If you’re looking to attract more local customers by using Google Places, you’ve probably noticed something different.
While most of the changes and trends I monitor in online marketing are ripples, this one caused a big enough wave that I thought you should know about it.
Last Thursday the Big G modified what customers see on your listing. Here are the most notable changes:
- Reviews from 3rd party sites like Yelp! and Citysearch have disappeared
- List of mentions/citations from around the Internet has disappeared
- Additional Details about your business have disappeared
- Business description has disappeared (apparently a bug that Google is working on fixing)
One thing to note is that Google says these modifications are primarily aesthetic.
Google reps have stated, “So just because we’re not showing it, doesn’t mean it’s not helpful for us to have — it helps our system ensure that your organic listing appears and ranks appropriately on Google and Google Maps when potential customers perform searches related to your service.”
If you’ve taken my Google Places Success Blueprint training, you remember that there’s nothing you could do to DIRECTLY affect your reviews or citations, although you can influence them.
However, you CAN directly affect the Additional Details area (a key strategy to increase your relevance in Google’s eyes), which you can still see today in your Google Places Dashboard.
IN OTHER WORDS, continue to populate all the available fields for your Places listing, including your photos and videos.
And, as always, continue encouraging your customers/clients and partners to post positive reviews about your business. If you need help creating a system to do that, give my office a call at 909-297-1662.
Cheers to your success!
Philipp
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