business has been providing marketing agencies and business owners with the ability to have more control over their platforms’ reputations. Act quickly, and keep updated on the reviews you receive on your profile. The sooner you react, the better.
You can also read about:
- 5 Tips to Boost Your Business’ Google Reviews
- 7 Common Local SEO Mistakes You Must Avoid
- How to Identify Your Target Audience
Thanks for reading; we hope this gave you all the necessary information. Check out our blog for more information on improving your Google Business Profile. At Summit Crew, we are here to help you grow your business the right way.
If you need help growing your business and averaging 400% or more ROI from your digital efforts, give us a call today or schedule a free strategy session with one of our experts in digital marketing. You will have an opportunity to discuss your business and your marketing goals, and we will provide recommendations on what you should be doing based on our BOOST Method. This is a sales-pitch-free no-obligation meeting, just real advice.
