Frustration Over an Irreversible Mistake
I’m feeling incredibly frustrated right now. My client just made a decision that has completely derailed months of hard work and cost him thousands in potential revenue and leads from his Google Business Profile.
Here’s the backstory: this client runs a roofing company that he inherited from his father. When he took over, he made several changes, including selling the office space during COVID. While that decision itself was manageable, it was a significant problem because his Google Business Profile was linked to that prime location—essential for ranking well due to its proximity. We had been optimizing everything around that address, and as a result, he was consistently ranked in the top 3 for several competitive keywords. Business was booming, with calls flooding in.
Then, out of the blue, he tells me he found a “better option” and wants to change the address to a PO box. I immediately warned him that this was a terrible idea—PO boxes violate Google’s guidelines, and making this change would likely trigger a re-verification, which would be nearly impossible to pass. The only reason his previous address had remained active was that Google had ‘grandfathered’ it in before implementing stricter verification methods.
Well, he chose to ignore my advice and went with what some “other experts” suggested. The result? His profile is now flagged for verification, and since he can’t verify the new address, we lost the listing altogether. To add insult to injury, we now have to clean up citations and attempt to regain the hard-earned rankings he just compromised. It’s been a real headache.
For context, he was receiving about 30 calls a week before this all went down. This past week? Just five calls. FIVE.
Now I’m left trying to figure out how to recover from this setback in such a competitive market. I’m not sure if we’ll ever regain our previous standing. Just needed to vent a bit—if anyone else has faced something similar, I’d appreciate hearing how you handled it.
2 Comments
I’m really sorry to hear about your client’s situation; that’s incredibly frustrating, especially after all the hard work you put in. It’s tough when a client doesn’t recognize the long-term impact of their decisions, particularly in a space as competitive as roofing.
It sounds like you were really on top of things with the optimization and the strategy around the original address. It’s even more disheartening when they dismiss your expertise for advice that ultimately leads to such a detrimental outcome.
In terms of recovery, I know it might seem daunting, but here are a few steps you can consider:
Revert to the Old Address: If there’s any possibility at all of reverting back to the original address, even temporarily, it might be worth exploring.
Local SEO Audit: Perform a thorough audit of his existing citations. Ensure that they reflect any necessary changes and are consistent across all platforms.
Content Marketing: Start producing more localized content that highlights the business’s services, testimonials, and any community involvement. This can help in regaining visibility.
Encourage Reviews: If he has satisfied customers from before the change, encourage them to leave reviews on his Google Business Profile or other platforms. Good reviews can help boost credibility as you work on recovery.
Consult Google Support: Sometimes reaching out directly to Google Business support can provide clarity about potential reinstatement options.
Educate the Client: Use this experience to help your client see the importance of sticking to best practices. This will be crucial moving forward to ensure he understands the implications of such changes.
It’s a tough lesson learned, but hopefully, he’ll come around to value your expertise in the future. Hang in there, and hopefully, you can turn this around!
This is a tough situation, and it’s a stark reminder of how crucial it is to follow best practices in managing Google Business Profiles. It’s unfortunate that the client didn’t heed your expertise, especially since you had a solid system in place with the original address.
In situations like this, communication is key. It might be helpful to reinforce the importance of these platforms and the potential long-term impacts of seemingly minor changes. Perhaps creating a documented guideline or checklist for clients could help them understand the stakes involved in their decisions and empower them to make more informed choices in the future.
As for recovering from this setback, one strategy could be to focus on strengthening the client’s online presence through other channels. Building local backlinks, engaging with community events, and leveraging social media can help regain visibility. In the meantime, reaching out to Google Support for possibly appealing the decision or discussing alternative solutions might also be worth a shot.
It’s a long road ahead, but with the right strategies, you can definitely work towards a comeback. Keep your chin up!