Recently Google said goodbye to Google Places and launched Google+ Local. According to Google, “Google+ Local helps users discover and share places.”
Here are 5 facts that local businesses should know about Google+ Local:
- Google+ Local can be found through the new ‘Local’ tab that is located on the left-hand sidebar of Google+ (see snapshot below).
- Google+ and Local pages feature a 30 point Zagat score and recommendations from people in ones’ “Google+ circle”.
- Users can publish reviews, photos, and other useful information about their favorite places.
- Users can get place recommendations based on their past reviews and location.
- Google+ Local page results are integrated with organic results and will show under Google Search and Google Maps too.
If you are a local business that previously had a Google Places page then all your information has been migrated to the Google+ Local pages. Do keep an eye on the reviews, photos, and information about your business on the Google+ Local pages to ensure these are accurate and also for proactive reputation management.
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Contributed by Bhawna Sharma, Sr. eStrategist
