Google has announced that it is taking steps to repair a bug that has been causing business reviews to go missing from Google Business Profiles, according to a recent report.
Users were very concerned when numerous reviews began disappearing, particularly retail and restaurant pages that rely heavily on good reviews to drive business. However, service businesses such as law firms and dentists’ or doctors’ offices are increasingly likely to rely on, at least in part, online reviews to attract new clients, so the disappearance of these reviews has the potential to affect a very wide swatch of the business landscape.
Reviews began disappearing, according to business owners, when they applied edits suggested by Google to their business profiles. In some cases, all reviews that had been collected for many years disappeared overnight, sending business owners scrambling to repair the damage. There is evidence that the problem resulted when Google changed the business’s CID or customer identification number, resulting in the loss of reviews. There is hope that reverting to the original CID numbers will restore the lost reviews.
However, Google has not yet confirmed that this fix will solve the problem, so many business owners are still waiting to learn what will happen to their carefully collected reviews.
How Do Reviews Drive My Business?
In today’s increasingly online-centric business world, it is critical to have positive customer reviews. Many consumers report reading reviews before deciding to do business with a company, and a significant portion of these potential customers have decided not to patronize a store or company due to negative reviews. A negative review has the potential to stop clients or customers from using your services, so it is very important to regard them seriously and to take steps to stop or repair negative reviews.
While you cannot control every review, it is very important to curate and moderate your business reviews, particularly any that have negative feedback. Often, by contacting the person leaving the review, you may be able to resolve problems and turn a dissatisfied patron into a loyal customer!
Ultimately, reviews can mean the difference between the success and failure of your marketing campaign. For this reason, it is very important to ensure your advertising, social media use, website and other marketing efforts are seamless and well-monitored. Checking on reviews should be a routine task, with a member of your organization designated to respond to any reviews, good or bad, and deal with any issues promptly.
For help ensuring that your website and your marketing strategy are designed to support your business as much as possible, you may want to consider talking to a professional who understands online advertising. Caldiatech has been working with both retail and service businesses for many years, and we can help you navigate the sometimes confusing and complicated world of online marketing. Give us a call today so that we can help you create an online strategy that will bring happy, satisfied customers to your door again and again!