2 Reasons To Forget About Google+ For Business
If you are a bricks and mortar business and rely on what some people used to call Google Maps, Google+ Local or Google places, you may want to forget about putting any effort into a Google+ Page for your business. If local search is a driver of traffic to your business then you are better off putting your time into the new Google My Business page rather than Google+… even though they look pretty much the same. Personally I find this very cumbersome and annoying and I’m motivated! It must be very difficult for other business owners to get their head around this.
1. Google My Business Is More Important For Local Search
On June 12 of this year Google launched Google My Business in Australia. This replaced the old Google places and or Google + local. It pretty much looks like a Google+ page for business.. but it isn’t. To find yours simply Google your brand. If you have previously set it up you should be able to click on the link that says Google+.. but of course it’s not G+ it’s Google My Business – simple right?
If you haven’t previously set up a Google Places or Google + Local page then you need to go here to setup a Google My Business listing. This is where all your updates and reviews will appear. This is where your reviews will appear as well as general information about your business. There is also a new “introduction” area for you to fill out if you have not updated for a while.
If you are a business that discourages people visiting your physical premises then you may want to ignore a Google My Business Local listing as you have to use a physical address to verify with. If you can’t use a physical address or you are setting up a Google presence for a brand then you need a Google My Business Brand Page.
2. Google+ For Business Will Get Little Exposure In Search
If you have a Google + Page for business, it’s really not worth pursuing it now unless you already have an active large following on it. Google is pushing all activity for local businesses into the Google My Business pages not Google + so you need to move you r activity into those pages. That’s what I’ll be doing.
Jim’s been here for a while, you know who he is.
