How To Respond To Negative
Respond To Negative Google My Business Reviews
Table of Contents
When it comes to building a business online, Negativity is something that every business owner encounters at some point. Unfortunately, with the sheer size of Google My Business and how well it’s known, business listings can often attract Negative Reviews. However, knowing how to Respond To Negative Google My Business Reviews will defend your business listing!
Of course, people say “Oh, well provide a good experience” however in the current age, Fake Reviews are ripe with people wanting to decrease the authority and credibility of digital businesses. While you can’t prevent Negative Google My Business Reviews, knowing how to Respond To Negative Google My Business Reviews will help! As the Best SEO In Sligo, we have worked to deliver quality local search results.
This blog post will show you how to respond to Negative Google My Business Reviews and how you can remain authoritative when it comes to 1-4 Star Reviews on your GMB Listing.
Negative Google My Business Reviews Have Become Common!
The truth is, when people see Negative Reviews against a business, they are less likely to purchase their product or service. In fact, 94% of consumers say that a bad review has convinced them to avoid a business. While you can’t prevent negative reviews, you can control how you manage and handle them while remaining a credible business within your niche. It’s just about following a Negative Review Protocol, like the one we have included in this article.
Here at Sligo Web Design, we deal with clients and their Google My Business Listings on a daily basis. Whether it be improving the rankings, managing posts and everything in between, we come across Negative Reviews against businesses too often. However, just because a business has had a negative review, it doesn’t mean that it’s a genuine customer or a genuine problem. Knowing how to Respond To Negative Google My Business Reviews is exactly what we teach our clients through consultation services.
As shown in the image above, we received a Negative Google My Business Review on our Google My Business Listing. Even with hundreds of happy customers across Ireland, we still see negative reviews. Whether they be legitimate or fake, they still exist on millions of Business Listings, 63% of which haven’t been replied to. Following the same advise we have provided in this article, our team know how to Respond To Negative Google My Business Reviews.
But how can you handle a Negative GMB Review? What is the correct protocol and strategy to follow when it comes to defending your business against these low, unwanted reviews? It’s just about knowing each scenario and learning how to respond to negative google my business reviews!
How To Respond To Negative Google My Business Reviews
When it comes to a Negative Google My Business Review, you need to know what steps to take. Following the right process will often help you to resolve legitimate negative reviews and help those who feel like your business has undelivered. Your main focus is to respond in such a way that the person leaving the review will help to explain.
As a business owner, it can be easy to get upset and retaliate when it comes to a Negative Review. However, it’s important to keep your cool and handle the response with professionalism. Providing a professional response will help you to discover the reason for the negative review while also showing that your business is transparent.
A Negative Google My Business Response Template
Following our Negative Google My Business Review Template will help you to write a response that shows your concern while keeping your professional, business manner with the one leaving a review! It’s a safe way of responding and providing a response is essential in this situation.
Hi [NAME], thank you for sharing your feedback with us. We are sorry that you had a bad experience. We can assure you that it was a very rare experience.
How can we work with you to resolve this issue? Please get in contact with us by emailing [PROVIDE EMAIL] and we will make sure we do everything we can to help!
Of course, each situation will vary with different reviews including different information. However, if you can follow that template closely with minor changes, you will find that you can provide a structured, professional response. Think of it as a starting point when it comes to writing a response, one of which you can use for every review to some extent.
However, responding to Google My Business Negative Reviews is only one step of the process. Knowing which reviews are real and which are fake will help you in the long run too, and knowing how to tell the difference is key!
But How Do You Respond To Neutral, 3 Star Reviews?
When it comes to a Negative Google My Business Review, you need to know what steps to take. Following the right process will often help you to resolve legitimate negative reviews and help those who feel like your business has undelivered. Your main focus is to respond in such a way that the person leaving the review will help to explain.
As a business owner, it can be easy to get upset and retaliate when it comes to a Negative Review. However, it’s important to keep your cool and handle the response with professionalism. Providing a professional response will help you to discover the reason for the negative review while also showing that your business is transparent.
Fake Vs Genuine Negative GMB Reviews
Responding to any Negative Google My Business Review is important. However, not every review you get on your GMB Listing is from a real person or even a genuine customer. Every business has competition. Whether it be strong competition or a couple of local businesses providing the same thing, when you rank #1, there is always somebody else wanting to replace you. While business owners usually deal with this properly, through their Marketing Strategy, some business owners try to leave negative reviews in an attempt to discredit their competitors.
This is something we see way too often. Business Owners getting 1-2 negative reviews from profiles on Google that aren’t from actual customers of their business. Some of our clients have come to us as a result of Negative Reviews, requesting our help! It’s just about the obvious signs of both Fake & Genuine Reviews!
You can usually find out a lot about a review from the person/profile who left it. The best thing about Google is that you can look at a profile from a review and see where else they have left reviews, how many they have left and much more. All of this information is quite useful when working out if a Google My Business Review is Fake or Genuine and some of the signs are extremely helpful!
How Can You Tell If A Google My Business Review Is Fake Or Genuine?
Looking into the profile of those leaving reviews is critical when it comes to working out if a review is fake or genuine. They will often leave additional footprints which can help you with your investigating, but what specifically are you looking for?
As shown in the image above, the first sign to look out for is the profile picture. The above review shows the first initial as the profile picture, signalling that it’s a new profile or that the user hasn’t specified a profile picture. While letters and logos are quite common in GMB Review Profile Pictures, these distinctive default ones stand out from others. They usually include 1 solid colour and a single letter. However, what else can you look for?
Again following the image above, you can see that the review doesn’t contain any context. When you leave a Google Review, you have the option to write a couple of sentences about your reason for reviewing. Whether it be positive or negative, this is usually filled out in Genuine Reviews.
Above is another review from our Google My Business Listing. This one is from a customer of ours, who was extremely happy with the services that we provided for their business. Alan was a customer of Sligo Web Design and we worked with Alan on a new GP Practice website. As you can see by Alan’s review, he follows all of the usual guidelines, as he is a genuine customer with a genuine review.
Alan’s review includes text, along with a profile image and also some positives. All of which show that it’s a genuine review. His review is also backed up by the fact that we know Alan and we know what services we provided and that he was genuinely happy. All signs of a great review, of which you want to generate!
However, in this situation, let’s assume that Logan’s review being thin of content and profile pictures, could still potentially be a genuine review. What else can you look for in a profile to find out more about the person leaving a review?
Looking At The Profile Of A Google Review
If you click onto the name of any review within your Google My Business Listing, it will redirect you to their Google Profile. This is their profile within Google Maps & Google My Business. Here you can find out a lot of information about the person who has left a review, such as images they have shared, other reviews and much more. This is all great information for a business owner such as yourself as you can find out a lot about the person behind the review.
Usually, you will find that a Google Profile responsible for a 1 Star, Fake Review has no other contributions, however as shown above, this isn’t always the case. If a competitor or somebody else wants to leave a 1 Star Review, they may leave 1 Star reviews elsewhere too. However, we can see all of this through their Reviews Tab on their profile.
When we looked into the profile of the Negative Review on our GMB Listing, it wasn’t a shock to see that they had left another 1-star review against another business. As you can see, the business owner has replied, indicating that it’s a fake review. As far as our investigating goes, we are convinced that this is a Fake Review. We don’t know the person leaving the review and they definitely haven’t worked with Sligo Web Design!
Now that we know it’s a fake review, what can you do? How do you remove the review from your listing?
Reporting A Fake Review
Now that you know whether your Negative Review is Fake or Genuine, you can progress with providing a respond to a Negative Google My Business Review, if it’s genuine. If it’s fake, however, then you need to report the review. This will flag the review for manual revision from the Google My Business Team and it provides you with the chance to get the 1 Star Removed.
Reporting a review is very easy to do and it’s something that you should do to every single review that you consider to be fake. By reporting a review, you are flagging both the review and the profile to Google. If the profile has left 1 Star Reviews against multiple businesses, Google could warrant the account a fake and close the whole profile. As a result, all of the reviews will be removed, meaning you can get your 1 star removed and others too.
If you don’t report Fake Reviews, they will stick to your listing. This means that everyone can see the 1 Star Review when they visit your listing. It’s best practice to get into the habit of reporting these reviews and getting them taken off your listing! We have covered how to Respond To Negative Google My Business Reviews and you should still respond to Fake Reviews, but you need to report them too!
Now that you know whether your Negative Review is Fake or Genuine, you can progress with providing a respond to a Negative Google My Business Review, if it’s genuine. If it’s fake, however, then you need to report the review. This will flag the review for manual revision from the Google My Business Team and it provides you with the chance to get the 1 Star Removed.
Reporting a review is very easy to do and it’s something that you should do to every single review that you consider to be fake. By reporting a review, you are flagging both the review and the profile to Google. If the profile has left 1 Star Reviews against multiple businesses, Google could warrant the account a fake and close the whole profile. As a result, all of the reviews will be removed, meaning you can get your 1 star removed and others too.
If you don’t report Fake Reviews, they will stick to your listing. This means that everyone can see the 1 Star Review when they visit your listing. It’s best practice to get into the habit of reporting these reviews and getting them taken off your listing! We have covered how to Respond To Negative Google My Business Reviews and you should still respond to Fake Reviews, but you need to report them too!
Conclusion
Knowing how to Respond To Negative Google My Business Reviews is important for every business. Even if you don’t deal with them on a regular basis, knowing what to do when one appears will help you to stay ahead. It’s easy to respond without thinking and it’s this that causes major problems for business owners online.
Following our response template and doing your prior research will all help you to respond professionally and keep your credibility online. Even if you know it’s a fake review, you still need to respond and show that you are bothered about the disgruntled customer!
Here at Sligo Web Design, we deal with Google My Business Listings daily. If you need help with your listing, speak to our team today who will be delighted to help!