Let’s get real and talk about an issue affecting the skydiving industry. The presence of third party call centers capturing your potential customers by:
- creating elaborate websites in each marketplace around the country giving the appearance of an actual physical DZ (we’ve seen this for years)
- creating Google Business Pages by utilizing addresses and packaging/mailbox storefronts
- Padding these Google Business pages with false reviews
LEARN HOW TO REPORT FAKE GOOGLE REVIEWS 
I want to address the last two bullet points to help you defend your digital space. The position in which your business shows up in Google dictates the volume of site traffic thus affecting your sales conversions.
The more your business shows up in the Google search results page (in the local pack, the Google Business Page, Google AdWords, News, featured snippets, etc), the greater the probability you’ll increase your site traffic.
For this reason is why third parties are trying to occupy more space in the search results and why we’re seeing the creation of business listings that aren’t 100% transparent.
The Google Business Page
The Google Business Page is as important as your website and should be maintained monthly with updates to photos and responses to reviews (both positive and negative). The reason for its importance is because of how it stands out on Google’s page. A potential customer can see your reviews (and average review rating score), location, hours and photography within moments.
If you’ve setup your company’s business page, you may recall having to receive a postcard in the mail from Google with a special code that verifies the physical location of the business or received a text message from Google.
A tactic that some third party retailers have been implementing is setting up a mailing address at a mail and copy store (like a UPS Store) to help give the appearance that there is a physical skydiving center in the city.
It is possible to have a Google Business Page which is unverified without the physical address as seen by many third party operators in the industry.
How To Report a Google Business Page
Step 1: Leave a Review
Reporting a Google Business page may take time, so one of the first things I’d recommend is leaving a review yourself. I advise being truthful and not throwing mud as that only causes you to lose credibility in the eyes of the reader. Just state the facts and allow the court of public opinion make a judgment from there.
Step 2: Report The Page To Google
If you don’t look closely, you’ll miss it. At the very bottom of the Google Business page is the word ‘Feedback.’ This is the button you can use to report the Google Business page. Click on ‘Feedback’ and you’ll be presented with this screen:
Select ‘Yes’ to open another screen of options. Select one if it applies.
STEP 3: ASK FOR HELP
If a Google Business page is truly false and violates Google’s policies then with persistence you should be able to have the page removed. If the two steps above are unable to get you what you need, you can use the Support Forum to get additional help.
Within the forum, you can get some advice.
i). Visit the Spam & Policy Forum in GMB
ii). View previous responses to questions like yours or you can start a new thread asking for help.
iii). Ask a community expert. These experts are usually quite helpful and may be able to get you some help from the Small Business Support Team.
Upcoming Events
- 2018 DZ Marketing Conference – February 6-7, 2018
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