The world of search engine optimization (SEO) is never dull. Just when you think you’ve got it areas like website SEO and Blogs mastered, Google will usually come up with something new to keep you on your toes. Google’s goal is to provide the absolute best user experience, and of course, provide data to advertisers so they can make profits. With both these objectives in mind, it is fair to say that user expectations are continually changing so is the search engine’s approach to keeping them happy. How many times have you carried out a Google search for a simple answer and wished the answer was there without having to click through to a website?
Good News, for a couple of years Google has been listening, not only have they introduced Google My Business but also improving what is called featured snippets or also known as position zero. As with most things, there are pros and cons to any goal. Consider this, you provide the answer to the search but get no click through to your website, so no SEO benefit or potential sales? However, are you being remembered in the mind of the customer for the future? The click-throughs are easy to measure, ascertaining if a customer has come to you, days, weeks, or months after being helped by your featured snippet is not so easy to measure.
Before embarking on the SEO challenge of achieving position zero, you need to look at your business growth strategies and the benefits of achieving position zero. Position zero can potentially give you massive brand awareness, assuming of course the searchers sees that you provided the information and not just reads the answer.
Understanding What Position Zero Means in SEO
You’re likely familiar with the concept that you want to rank as high as possible on page one Google’s search engine results. The higher, the better, but can you actually do better than the number one position? Yes, let us introduce you to position zero.
The goal of position zero is to answer a search engine user’s query right there on the first page. From Google’s perspective, this provides a high level of satisfaction to the user and keeps them inside Google. For many businesses, position zero is the ultimate way of gaining visibility and traction.
Featured snippets are displayed right above the number one ranked spot, which is why it’s called position zero. Keep in mind that the webpage that wins this coveted spot might not be the highest ranked for the query, it’s just the one that Google decided did the best job of providing an immediate answer to a user’s question.
For example, if a user enters the query “What are the best colleges on Vancouver Island?” a position zero listing might be a paragraph that describes a college that recently earned the distinction of being number one, or the featured snippet could be a bullet list of the top 10 colleges.
Getting to Zero
There’s an energized focus in search engine marketing to get to position zero, but achieving it requires a different set of strategies than merely ranking high in search results and they all revolve around content.
The first step is to realize that position zero features an answer to a question. This means that when you’re creating content, you want to focus on providing answers in a way that they can easily be pulled out and displayed. For example, short paragraph answers, lists and bullet points dominate position zero.
Secondly, we know this doesn’t come as a surprise, but keyword research is a must. The way users are asking questions to search engines is different than it has been in the past. Local SEO and the rise of the use of voice devices means that keywords need to reflect a more natural language pattern rather than a short, choppy string of words.
Consult SEO Experts
It is not something that the average business owner can normally achieve without support. As with any SEO marketing, by using experts in this field you will achieve where you want to go much faster.
How important to the growth of your business is Google My Business?
For those not in the know Google My Business is similar to your Facebook Page/ Instragram page within Google. If your customers use Google to find any services or products that you offer then it is paramount that you take advantage of this free tool and claim your business name. Google My Business (GMB) gives you a presence across the full range of google search websites and apps such as Google search, Mobile search, Local Search and Google Maps. GMB gives you an opportunity to provide valuable information to current and potential customers through your business listing, other than your time, it is totally free. It is potentially a great way to move up the google search results without a need for a search engine optimisation strategy. That said you will need to have a GMB strategy, but by comparison to a SEO plan, it is plain sailing.
Google is in the business of providing information and selling adverts, GMB was developed to make it easier for searchers to get the information they need, quickly and conveniently, often your GMB profile will appear well above your website in search results. Your business’s address, opening hours and contact information will appear in your Google My Business listing, without the need for someone to click through to your website and go looking. Put simply, it allows potential customers to more easily find you, and contact you.
As a business owner, you might already have a whole bunch of online real estate that requires your attention: there’s your website, your Facebook page, Twitter, Instagram, the list goes on. Isn’t Google My Business just another page you’ll need to remember to keep up to date? You will see why it is so important to review the stats and keep it updated.
How Important is Google My Business?
As mentioned previously Google’s entire business model is based around being unquestionably the single best search engine (and sell adverts but based on what you are looking for). If you didn’t find what you were looking for quickly and easily, every time you searched Google, you might eventually try using a different search engine! Therefor everything Google does is for the searcher’s convenience, even google ads.
As for all businesses to grow and make informed decisions Google needs data and information. If a person searches in Google and then leaves the search engine to visit a website they lose valuable intel on what that person is then doing.
However if Google can provide 80% of what customers are looking for such as a phone number, an address, reviews or opening hours for your business, then there is no need for them to click through to your website – those details are provided in your Google My Business listing, right there in the search results.
Many business owners that I meet and work with have asked is a bad thing that people are not clicking through to my website?
You have to look at what the customer is trying to resolve, if they want simple information then why have the added time to click to your website. However if they are looking to purchase something from your website they will still click via the website button in GMB.
You could consider it excellent customer care as you are helping the customer find what they want as quickly as possible.
Of course, your GMB will also come up in results when people search for what you do not just your business name. The more customers then click on one of the GMB functions the more likely you will then appear in the next persons search for a similar solution or product.
For these reasons, setting up a Google My Business listing and managing the listing is absolutely essential for every enterprise.
Benefits of a Google My Business Listing
If someone is searching for your business name, then they are already aware of your business – perhaps even a returning customer – so your full Google My Business listing will display in the search results. You’ve probably seen these listings before, to the right of the search results:
However, what if someone is searching for what you do or a solution to a problem.
best thai restaurant, mechanic near me, pool shop open sundays
Each one of these searches results in a “three-pack” result above the standard organic search results.
You’ve probably seen these three-packs before as well – a map with three local businesses pinned onto the page. Those business details are pulled from each business’s Google My Business listing. In fact, the backbone of Google’s entire Local Search directory is Google My Business.
Simply setting up your Google My Business page can be enough to get you featured in a three-pack result. And the fact that these three-packs appear on top of the standard organic search results makes them critically important.
However, keep reading as there are a number of other benefits to having a Google My Business listing:
Helps Your Website Rank Better
Google My Business is essential for Local SEO as it enables your business listing to appear in local search results for queries specific to your products or services. Even broad queries with large search volumes display local results in the three-pack, and this is something small business owners can capitalise on.
Control Your Information and Service Offering
At the very least, use Google My Business to put basic information about your business into Google’s Local Search index. But Google My Business also offers a range of additional tools to help you attract and inform local customers. For example, you might add information like product lists, accepted payment types, menus and prices, plus interactive features such as photos and reviews. You can even add coupons and special offers for your visitors.
Manage, Showcase and Respond to Reviews
Most potential customers will want to see what others think of you before buying. One of the most important elements of a Google My Business listing is Reviews. Google has recently started a campaign to recruit users as “local guides”, rewarding them when they rate and review local businesses. High-quality, positive reviews from your customers will improve your business’ visibility and increases the likelihood that a potential customer will continue with their actions and purchase something from you.
Learn More About Customers
The Google My Business platform enables local businesses to learn even more about their customers by including a lot of extra analytics data you won’t find elsewhere. For example, on Google Maps, you can access information on where requests for driving directions to your business originated from. This might be useful information that can help you target new customers in the area, or potentially target a new suburb to expand into as your business grows.
It takes less than 15 minutes to complete the basic GMB listing. Make a start with the basic then please make sure that your business has an up-to-date and detailed Google My Business listing. You are missing out on one of the best free (and guaranteed!) ways of appearing in the Google search results. I have a couple of clients who have seen double figure growth in their business from a GMB strategy.
Google My Business pages are not complicated, but they are important. While you may feel like it’s just one more web page to keep on top of, Google My Business should go to the top of the pile as one of the most important.
Unsure then here is a step by step guide on
How to set up a Google My Business Account.
If you would like some help with your GMB strategy, then please book for a one hour consultation and I will explain how to get the most out of your GMB listing and grow your business awareness. I am confident I can coach you in one hour for you to then implement your own GMB plan of attack.
I have noticed that a couple of my clients have had some of their google reviews disappear, it has never happened to any of my clients previously.
Have you recently had some Google Reviews disappear? I bet you are struggling to get any sense from google or even a reply?
Google did announce at the end of July that a bug did occur with Google My Business reviews.
Although many people speculate about how the Google algorithm works, very few have in depth knowledge.
I took time to dig around numerous articles, some are from google partners, I have compiled a list of reasons why your review may have been removed.
While Google doesn’t outline every aspect of their spam detection algorithm, they do provide specific Google review content guidelines. If you clicked on the link you will see how easy it is for a customer to leave a review that may then get removed.
How does Google manage all the reviews being posted, it applies a review filter. You want to know how the filter works? It appears that the filter runs periodically and takes down reviews that they deem illegitimate. The filter does not run in real time which means you could have a review stick to your listing for months and then vanish at the same time as several other reviews.
I would recommend regularly monitoring your reviews against the following and act accordingly:
A URL in the review?
If there is a URL in the review, the review filter will more than likely consider it spam and remove the google review. It seems google believes there is no need for a URL in any review.
Was there a phone number in the review?
There is no need for a phone number in any review, so the filter classes it as spam and removes it.
Frequency of reviews?
It is wonderful that you are getting customers to leave reviews, however, if you are too good at this and they are all leave a review in a short space of time then the filter might consider that you are using fake reviews.
Do you have reviews in other places online?
Many of us ask customers to leave Google reviews to help with Google My Business ranking. If you have loads of reviews on Google My Business, but none on Yelp, Facebook, etc., this could be a cause for the deleted reviews. Google considers this a good indicator of spam – or maybe your over-coach your customers about how to leave a review for your business. Instead, mix it up – ask for a review of your business on Facebook and other sites from time to time.
Did the review appear elsewhere on the internet?
Spread your reviews across several online platforms. If a customer is happy to leave reviews on numerous platforms, ask that they do not copy and paste the same review. If you have testimonials on your website paraphrase the reviews. Make sure customers are not copying and pasting previous reviews and write their own.
Is the reviewer a manager of your Google My Business account or Google+ page?
Never write your own review or anybody who has access to your GMB page
Is the reviewer your employee?
Never have employees leave a review.
Conflicts with the IP address.
A huge majority of the time reviews get filtered due to issues with the IP address of the person who left you the review. This is difficult to manage as most do not know where their IP address originates from nor can they control it. We have had incidents where local people have left a review, but their IP address has been in a different part of the world.
Are you asking customers to leave a review whilst at your business?
If they are using your wifi, they could all be using the same IP address. Far better to give them your Google review URL.
Was your review written from a location that is TOO far away from your business location?
Make sure your GMB is correctly configured to allow international or long distance reviews.
Were there multiple attempts to post the same review?
If a review was flagged and deleted by Google, then the customer adds the same review again – it will be removed again.
Do many of your reviews originate from the same online location?
Yes, it is nice to send clients to your testimonial page to encourage them to then click on a link and leave a review. However, it is possible that Google records the referring URL and sees that all of your reviews are coming from a website. Far better to send your customers the GMB review url.
Do you have multiple business locations?
Do you have multiple locations and multiple Google My Business pages? Customers are great! They love your service and products and they want to tell the world about you. They love you so much that they visit the Google My Business page for every location your business has in the metro area, eager to leave their review. Unfortunately, if the reviewer left the same review on multiple business locations, the duplicates (or all) will likely be removed. It seems the same if only one of your locations is getting reviews.
Do you have an abnormally large amount of reviews on your Google My Business page?
You can be penalised and be a victim of your own review success. If your business has way more reviews than other businesses in your industry and city/area, this could be cause for concern. Consider this your business has a catchment of 20,000 people but you have 2000 reviews, don’t be shocked when many of them get removed. Especially if no other business in your area has the same level of reviews.
Did the reviewer remove their review?
A customer might be a repeat customer and have a different experience and choose to remove their review rather than change it. On behalf of a couple of clients I have contacted their customers to see if they would redo a review and they mentioned they took it down. Silver lining it gave my client a chance to fix a misunderstanding and the review is now back up.
Does the reviewer have a blank Google account?
Fake profiles commonly do not contain a name, photo, or other information. Real accounts are never completely blank. When a business gets numerous reviews from empty accounts, this is a trigger that the reviews were created by bots and are fake or paid.
Did the reviewer delete their Google account?
A user must have a Google account to leave a review. When a Google account is deleted, the associated reviews are deleted as well.
Have you been active on Google My Business lately?
Your Google My Business profile needs to be an integral part of you digital marketing strategy. Ensure you are on there at least once a week. You do not want to have an unverified account.
Do all of your reviews look and sound the same?
Ironically if the reviews are too perfect and appear to be mass produced, there’s a very good chance you will trigger the review filter to remove some of your reviews. Ask for a Google review but don’t coach your customers on the writing of any reviews.
Was the review “clean?”
Profanity, hate speech, offensive language and personal attacks are not allowed in reviews. This type of content will definitely trigger the filters and the review will be removed. If there are reviews on your Google My Business page that contains any of this type of language, you should request to have the Google review removed ASAP.
Are you offering incentives for customers?
If Google finds out and it is amazing how they do, that you are offering discounts, coupons or free products to entice customers to leave you a review, not only will your reviews be removed you may have your profile suspended.
Is your Google My Business Review missing because of a Google Error?
These are situations that can happen but are rare occurrences. If you’re missing reviews on your Google My Business page, one of the reasons above is much more likely to be the reason for your missing Google reviews. If this is the case it is very hard to get it back.
There you have it, my findings on potential reasons why any Google reviews may disappear. Of course you also want to know is it possible to retrieve any missing reviews. The quick answer is it appears not, personally never had any success.
If you have had success would love to hear your process.
Plan of action moving forward. I would recommend creating a file if you do not have a CRM system and copy your reviews. Set a regular time to copy the review and the name of the customer who wrote it. If you are getting into hundreds of reviews, then you need to work out the ROI of review management.
To finalise, yes, it is a pain to work hard to provide excellence only for the review to disappear. I would focus on continuing to provide excellence and getting more reviews.
