In today’s digital age, bad reviews can be devastating to a business. A single negative review can lead to a sharp decline in web traffic and customers, as potential customers are turned off by bad experiences that others have had. As a result, many businesses have turned to online reputation management and negative SEO companies in an attempt to offset the impact of bad reviews. This can involve everything from paying for positive reviews to hiring PR firms to assist in repairing the damage done by angry customers.
However, Google has now called out the practice of asking reviewers to change their bad review in their new guidelines, which includes merchant requests for revision or removal of a negative review. In addition, they state that any attempt to manipulate reviews, either positive or negative, will result in penalties. This means that businesses will need to find new ways to deal with bad reviews.
One option is to encourage satisfied customers to leave positive reviews, in order to offset any bad experiences that others may have had. The problem with this approach is that it takes a long time to move the needle, so to speak.
Another option is to utilize negative SEO techniques in order to bury bad reviews so that they are not as easily found by potential customers. Whatever approach is taken, it is clear that bad reviews can no longer be ignored.
Having problems ranking online in your local market? We will review your Google My Business page and your website to see if there are any issues that can be harming your local rankings. We’ll then provide you with recommendations on how to fix the problems. The offer is limited to one per business owner/manager. Contact us today to get help with your company’s online reputation.