Suspensions have been a source of considerable frustration for many local marketers and business owners.
Many businesses rely on Google My Business a lot – although lots of businesses may be unaware of it. I mean, look at all those unclaimed listings… But when call volumes drop all of a sudden, and someone starts to investigate WHY, it may be because your listing has been suspended. Until recently you had to find out on your own – and a lot of damage may have been done until you do.
Since last week, because of a new European law, Google has started to send email notifications to business owners when their listing has been suspended.
Just a notification stating that fact, though – not a reason why. You’ll have to dig into Google’s guidelines to find out why (or better – let a professional investigate this FOR you). Once you have fixed whatever’s against Google’s guidelines, submit a Reinstatement Request.
Aim for reinstatement. Don’t take the “easy way out” of creating a new listing – you may lose important elements of the suspended listing: user-submitted photos and videos, and of course – Google Reviews. (want 5-star reviews in 5 days?)
If the problems have been fixed and the listing is successfully reinstated, all the content and its the listing’s ranking will typically return within 72 hours.
Inspiration for this article from Search Engine Land.
