Google just never stops in innovating their services. Even if a particular platform has just been released, you’ll be surprised at how soon they’d be making changes to it. But if Google thinks it’s for the benefit of most concerned, they wouldn’t see any reason for not pursuing the change, even if it seems too soon.
Such is the case of Google’s local platform where just recently, Google has abandoned Google Places and replaced it with the new Google+ Local. Should businesses take it as an advantage that will benefit their presence in Google and in the online field or should they see it as another change that will just make things complicated? Will consumers be affected as well? Read on to find out.
Benefits of the Change
As far as Google is concerned, they did just the right thing with this recent change. And they have good reasons to believe so because this move will certainly combine local listings with the Google+ social network. The advantages of this change to businesses will be:
- By being within Google’s social network, it will tend to drive more traffic and recognition by Google+.
- Businesses will have more social activities online which will increase their chance of getting a good ranking with Google’s new rating system.
What Businesses Should Know About The Change
- Getting on Google+ Local – Businesses who are already in Google Places should have nothing to worry about transferring to Google+ Local. Soon enough, their Google Places account will be moved to Google+ Local since this will be an automatic update. However, businesses should not be too complacent, though. They still have to make sure if all pertinent information are transferred correctly.
- Moving the business’ reviews to the Google+ Local page – The hard earned reviews from Google Places will not be put to waste since Google will certainly be able to incorporate these to the new Google+ Local. It might just take some time though, since each review will have to be paired with a public Google+ Profile. After a quick verification process, the reviewer’s name will be published publicly.
- Google+ Local and Google+ Business are still independent from one another – For those who have created a Google+ Business page, business owners will have to maintain their Google+ Local and Google+ Business page separately since they are not yet capable of sharing information.
- More precise rating system – While Google Places allows reviewers to express their ratings in the form of stars for the over-all performance of the business, Google+ Local will be giving a rating system that is more precise than that of Google Places’, thanks to the 30 point scoring system created by Zagat. A reviewer can now rate a business in a scale of 0-3. Google will then, average the score, multiply it by 10, to get the new score of the business.
Final Words
Google has certainly forced businesses to somewhat, be more social by dishing out Google Places and incorporating it into the Google+ platform which is now known as Google+ Local. The transition may take some getting used both for the business and consumers but the change will certainly benefit them in the long run.
About the Author:
Kristine M. is a writer, owning a number of blogs that tackles topics on electronic gadget releases and software updates. When she is not writing these sometimes accompanied by her commentaries, she spends her time helping in the blogging activities of Center Networks, a web hosting services that offers bluehost coupon code.Watch out for his next post and know ways to enjoy your vacation without spending a fortune.
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