[FEBRUARY 2018] 3 New Google My Business Features Local Brands Need to Know About

Google has been busy lately making a significant number of improvements to their Google My Business platform – the dashboard for businesses to add and update listing information on Search and Maps. Over the past year, Google has added features that enable users to interact with business owners, allow businesses to post promotional information directly to search engine result pages (SERPs) and make it possible to create websites within the Google My Business platform.

It looks like Google is keeping the momentum going in 2018, as the search giant has already made several improvements to the Google My Business platform.

Related – The Latest from Google: December 2017

No. 1: Adding videos in Google My Business

The Google My Business team started the year off with a bang by adding the ability for merchants to upload videos about their business. The dashboard currently supports videos up to 30 seconds in length.

This update could be huge as digital video continues to play a bigger role in digital media consumption. In 2018, adults in the U.S. will spend almost an hour and a half with digital video every day – taking up almost a quarter of all time spent with digital media.

Average time spent per day with digital video by U.S. adults

Average time spent per day with digital video by U.S. adults

Source: eMarketer, August 2017

From Google, here’s how the new video feature will work:

  • Videos will appear in the overview tab of the Google My Business Dashboard.
  • Customer uploaded videos can be found in the ‘customer’ tab.
  • Merchant uploaded videos can be found in the ‘by owner’ tab.
  • All videos can be viewed together in the ‘videos’ tab.
  • After upload, it could take up to 24 hours for the videos to appear. Once live, they will display where local photos do.

Uploading videos to Google My Business dashboard

Related – [Guide]: Getting the Most Out of Digital Video

No. 2: Editing menus in Google My Business

Google announced another update early this year that’s sure to make the restaurant industry happy. Restaurant owners can now edit menu listings through the Google My Business dashboard. In the past, this was only available through an API or third-party menu services. Now, restaurant owners can log into their Google My Business account, navigate to the info tab on their listing(s) and add a structured menu.

Restaurant owners and managers can use the new menu editor “to add menu items including title, description and price, as well as to create multiple sections of the menu” (e.g., appetizers, entrees, and desserts).

Related – The Best Way for Multi-Location Brands to Manage Local Business Data

No. 3: Google My Business and GoDaddy integration

Google has integrated GoDaddy’s site builder to automate the process of setting up and verifying a Google My Business profile. GoDaddy, who hosts more than 10 million websites, said that a majority of eligible small businesses (service area businesses or those with a physical location) have not claimed their Google My Business listings. This integration should remove some of the friction to claiming listings by reducing the verification process from weeks to days.

The integration will also allow GoDaddy to provide reporting on consumers actions from Google listings – including profile views, calls, direction requests and visits to the website. According to Search Engine Land, GoDaddy reported more than 1,500 local businesses participated in the beta test of the integration. These businesses received more than a million profile views, 7,000 phone calls and 11,000 requests for directions from their Google My Business listings.

Related – [Guide]: 5 steps to optimize your brand’s presence on Google

Need help managing your brand’s Google listings? Contact Mindstream Media Group to see how we can help and check out our Listings Management solution for more information.

3 Tips to Help Multi-Location Brands Optimize Their Local Search Presence

After a couple of years of touting a rise in “near-me” queries, Google recently announced that these explicitly local searches have fallen out of favor. The search company was quick to point out that this didn’t mean local searches were decreasing, just that “over the last two years, comparable searches without ‘near me’ have grown by 150 percent.”

Google’s VP of Marketing for the Americas, Lisa Gevelber, summed it up like this: “We’re now seeing a shift toward dropping location qualifiers (like ZIP codes, neighborhoods and ‘near me’ phrasing) in local search queries, because people know that the results will automatically be relevant to their location — thanks to their phone.”

The implication: As digital platforms continue to customize experiences based on individual users, searchers now just assume – and pretty much expect – Google will know when they’re searching for something nearby and automatically return local search results.

To continue reading, check out the full post on LSA Insider

[Video]: Geo-fencing Drives Local Consumers to Your Location

Geo-fencing Targeted Audiences

In advertising, you don’t want to cast a wide net and waste money. Thanks to smartphones, you have the opportunity to target consumers using location and user intent. Geo-fencing provides precise targeting so that you can identify and reach consumers who are most likely to buy in your area.

Watch our video to learn how you can use geo-fencing to grow your brand.

 

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[Video]: Taking Control of Your Presence on Google

The Building Blocks of Local Search

There is a growing number of consumers turning to online search to find local business information. And, with the rise of connected mobile devices allowing consumers to search on-the-go, this trend is only going accelerate. For multi-location brands and local businesses, local search results are a great an opportunity to connect with a massive audience of interested consumers.

Watch our video to learn how you can optimize your brand for local search.

 

 

Related content: 5 steps to optimize your brand’s presence for local searches on Google

[Guide]: 5 Steps to Optimize Your Brand’s Presence for Local Searches on Google

Helping Businesses Connect with Local Consumers

A guide for optimizing your brand’s presence in Google search results

On average, Google handles more than 3.5 billion searches globally every day. And, thanks to smartphones and other connected mobile devices, consumers are able to conduct these searches from anywhere. This guide offers some useful tips to help businesses connect with the consumers conducting these searches.

Related: [VIDEO]: Taking control of your presence on Google

Excerpt:

The obvious benefit of searching from a smartphone is the ability to find anything, from anywhere, at anytime… This provides local businesses with a great opportunity to connect with local consumers. But that doesn’t mean it’s easy. Local search is a highly-competitive market with result pages fractured between map listings, web results and paid ads.

Download our guide and learn how to dominate Google’s search results by:

  • Optimizing Google local profiles
  • Managing local listings and citations
  • Optimizing websites for local search
  • Implementing inbound marketing efforts
  • Monitoring your company’s online reviews

A guide for optimizing your brand’s presence in Google search results