Most small businesses rely on their Google My Business (GMB) listings to boost brand awareness and drive traffic to their business. Part of getting the most out of your digital marketing strategy is keeping your GMB profile up to date, responding to reviews, and answering any questions from visitors.
But what if you log into your profile one day and see that it’s been suspended? If your Google My Business listing gets suspended, all may not be lost. Here are some of the reasons why that might happen and how you can address them to get your efforts back on track.
How a GMB Suspension Can Impact Your Business
If your GMB listing is no longer active, it’s probably a big deal for your business. Considering 64% of consumers use Google My Business to locate reviews and details about local businesses, having your business absent from the results could spell disaster.
Most businesses don’t know that their listings have been suspended until they try to figure out why they’re experiencing a reduction in calls, website traffic, or visits to their location. Doing a quick search online, it becomes clear that you are no longer showing up or there is a suspension notification in your GMB dashboard.
When Google suspends a listing, its intentions are pure. The search engine uses its guidelines to filter our dishonest and illegitimate businesses, so the best show up when searchers need them. If your business is honest and legitimate, it should be able to prevail.
Types of Google My Business Suspensions
Before getting into “why” your GMB listing was suspended, it’s important to understand that there are two types of suspensions that you might encounter:
- A “soft” suspension - This is the less common type of suspension. It involves marking your listing as suspended but still allowing it to show up in search results. You’ll have to reclaim and reverify your listing with a new Google account.
- A “hard” suspension - A more common type of suspension, this involves the removal of your GMB listing from all search results. To get it back, you’ll have to follow Google’s process, which we discuss below.
Why Was Your GMB Listing Suspended?
When Google suspends your GMB listing, it’s generally because the search engine believes you’ve done something that violates one of its guidelines. While Google may not tell you specifically why your listing was suspended, you may be able to figure it out by reviewing the guidelines and the most common reasons for a GMB profile suspension. These include:
Listing Information Changes
Google might get suspicious when you change too much information on your GMB listing in a short period. This information includes:
- Business name
- Categories
- Website URL
- Address
- Phone number
- Management and login changes
- Service area changes
Violating Google’s Address Policy
GMB is meant to showcase local businesses, so there are rules about national, online, and some home-based businesses using the service. You’re probably in violation of the policies if you list any of the following:
- P.O. Box, UPS/FedEx Stores, Virtual Addresses
- Forwarding phone numbers
- Forwarding URLs
- Online-only businesses
- Multiple listings for the same business location
High-Risk Industry Categories
Some industries are considered “high-risk” by Google and will undergo additional scrutiny. These include:
- HVAC
- Locksmiths
- Plumbing
- Some other home services businesses
If you’re not sure why your account was suspended, an excellent resource is the Google My Business Help Forum, where the volunteer moderators can take a look at your situation and give their opinion.
How to Address Your GMB Account Suspension
It might be tempting to fire off a quick message to Google and let them know your displeasure about the suspension. But you’re not going to get the results you want unless you first fix what’s wrong with your listing. Also, avoid the temptation to create a new listing because this will only complicate your situation.
Provided you’ve identified what went wrong, you can address the problem quickly. If you stuffed a bunch of keywords into your business name, remove them. If you have a P.O. box listed as your business location, change this to an actual address. And if you put a spammy website in your business URL section, change the entry to something that is relevant and reputable.
Once you’ve addressed the issues that have caused you headaches, you can fill out and submit Google’s reinstatement form. When you fill out the form, you’ll answer a series of questions, which you should respond to honestly and completely. Make sure you also submit any requested documentation along with your request. An appeal typically takes several weeks before you get an email notification of Google’s decision.
Ways to Avoid a GMB Listing Suspension
The best way to fix a Google My Business suspension is not to get one. So, how can you avoid getting on the search engine’s wrong side? It’s not always easy. But here are a few tips that can help you avoid a GMB listing suspension:
- Read and follow Google’s guidelines.
- Claim your business listing and optimize it thoroughly.
- Make sure your NAP (name, address, phone number) remains consistent across all online properties.
- Avoid stuffing keywords in your listing’s title and description.
- Use a local address and phone number instead of a national one.
- Provide accurate business hours (not 24/7 unless this is true).
- Never use website redirects or post spammy links in your listing.
- Make sure your GMB profile description is high-quality, useful, honest, and relevant.
- Use as few categories as possible to depict what your business does.
If your GMB listing has been suspended and it’s causing you undue stress, Connection Model can help. We understand how this program works and have experience solving a variety of listing issues for our clients. Contact us today to learn more about our services, including how our results-driven solutions can help you perform better in local search.
Written By: David Carpenter
