Google is always coming up with various ways for entrepreneurs to promote their business online. With a large variety of options available such as Google+, Google Maps, and Google Search, business owners might often get confused while selecting a suitable platform to reach out to their target audience.
To simplify this problem, Google has introduced “Google My Business”, which can combine all of these applications into an all-in-one solution for businesses. By setting up Google My Business (GMB) account, all types of companies, irrespective of the size, have an opportunity to list their business location on Google Maps and local search results.
Why your company needs a Google My Business Listing
- It is free and mobile-friendly
- Potential customers can you find you anytime and on any device
- You can set-up multiple service areas
- Easy to update your business details
- Post and share pictures, videos and reviews of your customers
- Offers all your important business details to customers
- Offers you insights of traffic statistics such as views, clicks and followers
- You can track your Google rankings
These are a few of the many ways in which Google My Business can prove to be beneficial for your company. Apart from these benefits, Google has been rolling out new features and updates, because of which many businesses that are flourishing though marketing kludge can face a few difficulties. So you need to make sure you are up to date with all the developments. iTMunch offers you a list of impromptu updates to Google My Business that you might have missed in the last year. Keep reading to learn more.
1. No more permanently closed listings on Local Finder
Initially, Google would display a multiple “permanently closed” listings in the Local Finder. These listings would show up at the end of the list. This would create problems for local SEO in a couple of situations. For example, spammers could start marking their competitors as “permanently closed” to make them disappear. Thanks to the new update “permanently closed” can no longer be seen.
2. The classic version of Google+ isn’t accessible anymore
The second update about Google My Business that you might have missed is that you might not be able to access the old version of google+. The classic version has all the business details which include company name, address, contact details, and others. However, in the new version, you won’t be able to find all this information.
3. A new platform to review edits to business listings on desktop
After “Map Maker” was no longer being used, many people assumed that it is no longer possible to review edits to business listings. But, according to the third Google My Business update, you can still review the edits on Google Map app. The company has also launched ‘Check the Facts’ feature on the desktop that makes editing simpler, similar to Map Maker, except it allows users to accept or reject edits to the business listing.
4. ‘Pending’ listings won’t show up on the Google Maps app
Earlier, anyone could report a business listing as spam, which would lead the business into a “pending” status on Google Maps. This led to an increase in the spam score for several brands. In order to solve this issue, Google decided to remove the “pending” listing status altogether. So now if someone reports you as spam you don’t have to worry unless the edit is actually published.
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5. Snack Pack from Google for more industries in the USA
Also known as the ‘Local 3 Pack’ or ‘Google Pack’, Snack Pack by Google is a boxed area that appears on the first result pages whenever a local search is made through Google’s search engine. This pack displays the top three local business listings which are the most relevant to the user query. Based on the new update, users will now be able to see an image, instead of relevant details about a business.
6. Access to 18 months of data insights from Google My Business dashboard
In April 2017, Google has added a bulk of insights to the My Business dashboard, which wasn’t considered that impressive initially. However, when Google made it clear that users will now be able to select a custom range of data, its usefulness was understood. Now, you won’t be stuck looking at one-week, one-month or one-quarter intervals!
7. Local Ads start showing actively on mobile devices
And the last Google My Business update that you might have missed in 2017 is that local ads have started showing up on mobile devices too. This update shows that Google has started supported Ads on mobiles as well.
Google keeps rolling out updates and developments quite frequently. These are the top seven that have got very little coverage and you might have missed. Keep reading iTMunch to make sure you do not any updates, developments and trends!
