1. Unclaimed Accounts
If your business is listed in Google results and you have not yet taken ownership of it, this is the first mistake made. Since you have not made this ownership, you cannot edit your GMB account and respond to user comments.
This is an example business account.
If you do not claim your GMB business property and there is no activity on your account for a long time, users may suggest an edit to make the listing non-existent. It is also possible that Google will accept this edit and delete the listing, which could negatively impact your Local SEO efforts. If you have not yet claimed your own business account, you can start the verification process right away.
2. Forgetting the Message Section Open
One of the GMB features that allows businesses to respond to employment database their visitors like live support is the Message section. If you leave the messaging feature open and do not check notifications, you may experience a loss here. If you are actively using this feature, definitely focus on responding to your visitors' messages.
3. Unclosed Business Accounts
If a branch in your area is completely closed, you can mark it as “completely closed” on GMB. This way, those who have called or visited your business in the past will be able to easily determine that your business is no longer providing service in that area.
Marking a business as open on Google even though it is closed will create a bad user experience and may cause people to write bad reviews about you, especially if they are asking for directions.
4. Incomplete Information
If you have a GMB account and your panel should not be missing sections such as the phone number, website or working hours where users can reach your business. These areas are very critical for your business and you should fill in the missing information as much as possible. Of course, you may not need a website; however, it would be very useful to specify a phone number and especially working hours and working days.
If you want to surpass your local competitors in this area, I recommend that you make sure these missing areas are completed.
5. Failure to Respond to Reviews
One of the most common problems that many businesses experience is not responding to positive or negative comments and not taking them into consideration. Not responding to your customers' comments can show that you do not value them. Also, when you respond correctly, other users will understand that you are an active business owner.
Respond not only to positive but also to negative reviews. Think about ways you can turn negative reviews back into positive ones. For example, you can contact them and ask if they can correct their review. Of course, you should respond to these comments in a polite and non-angry manner.
6. Incorrect Information
If your business hours are 8:00 AM to 5:30 PM, but Google doesn’t match that correctly, such as 9:30 AM to 4:30 PM, it can be a very bad experience. If people who plan to come to your business see that you’re closed, their plans may be disrupted and they may leave you negative reviews. If groups of people are even larger, your business may receive multiple negative reviews, lowering your average rating.
You can see edit suggestions in orange on GMB.
7. Location Markers (Pins)
One of the most common mistakes made when creating a location is that the pins that show your exact location on the map point to the wrong places. It is highly likely that people who come with directions in particular will go to the wrong locations due to this incorrect marking. Again, you may lose customers due to this incorrect positioning.
