Google Business Profile (sometimes referred to as GMB) is a free tool from Google which you can use to advertise or share information about your business with the world. It’s essentially a directory for local businesses, giving people one centralised location to learn about your business. It’s like Facebook for local businesses! You control what information appears on your page, and even if someone has never heard of you before, they can visit your Google Business Profile page and start learning more about you immediately.
This article will try to cover many common questions from users, including “Can I Turn Off Google Reviews For My Business?” and clear up various misconceptions about GMB.
Here are some benefits of using Google Business Profile:
Here is the step-by-step guide to adding your listing to Google Business Profile:u003cbru003eu003cbru003e1. From your computer, visit Google Business Profile and sign in with your Google Account. Make sure you sign in and not just create a new account.u003cbru003e2. Click on the big button that says u0022Add your businessu0022, and you’ll be taken to a step-by-step page where you can enter information about your business. The first step will ask for basic information like your company name, address, phone number, etc. You’ll also need to upload some photos of your location (don’t worry too much about this just yet).u003cbru003e3. The next step is to add detailed contact information for your business, including your opening hours, location address, and other relevant details.u003cbru003e4. After that, you can link up some social media accounts with GMB. This helps people discover more about your brand or company through Google Search too!u003cbru003e5. Next, it will ask if you want to add additional categories for your business. This depends on what type of service or product you sell. If you have 20 different locations nationwide, pick the most popular one since those are usually listed first in search results anyway)u003cbru003e6. Once you’ve filled out everything, click u003cstrongu003eSaveu003c/strongu003e.u003cbru003e7. You’ll then be taken to the page where you can confirm your listing was successfully published – if not, check that all the information is correct and click u003cstrongu003eSaveu003c/strongu003e again.u003cbru003eu003cbru003eYou’re Done! Now What? Verify!
1. After publishing your business listing, click the u003cstrongu003eVerifyu003c/strongu003e button.u003cbru003e2. You will be asked to put in a code sent to your email or phone number – this is to make sure it’s YOU creating that listing. Once you enter the code, click the Check code button.u003cbru003e3. Next, you’ll see a form where you need to enter a few details about yourself and your business again u002du002d this is just verification that it’s really YOU claiming this listing and not someone else trying to steal some of your business traffic!u003cbru003e4. Click u003cstrongu003eVerifyu003c/strongu003e and then wait for Google to review your info- it can take up to 7 days for the review process. You’ll see a status page with a big green checkmark if everything went smoothly.u003cbru003eu003cbru003eCongratulations! Now your business is officially listed on Google Business Profile!u003cbru003eRemember that if you want to claim an existing business, you may be asked to verify it through regular mail shipped to your business address containing a Verification Code.u003cbru003eu003cbru003eOnce you verify this listing, be sure to monitor your company and make updates as needed every few months!
Next, after successfully registering your business on GMB, you want to get the word out about your company by attracting as many reviews as possible so that potential customers can trust your business. You can do this by posting your Google Business Profile listing across the web.u003cbru003eu003cbru003e1. Your Regular Customers are your biggest asset; ask them personally if they could spare a minute and review your business.u003cbru003eu003cbru003e2. Post your GMB link on:u003cbru003eu003cbru003eYour website (include it at the bottom of every page)u003cbru003eFacebook page (write a post highlighting why people should check out your business through Google Search, then encourage them to visit your GMB listing)u003cbru003eLinkedIn company page (the same as the above step)u003cbru003eu003cbru003e3. Offline Customers: If someone recently visited your store or business, ask for their feedback and encourage them to leave a review.
It’s worthwhile to build up your Google Business Profile reviews over time u002du002d but what happens when a bad review shows up on the first page and is causing excessive traffic loss? There are several ways you can try to deal with it:u003cbru003eu003cbru003e1. Flag Inappropriate Reviews: Some reviews fall in google’s Prohibited and Restricted Content Categories. Here is the list of Prohibited and Restricted Content by Google:u003cbru003eu003cbru003eSpam and fake contentu003cbru003eOff-topicu003cbru003eRestricted contentu003cbru003eIllegal contentu003cbru003eTerrorist contentu003cbru003eSexually explicit contentu003cbru003eOffensive contentu003cbru003eDangerous and derogatory contentu003cbru003eImpersonationu003cbru003eConflict of interestu003cbru003eu003cbru003eSo if you see a negative review related to any category above, you can Flag it as Inappropriate. Google will take some days to review it and will delete it.u003cbru003eu003cbru003e2. Contact the customer directly: Sometimes, they might not like your business, but that doesn’t mean they wouldn’t appreciate a call or an email requesting a follow-up conversation. Say sorry for their bad experience and try to address their issue, and after that, you can politely ask them to change/edit their review.u003cbru003eu003cbru003e3. Contact Google Support: If you think the negative review is wrong or misleading and hurts your business reputation, you can send a formal request to the Google Business Profile support team asking them to remove it. Make sure you include all the details in this email, including screenshots of conversations, because they will contact the reviewer for further confirmation and other people involved (if any). It may take few weeks before the process completes, so be patient until you hear back from their end!u003cbru003eu003cbru003eBTW, a bad review is just another opportunity to improve your business practices and u003ca href=u0022https://www.cjco.com.au/chatbots/u0022u003ecustomer serviceu003c/au003e. There’s no need to remove the reviews completely if they’re legitimate – it’s better to take customers’ feedback and make changes that will encourage future positive reviews instead of focusing on how things used to be before this person came along.
The answer is NO! Under no circumstances can you turn off Google Reviews for your business listing. That’s why many local businesses hire a marketing agency or u003ca href=u0022https://www.cjco.com.au/seo/u0022u003eSEO expert u003c/au003ewith experience in dealing with Google Business Profile account to optimise and improve their rankings.u003cbru003eu003cbru003eHowever, there are some cases in which google can temporarily turn off reviews:u003cbru003eu003cbru003e1- If there is a technical issue with Google’s review system, your reviews may appear as pending while they’re analysed for quality or spam.u003cbru003eu003cbru003e2- If the review violates Google’s policies (e.g., if it contains hate speech), then Google has the authority to temporarily turn off the reviews while they investigate further.u003cbru003eu003cbru003e3- If your listing is under attack and someone is trying to defame you by publishing bulk negative reviews to hurt your business.
Some years ago, Google announced that you can get top spots on local searches even with only 1-3 positive reviews because of their machine learning and artificial intelligence. However, reviews are not the only factor considered for rankings; there are many others. If you’re like us and on the Gold Coast, you may want to hire u003ca href=u0022https://www.cjco.com.au/digital-marketing-gold-coast/u0022 data-type=u0022pageu0022 data-id=u00222504u0022u003eMarketing Agency Gold Coastu003c/au003e.u003cbru003e
So that’s all for this topic; I hope you enjoyed reading and learning about how to set up and improve your local business ranking on Google by increasing your reviews!
I appreciate it if you share this article with your friends on social media or forward it to them. Also, feel free to check out the other articles we’ve written.
Thanks for visiting us, I will see you next time!
Up until working with Casey, we had only had poor to mediocre experiences outsourcing work to agencies. Casey & the team at CJ&CO are the exception to the rule.
Communication was beyond great, his understanding of our vision was phenomenal, and instead of needing babysitting like the other agencies we worked with, he was not only completely dependable but also gave us sound suggestions on how to get better results, at the risk of us not needing him for the initial job we requested (absolute gem).
This has truly been the first time we worked with someone outside of our business that quickly grasped our vision, and that I could completely forget about and would still deliver above expectations.
I honestly can't wait to work in many more projects together!
Disclaimer
*The information this blog provides is for general informational purposes only and is not intended as financial or professional advice. The information may not reflect current developments and may be changed or updated without notice. Any opinions expressed on this blog are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the views of the author’s employer or any other organization. You should not act or rely on any information contained in this blog without first seeking the advice of a professional. No representation or warranty, express or implied, is made as to the accuracy or completeness of the information contained in this blog. The author and affiliated parties assume no liability for any errors or omissions.