Can ignoring a negative review really hurt my business’s SEO? 😩

Hi, I’m Linda Donnelly. For over ten years, my team and I at Business Solutions Marketing Group have helped small businesses get more customers. We’ve seen a lot of things change in marketing, but one thing has always stayed true: your online reputation is everything.

Think about it. When you’re looking for a new restaurant or a plumber, what’s the first thing you do? You go to Google and check their star rating and read what people are saying. A study from BrightLocal found that about 98% of people read online reviews for local businesses. And here’s a stat that very few people talk about: a study from Podium found that almost 90% of consumers have made a buying decision based on an online review.

So, you know how important reviews are. But what about the ones that are not perfect? What about the ones that are flat-out lies? What about the ones you just want to ignore?

It’s tempting to just pretend a bad review isn’t there. You might think, “It’s just one person’s opinion. It won’t hurt my business.” But that’s where you’d be wrong. In today’s digital world, ignoring a bad review isn’t just a missed chance to make a customer happy. It’s a silent killer that can hurt your business and your SEO.

How does ignoring a bad review hurt my ranking and cost me customers? 📉

The connection between a bad review and your search ranking isn’t always obvious. You might think that a bad review doesn’t matter as long as you have a few good ones. But Google’s algorithm is much smarter than that. It looks at a lot more than just your star rating.

Here are the specific ways that ignoring a bad review can hurt you:

It hurts your reputation with customers. A study from RetainTrust found that 57% of people are less likely to use a business that constantly ignores customer feedback. On the other hand, a huge 88% of people would use a business that replies to all of its reviews. Responding shows you care, and that you’re an honest business.
It hurts your SEO. The Moz Local Search Ranking Factors Survey found that online reviews make up about 10% of how Google decides to rank a business. So, if you’re not getting good reviews, and you’re not responding to the bad ones, you’re missing out on a huge part of what Google looks for. A poor star rating can also hurt your Click-Through Rate (CTR). A study found that a low star rating can cause up to a 42% drop in purchase intent.
It hurts your E-E-A-T. This is a big one. E-E-A-T stands for Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness. A business that ignores a negative review is not showing Google that they are trustworthy. And if you’re not trustworthy, Google’s new AI Overviews won’t want to show your business as a trusted source.
It can lead to a bigger problem. Sometimes, a bad review is just the beginning. If you ignore a customer’s complaint, it can get worse. They might post on social media or tell their friends. It can also open you up to a public relations nightmare that could have been fixed with a simple, professional response.

How a Professional Review Removal Program is the Answer 🚀

So, you know you shouldn’t ignore a bad review. But what should you do? We’ve found that having a smart and calm plan is the best way to handle it. You should never get angry or defensive. Instead, you should always be professional and helpful.

Here are the specific steps we recommend:

Respond Quickly and Professionally. A study from the Harvard Business Review found that if you respond to a customer’s complaint in less than five minutes, they will be more likely to spend more money in the future. Responding quickly shows you care. In your response, you should always thank the person for their feedback, apologize for the bad experience (even if you think it’s not your fault), and try to take the conversation offline. You can say something like, “Thank you for letting us know about your experience. We are so sorry that it didn’t meet your expectations. Please give us a call at our office so we can make it right.”
Use a Professional for the Hard Ones. What about reviews that are a lie? Reviews from competitors? Reviews that are full of hate? This is where a professional team like ours comes in. It’s a very difficult and technical process to get Google to take a review down. It’s not about just clicking a button. It’s about building a case. We know how to find the evidence, like if the person’s name doesn’t match a real customer or if the review has hate speech in it. We then write a formal request to Google to get the review taken down. We have years of experience with this and can help you get the review removed for good.
Get More Good Reviews. The best defense is a good offense. The best way to deal with a few bad reviews is to get a lot of good ones. A study from GatherUp found that a single positive review can increase your website traffic by up to 30%. We help our clients create a system to get more good reviews so that the bad ones get buried and don’t hurt your star rating. You can learn more about how we help with reputation management and review removal here: https://businesssolutionsmarketinggroup.com/services/reputation-management/.

What’s the real impact of your online reputation? 💡

A single bad review on Google isn’t just a review—it’s a piece of digital graffiti on your business’s front door. You know it’s a lie. It’s hurting your reputation. And you’ve probably tried to remove it, only to be told ‘no.’ But what if there was another way?

Another little-known fact is that a good reputation can also help your SEO. When Google’s AI Overviews and other AI-powered tools look for a business to recommend, they don’t just look at keywords on your website. They look at your reviews to see if you’re a real, trusted business. Your reputation is a key part of your E-E-A-T (Expertise, Experience, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness), which is what Google looks for now. So, a great reputation can not only get you more customers directly, but it can also help you show up higher in search results.

You can read more about these trends on a trusted site like the ReviewTrackers Blog.

Key Takeaways

Your online reputation is more important than ever. It’s a key part of how you get new customers and build a successful business. Here are the most important things to remember:

Don’t wait: A bad review can hurt your business every single day it’s online.
Respond to every review: This shows customers and Google that you care.
Use a professional for bad reviews: Trying to get a review removed on your own can be hard and often doesn’t work. A professional can save you time and stress.
Reputation is part of your SEO: A great reputation helps you show up higher in search results and gets your business featured in AI Overviews.
Act now: The businesses that get on this trend now will be the ones that win in the long run.

5 Most Asked Questions & Answers About Online Reputation

Q: Can a Google review be removed? A: Yes, it is possible for a Google review to be removed. Google will only remove reviews that violate its strict content policies, such as being fake, defamatory, or from a competitor.

Q: How do I get more reviews for my business? A: The best way to get more reviews is to simply ask your customers. You should make the process easy for them by sending a direct link to your Google review page via email or text message after a service is complete.

Q: What is a good star rating for a business? A: A study from GatherUp found that most people won’t even consider a business that has a star rating lower than a 3.3. So you should try to keep your star rating as high as you can.

Q: Why do I need to pay a professional to remove a review? A: Paying a professional saves you time and stress. We have the expertise to prove to Google that a review violates their policies, and we know exactly what to say and how to say it to get the best chance of success.

Q: How can a good reputation help my SEO? A: Google uses reviews as a key factor in deciding if your business is trustworthy. A great reputation helps you show up higher in local search results and gets your business featured in AI Overviews.

GBP LInk – https://g.co/kgs/GR8yH4a