A suspended Google business profile - how to remove the blockade?

Adjusting a suspended business profile to Google's guidelines

The most common cause of Google listing blocking is non-compliance with Google's guidelines. In this tutorial, I will not bore you with boring quotes from the regulations; instead, I will tell you what to do step by step to align your business with the guidelines.

Name of your business profile in Google Maps

Ensure that your business's name is the same name under which your customers know you. This is your name in your business register, on your signboard, flyers, and company materials, and the name by which your customers know you.

What does this mean in practice?

1. Set your legitimate business name identical to the one in the business register or on the signboard of your business for the duration of the blockade removal
2. Remove ALL keywords from the name
3. Remove phone numbers and prices from the name
4. Remove emoji and unnecessary special characters from the name
5. The business name must not contain whole words in capital letters (except for abbreviated names like KFC- Kentucky Fried Chicken)

Business category

The business category of a company is rarely the basis for suspension. Make the main category correspond to the activities of your business. If you are still deciding about your category, check what category your competitors have chosen.

Description

Ensure your business profile description in Google Maps is informative and valuable to your customers. The description should not contain special offers or unnaturally placed keywords.

Phone number

Your business number should match the number you have listed on your website. If your business uses many phone numbers, put the number from your business profile somewhere on your website, such as in the contact section or footer.

NOTE: If your phone number is added to multiple business profiles, adding it to each subsequent business profile may result in your business being immediately blocked. While using a separate number for each business profile is best, persistent blocking starts when our phone number is added to 8 business listings or more.

Website

A website plugged into the Google business profile my business should contain the exact NAP business details (Business hours, Name, Address, and Phone Number) as placed on the business profile in Google Maps.

Google My Business listing address

Your Google business profile address should reflect the same address at which you run your business. Google ensures that behind each pin in Google Maps is a business whose physical location a customer can visit. You can skip this step when you run a service area business.

Complete a suspended business profile

Suppose your Google business profile my business does not contain any data that can make it credible in the eyes of the algorithm. In that case, it may be treated as SPAM. Therefore, if you have such an option in the panel: upload some posts and photos to the profile. Additional data showing the business's life will certainly facilitate removing the block from the Google business profile.

Remove unnecessary users from your business profile on Google

Your suspended listing may not pass the block removal process due to additional users added to the profile. Try to remove all unnecessary accounts added to your business profile. Suppose any business account has been flagged as associated with suspicious activity. In that case, Google's support team will reject any appeal against blocking such business. That's why it's best to preemptively remove unnecessary accounts from your profile before submitting a business suspension appeal.

Remove duplicates of your business from Google Maps

Multiple listings for the same business can result in a suspension of a Google business profile. Before performing a revocation, remove all unnecessary profiles of your business from your profile. You can do this using this Google panel. Select the redundant locations and remove them by selecting the option in the panel's upper right corner to manage multiple locations.

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Suspended Google business profile blocking appeal

If your business profile complies with Google's guidelines, then it's time to write an effective blocking appeal. Head to this link to access the appropriate business reinstatement form: https://support.google.com/business/troubleshooter/2690129

Answer all the questions and then write an appeal. Describe what happened, inform us about the resolved data quality issues, and indicate that you are anxious to regain access to the business profile. Remember that a Google employee will read your appeal.

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After how long will my business's Google business profile be unblocked?

Currently, the Google team reserves two weeks to consider the appeal. Often, however, the block is removed quickly.

Suppose your business profile has been brought into compliance with Google's content policy, and you have provided all the necessary information. In that case, you should receive information about removing the block after the first contact with support.

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How to further reduce the waiting time for block removal?

Sometimes, a Google employee will ask you for additional information to authenticate your business profile in response to a blocking appeal. Unfortunately, it extends the time when your business profile is blocked, and cannot acquire new customers for you. You can warn Google's team and provide additional evidence in advance by replying to the acceptance email.

Examples of documents and media that will authenticate that your business profile meets Google's requirements:

• Lease agreement for the premises with a visible address
• Water bill with a visible business address
• Electricity bill with the business name and visible address
• A photo of the storefront with a visible signboard
• A photo of the interior of the business
• Your business license
• Video showing the storefront, interior, and back of the business

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Summing up

We know how many business owners rely on Google's business profile and how stressful it is to get a message in the Google dashboard saying, "business profile has been suspended."

Such downtime in reaching new customers is often associated with financial losses for the entrepreneur. That's why it's worth paying a lot of attention to aligning your business profile with Google's guidelines to keep support contact time to a minimum.

Ensure that your business profile complies with the guidelines and provide Google with the relevant documents proving the operation of your business. You should be good with unblocking your profile and getting back to your business operations.

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