So at this point, if you haven’t actively managed your Google listing, you should definitely take this as a sign to jump on the bandwagon. Google recently rolled out new features to help businesses better optimize listings and attract more customers.
“With 82% of people turning to search engines to find local information, your Google listing is the ideal place to showcase what is unique about your business.” – Rosa Wu, Product Manager of Google
Having a complete, verified, and optimized listing plays a significant role in a user’s ability to find a business’ valuable information. We’ve compiled a list of the most important updates to Google My Business as well as provide a few helpful tips to better optimize your listing and share business information with more individuals.
Users can now ask questions that can be answered by anyone. That’s right, anyone.
This new feature allows users to ask questions on a business listing open for anyone in the community to answer. If you’re not actively managing your account, this could pose a threat, as false information could be easily advertised.
To manage conversations, an account owner needs to be logged into the associated Google account. You’ll then receive a push notification when a question is asked or when someone responds with an answer.
Businesses can now post through their listing, similar to other social media platforms.
You can now share relevant information through your listing that appears as a post under your business name on Google search. The post option allows your business to stand out and entice users when they come across your listing.
Google posts can range from promotions, products or even informative pieces such as blog articles that raise awareness about your organizations’ offerings and values. You can even include a call-to-action button such as ‘learn more’, to link users to your website or blog.
Access 18 months’ worth of hardcore data.
In April, Google added bulk insights to the Google My Business dashboard. Here, you’re able to access a TON of great data that tells you the level of interaction users have with your listing. This is a great method for tracking strategy success and finding new opportunities for improvement and engagement. Insights allow you to view the number of listing views , most common actions customers took on your listing (e.g. visited your website, requested directions or called you) and even compares the number of times photos of your business were viewed to the competition.
Track valuable information through your listing’s insights such as the most common actions individuals take on your listing.
70% of people compare multiple businesses before making a final purchasing decision.
By optimizing your listing, you can expect a higher ranking in local search results, an increased click-through-rate to your website and provide an overall better search experience – increasing a user’s chances of turning into a new customer.
If you need assistance editing your business listing, PALO Creative is here to help! Drop us a line and we’ll provide you with an answer.