SMBs can now improve their Local SEO through ‘Google My Business’
Google has launched a platform to help businesses manage their listings and enhance their searchability. But not all businesses are created equal, some are bigger than others and ‘Google My Business’ is mainly advantageous to SMBs (small to mid-sized businesses).
For those of you who aren’t aware of Google My Business, Bas van den Beld from State of Digital neatly summarizes it as “Google’s new way of creating a platform where you can manage your business’ visibility within Google in one place. It integrates your search, local and Google+ business listings.” He even sums up the important features as well:
- You can easily update your business information on Google.
- You can connect with customers and fans using the social features (Google+)
- You can manage reviews
- You can use ‘custom insights’ to get a better feeling of what your customer wants
- There’s an app for Android users too!
This sounds like local search heaven doesn’t it? Unfortunately there are a few drawbacks if your business isn’t a SMB. This new tool is most beneficial to SMBs because it’ll help them become visible within Google’s search engine. Some may say Google My Business isn’t just for small and local businesses, but as brands as well. Mike Bluementhal seems to disagree and brings up some very good points.
- The focus of this platform is mainly on single location businesses.
- If you have multiple locations/pages to manage, you still have to individually handle each location/page separately through their respective dashboard.
- There’s still no way for brands to access their multiple locations through a single stream
- They also can’t easily manage the social presence of multiple pages
Google My Business is great for that local pizza shop down in Little Italy, but not so much for say…Walmart. Imagine having to manage their 4,250 U.S. locations one by one! As Mike bluntly put it, “While a single user can manage 100 businesses via this interface, they may commit suicide in doing so.”
So SMBs , take advantage this new tool to manage and enhance your business. Don’t forget about SEO and local SEO though! Google My Business can help your customers find you, but you still need to put in the work to be found (for our tips, go here and here). If you need more help, feel free to contact us! We’re here to help. We can assist you in managing and improving your business’s online presence on Google and over 20 other search/directory sites! Also for all of you businesses with lots and lots of locations…you can either stick it out until Google comes up with a better dashboard for you or contact us to help guide your business to online presence success right now.