In today’s digital world, every business uses online platforms to reach more customers. This isn’t surprising as having a digital presence is the norm now.
Though from all these platforms, Google comes on top. It allows businesses to showcase their products or services through their GMB (Google My Business) listings.
And one crucial aspect of this listing is Google Reviews. This review platform can significantly impact a business’s reputation and revenue.
The reviews here can make or break any business, provided they have the right GMB setup. And like in any other review platform, businesses would want good reviews to appear. Often all the time.
Which begs the question, “How long do Google Reviews last?”
Short Answer? Forever. But that’s oversimplifying the many factors that influence how reviews appear and disappear.
So in this article, we’ll discuss Google Reviews in its most basic form and importance. We’ll also tackle the factors that affect how long these reviews last, why some reviews disappear, and strategies for managing them effectively.
Understanding Google Reviews
Google Reviews are feedback that customers leave on a business’s GMB listing. Customers can rate a business from one to five stars, depending on their preferences. And they can leave a written review about their experience.
These reviews are visible to anyone who searches for the business on Google. And Google, being the most used platform for reviews, can give businesses the marketing edge they need. It often turns into a very powerful tool when attracting new customers.
What sets Google Reviews apart from its competitors is its integration with Google Search and Google Maps. Two tools that many of us are all too familiar to use. This integration makes it incredibly convenient when searching for any kind of business.
For example, a person googling a nearby restaurant will see more than what they searched. Apart from the business’s name, they’ll also see its address and phone number. Most importantly, they can see their star rating and reviews. This feature makes Google Reviews an essential aspect of a business’s online reputation.
Factors that Affect How Long Google Reviews Last
Recency is the most crucial factor in Google review rankings.
It’s so crucial that the majority of consumers only take into account reviews written within the past 2 weeks. On top of that, provided the reviews are great, this majority can increase the chances of purchasing more than negative reviews.
Google also prefers to show recent reviews over older ones. This means that businesses need to consistently get new reviews to maintain their ranking. It’s important to remember though that keeping reviews coming too often is not good. It might look spammy and encourage fake ones, too. This can harm their online reputation in the long run very quickly.
Another factor that affects the longevity of Google reviews is user engagement. Reviews that receive more engagement through likes, comments, or shares are more likely to remain visible for longer.
Review quality is also critical. Google favours well-written, detailed reviews over short, generic ones. It’s also a measure that prevents spam and fake reviews so you won’t have to deal with them.
Google’s review policy plays a significant role in how long reviews last. Google removes reviews that violate its policies themselves. These include what we have indicated above like fake ones, spam reviews, or if it contains hate speech. This policy also means that businesses can’t control which reviews appear on their listing, even if they’re paying for Google Ads. This also means pinning reviews they prefer to appear upon searching isn’t possible.
It’s worth noting that not all reviews that a business receives will show up on their GMB listing. Google uses an algorithm to filter out reviews that they believe are spammy or fake. So businesses need to focus on getting authentic reviews from real customers.
Why Do Some Google Reviews Disappear Then?
Several factors can cause Google Reviews to disappear from a business’s listing. One of the most common reasons is that the review violates Google’s policies. As mentioned above, Google takes care of the reviews they deem spam or fake. So once Google detects these, they take care of it for you. This also means that if you engage in buying fake and spam reviews, it’s going to backfire immediately. So do yourself a favour and don’t get into it. Businesses can also report reviews that they believe violate Google’s policies. Once you do, Google will investigate and deal with it.
Another reason why some reviews appear more often than others is due to an algorithm. Google uses it to determine which reviews are most relevant to a user’s search. Reviews that are more recent, detailed, and engaging are more likely to appear.
Irrelevancy can also affect how long reviews stay visible. In the same way that relevant reviews are the most important, its counterpart does the opposite. Google’s algorithm filters out irrelevant reviews that don’t provide any meaningful feedback. And if that turned out to be completely unrelated, it could get removed as per Google’s policies.
All these points boil down to the matter of authenticity. Businesses need to focus on getting more AUTHENTIC reviews from REAL customers. Remember that asking for reviews is fine but not only for good ones.
Strategies for Managing Google Reviews
So what do you do then? You get reviews. And you get more reviews than that. And so on.
This might sound basic because it is. Since relevancy is the most important factor, then you have to get those relevant reviews. And then make them rain.
Getting more Google Reviews is critical for maintaining a high rating over time. Businesses can do this by asking customers to leave a review just right after an exceptional service or sale. It can also be through follow-up emails or review links on their websites or social media pages.
Responding to both positive and negative reviews is also important to do. Not only does it manage a business’s online reputation, but it also affects the reviews in some ways.
Responding to positive reviews shows customers a business’s side to better engagement online while responding to negative ones shows commitment to overturning a bad experience. It also shows how serious a business is in addressing genuine concerns and improving its services. It may not turn the tables on the bad reviews already online but it can influence future ones.
Maintaining a high rating over time requires consistent effort and attention. Businesses need to regularly monitor their reviews and respond promptly to any feedback.
Also, be wary of some strategies to avoid just getting those sweet reviews online. These include offering incentives for positive reviews and buying fake ones. These often promise quick results but the authenticity goes away just as quickly. These tactics can also backfire and harm a business’s reputation in the long run. Though there are legitimate ways to have reviews removed, the process itself can be time-consuming.
There’s also the idea of removing the GMB profile online to completely delete the bad reviews. It may sound like a good and tempting solution but it’s not. In fact, deleting a GMB profile can make it even harder to manage your online presence. You won’t have access to update or respond to customer reviews which will remain online. That’s right, deleting a GMB profile won’t remove the negative reviews. These same negative reviews will stay there but this time you won’t be able to deal with them. These can appear on other websites or directories through other search engines, too.
And to relate to an earlier point, asking for more reviews is okay but outright asking for positive ones isn’t. Remember, this is against Google’s policies. The main theme here is to keep good reviews coming. So start with giving good service and then encourage customers to leave reviews. You never know, the good service you’ll provide will give others an idea of what they’ll be expecting from you. 70% of prospecting customers will depend on the ratings you’ll be given before even considering giving your business a try. Focus on the good service or product that you have and everything else will follow.
Conclusion
Long story short, Google Reviews will remain online once it’s posted. It may get buried down at the bottom of the list but it can still be searched. It works both ways with negative and positive reviews so you have to make sure the good ones remain on top. And the only way it can be removed is when Google deems it unauthentic or when it violates its policies. You may think of solutions to address this but the most effective way to deal with it boils down to two things. You can either provide excellent service or address the negative ones as best as you can. You won’t be able to turn the tides on the bad ones but you can influence the next reviews to be better. There are other ways to deal with negative reviews but they’re seldom effective and legit. Remember, people use Google Reviews for a reason. It’s a gauge of how your service is given, perceived, and experienced. It may not be the best method to measure these but it’s where most people will see it. So take advantage of the star ratings and make sure people will see your business shine online and in real life.
