So you got a bad review. What now? Can you make it go away?
If you've received a review you don't like, it may be tempting to make it go away. Unfortunately, you can't delete Google reviews yourself. However, Google can remove it if it has violated their terms.
If you believe your review was described above, you can flag it for deletion. However, if it doesn't violate Google's User Generated Content Policy, you'll need to address the issue another way.
If you receive a review that violates Google's content policies, you can flag it by following these steps:
1. Open Google Maps and navigate to the review in question
2. Beside the review, open the three dot menu
3. Select «flag as inappropriate»
4. From the form, select your reason for reporting the review, and submit
If the review can't be deleted—for example, if the review contains legitimate negative feedback—consider responding directly. You can do this through your Google Business Profile account, or a tool like Semrush’s Review Management.
Replying to negative reviews can help you manage your online reputation, by showing how much you care about customer experience.
A review management strategy is a formalized process of monitoring, analyzing, and addressing reviews for your business. By implementing one, you can:
1. Respond to reviews more efficiently
2. Rectify potential problems more quickly
3. Support your digital marketing strategy
4. Apply your learnings to improve your business's overall performance
Ultimately, both positive and negative reviews present an opportunity to help your business grow. Both of them grant crucial insight into your loyal customers' needs and preferences. Then, you can use that knowledge to better serve them.
You can track and analyze your reviews manually (e.g., in a spreadsheet) or using a review management tool. For example Semrush Local's Review Management tool's «Reviews» report can:
1. Track your overall star rating by location
2. Consolidate your reviews across multiple platforms into one dashboard
3. Enable you to respond to reviews across platforms from one location using the help of AI and auto-reply feature (for Premium locations)
Semrush Local's Review Management Tool Reviews report. Use the Review Progress widget (on the left) to break down the distribution of reviews by star-rating. Use the Average Star Rating widget (on the lower right) to analyze your overall average rating across all reviews.