April 12, 2023
I Have a Bad Review on Google, What Do I Do?
by Curtis Burns

What to Do with Bad Reviews on your Google Business Profile

It happens.  Somehow someone was not happy because of some service or product they bought from you.  It sticks out like a sore thumb on your Google Business Profile (GBP), and it really doesn’t matter if it was simply a misunderstanding with the customer, they just had a bad day, or there was a mistake that you very much want to clear up with the customer. Having a Bad Review on Google Business ProfileYou need to do something about it, you could be turning away potential customers/clients. You have four options:
  1. You can request that Google delete it.
  2. You can reply with a sincere offer to resolve the problem.
  3. Do nothing.
  4. You can start requesting more reviews from your customers, past and present, to push that bad review down and out of sight.
Let me explain more.

Request that Google Delete the Review

That may or may not work.  If the review is obviously spammy, malicious or fraudulent, Google will probably delete it.  However, it could take up to six weeks for Google to get around to it. In the meantime, you have this nasty review that shows up in Google Maps anytime anyone makes a local search in your business niche, and it could be turning away dozens, if not hundreds of potential customers. There is no guarantee that a bad review will be deleted, it could be there forever.  So, you need to get more reviews to push that bad one down and out of sight.  More on that point later.

Reply with a Sincere Offer to Resolve the Problem

This is something that you must do.  First, it shows that you care strongly about customer satisfaction and that makes you look good.  Everybody also understands that some people just love to complain and will magnify the smallest thing to a big problem; your reply will go a long way to helping you look good in the process. Secondly, you are indicating a very important thing to Google: engagement.  That is, you are responding to their post.  The process of engagement shows Google that you are a legitimate, quality service-product provider.  Engagement is a metric that Google uses to measure a businesses relevance.  With a greater relevance score you will be put ahead of other listings that have less or no engagements with customers. Therefore, you should be responding to EVERY review on Google.

Do Nothing

This is the worst of all.  It creates bad optics for you and your business. It will seem like you don’t care about customer service or that you’re neglectful or behind the times with Internet matters.  It doesn’t help you with your Google rankings and getting any sort of organic new traffic. Like it or not, Google is the new big boss we have to acknowledge these days.

Start Requesting More Reviews from Your Customers

Continually asking for reviews is an essential policy for you.  It pushes the bad review down and out of sight, and the preponderance of good reviews will give potential clients/customers a real picture of what kind of business you are. It increases your engagement metrics and puts you in Google’s favor, therefore you get preference over other businesses that don’t keep up with their Google presence.

Some of the Things You can Do to Take Advantage of Your Google Business Profile (GBP)

  • Send an email to past customers with a link to your Google profile and ask them to leave a review
  • Put up a sign at your place of business
  • Put on your sales receipts and business cards
  • Leave it in the signature of your business emails
  • After you do business with someone tell them verbally with a smile “Could you leave me a review on Google, it really helps?”

Don’t Offer Incentives for Google Reviews

You can’t offer an incentive to get good reviews.  That is, you can’t offer a discount in exchange for a good review, etc.  Google would penalize or perhaps remove your profile entirely.  So, don’t do it.  It’s always best to be straightforward and honest.

Conclusions

In conclusion, while it may be an inconvenience, monitoring and replying to reviews on your Google Business Profile is becoming the essential thing to do.  The GBP is what shows up on the search listings, it’s right there in front of their face.  So, you need to keep it clean, friendly and inviting just like the entrance to your office or business. In doing so you get the added benefit of moving up in the search rankings for your diligence and striving to be a good service to the community.  The Google Business Profile is a part of the new business environment we live in, it’s best if we embrace the new tech.

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