Google+ Local the Key Now for Local Businesses

by Blair Evan Ball on May 31, 2012

80 Million Google Place Pages worldwide were automatically converted to Google+ Local Pages today.

• Google+ Local Pages will be indexed.
• The new “Local” tab is now within Google+ on the left hand column.
• All Google Place pages have now been replaced with Google+ Local.
• Integration of Google+ Local pages across Google services (Search, Maps, Mobile).
• Integration of a circles filter to find reviews/recommendations from friends, family, colleagues.
• Free availability of Zagat reviews integrated into Google’s numerous categories.
• Google’s star rating system is being replaced by Zagat’s 30-point rating scale.
• Google+ becomes another local search destination within Google.
• Google has returned to a two-search-box approach with Google+ Local.

Multiple Search Options

Users will be able to discover Google+ Local in multiple ways:

1. Search on Google.com

2. Search on Google Maps

3. Search on Mobile Apps

4. Search on Google+

I conducted a search in the town I live, Germantown for the word BBQ in Google+ Local. Here is an image of what the search results returned.

Google+ Local Pages are now much more social. The integration is much more eye appealing. Google commits to many more features to come to support local businesses. This new change will allow small businesses to engage more, develop more followers and be able to message them.

Review Verbiage

Think carefully about your review since everything will be “Public”.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Google+ Local Review

Scoring Guide

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You can sort by the following:

 

 

 

 

 

Local businesses will have to be on top of their game since these reviews will be revealed to the public.

Mobile

Android has a leg up on the Apple iPhone, with Android smartphones starting to show up in the Google+ app. Google has submitted app updates to Apple for review and approval. Rumor has it that Apple will be rolling out their own version of Maps in June.

TAKEAWAY

Google is the king of search. 3 Billion+ searches are conducted on Google daily. Google+ Local is a big POSITIVE for businesses. One of the big issues I saw in looking at Local Businesses is, the lack of good Photos. Good Photos are a must in today’s visual Social Media World.

No photos-BAD, Poor Photos-BAD. Strive to create compelling content with good photographs. I suspect with Google owning YouTube, that at some point Video will be integrated into this as well.

As a business owner:

• For now you should continue to manage your information in Google Places.
• You’ll still be able to update and verify your listing data.
• You’ll still be able to respond to reviews.

Those business owners waiting to get into the Social Media Game are getting left behind. Now is the time for business owners to recognize the power behind this change for their businesses. SEO is a hugh potential here, since Google+ Local Pages will be indexed.

What’s your takeaway with these new Google+ Local changes for business?

Learn ALL about these changes and more about Google+ at our upcoming workshop on Thursday June 7th, at the Collierville Chamber of Commerce.

10 Things That Changed in Social Media

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Announcements and changes continue to come quickly in the Social Media World. Are you prepared to advance your business or career through Social Media? Keep up with the changes through our e-newsletter and upcoming social media workshops. Pass this along to a friend or associate.

1. Facebook

• Look for OFFERS to start showing up for brand pages to start using.
• Is getting back into the App business. There are some powerful apps to be used for your new TIMELINE.
• GM pulled out of ALL advertising on Facebook this week. Ford affirms they will spend more.
• Now has the burden to show profits to shareholders each quarter.
• You will see more changes as it pertains to engagement on the part of the user.
• More changes for marketers to place ads as they look for additional revenue streams.

2. [NEW] Google Search Feature

• The Google Search of the future is here.
• Just got smarter with the new “Knowledge Graph” it is starting to roll out.
• According to Google, search users will see these new knowledge graph results at least as often as they see Google Maps in results. In fact, this update will have a greater initial impact than the updates that brought Google Images, videos, news and books, combined.
• It’s big and it’s probably going to be everywhere.

3. LinkedIn

• They are considering buying MONSTER the online job site.
• The world’s largest professional social network just got a wider reach – and it wants to be in front of your face for more of the day. Recently launched an iPad app.
• Now has over 150 million users, in third place behind Facebook and Twitter.
• LinkedIn shares down 5% same day as Facebook starts trading.

4. Twitter

• Twitter on Thursday announced it will offer a “Do Not Track” option that will let users opt out of being tracked through the service.
• Given Twitter’s high rank in Google Search, it’s likely that your profile there will be among the top results for your name.
• A new iPad application called Thirst might reinvent how you look at your Twitter stream. Using its own natural language processor, Thirst filters, organizes, and presents your Twitter stream in an engaging way, helping you find the tweets you want to read quickly and in context.
• Forget old clothing and canned food – you can now donate your unused Twitter characters to a good cause. A new application called Hashtags4Heroes auto-populates the unused characters in your tweets with messages raising awareness for the Wounded Warrior Project (WWP), an organization seeking to honor and empower veterans wounded since 9/11.

5. Blog

• In a report released Friday, Nielsen found that women, overall, are significantly more likely to engage with social media than men.
• Websites with a blog have 55% more traffic.
• Blogs allow you to control content and keywords which in turn affect your Search Engine Rankings.
• Different areas of endeavor require different qualities of leadership to be successful.
• The qualities of leadership necessary to start and build a successful entrepreneurial business are very different from the leadership qualities necessary to run a large organization.

6. YouTube

• Alex Tanney became a viral video star when a montage of him completing a series of jaw dropping – if impractical – football throws hit YouTube. Nearly 2 million views later, he’s getting a shot at the NFL after being invited to a Buffalo Bills offseason minicamp.
• Televised talent show America’s Got Talent returns May 14 for season 7 and it’s again letting skilled fans audition via YouTube submissions.
• Google, which has already pledged $100 million to create a slew of premium video channels on YouTube, announced on Wednesday it will sink another $200 million into marketing them across its various ad networks.
• Google has been integrating its social layer Google+ into all of its products lately. Gmail and YouTube have gotten the social treatment, but the latter made a bit of a tweak today.
• Starting today, we’re updating the way you can share with your Google+ circles from YouTube. Just click ‘Like’ or ‘Share’ as usual, and you’ll see the new Google+ Share link, as well as other popular service.

 

 

 

 

Come join me at one of my upcoming workshops, and learn firsthand about implementing a Social Media successfully in your company!

Top 5 Social Media Tools Used by Business

How Marketers Are Using Social Media to Grow Their Businesses

Video marketing holds the top spot for future plans: A significant 76% of marketers plan on increasing their use of YouTube and video marketing, making it the top area marketers will invest in for 2012.

Marketers seek to learn more about Google+: While only 40% of marketers are using Google+, 70% of marketers want to learn more about it and 67% plan on increasing Google+ activities.

Top three benefits of social media marketing: The number-one benefit of social media marketing is generating more business exposure (reported 85% of marketers), followed by increasing traffic (69%) and providing marketplace insight (65%).

Top five social media networks/tools for marketers 2011:

1. Facebook
2. Twitter
3. LinkedIn
4. Blogs
5. YouTube

…are the top five social media tools used by marketers, in that order. Google+ surprised a lot of people jumping to #6 and they weren’t 6 months old.

Social media marketing still takes a lot of time: The majority of marketers (59%) are using social media for 6 hours or more each week, and a third (33%) invest 11 or more hours weekly.

Marketers still place high value on social media: A significant 83% of marketers indicate that social media is important for their business.

Social Media Benefits

The top two benefitsof social media marketing are;

1. Increased exposure.  
2. Increased traffic.

A significant 65% of small business owners were more likely than others to generate leads, compared to the 58% average for all marketers.

A strong 78% of marketers with 3+ years of experience gained leads from social media marketing.

The self-employed (57%) were more likely than others to see reductions in marketing costs when using social media marketing.

•  Will Social Media continue to grow? Move at a faster pace?

• If you wait, will you be able to catch up with the competition?

Source: Marketing Report Social Media Examiner

 –Blair Evan Ball