Google has just announced a major new change that affects millions of businesses -- the conversion of Google Places listings to Google+ (for the uninitiated, this is Google’s social network, akin to Facebook’s, but in some ways better). This of course follows the transition of Google Maps listings to Google Places and as some unwitting small business owners found out, listings on Google Maps and Google Places weren’t always in sync, especially if the business owner or owners unwittingly claimed listings on both Google properties using different Google accounts (if the preceding phrases weren’t confusing enough in and of themselves).
Google stated the transition of Google Places to Google+ Local took place on Thursday May 31st and a quick perusal of my clients’ Places listings verified that was indeed the case. And this transition is a good thing for local small businesses for the following reasons:
- Google+ gives you much more space to talk about your business and what you do for people
- Google+ gives you more ways to keep your content fresh and interact with customers through posts (just like Facebook)
- Partly because of all of the above, Google+ gives you more ways to affect high how you are placed in the search engine results.
Because of its search engine visibility potential I recommended that my clients establish a Google+ presence upon its broad introduction some months ago. Now that Google Places has been folded into it, Google + has become a must for small and larger businesses alike.
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email me if you have questions or need assistance in establishing a Google+ presence.
