Friday, 3 August 2012
The Key to Google+ Local: Becoming a Google+ Member
Google has announced a new face to its local-business search results: Google+ Local. This new page integrates restaurant-reviewer Zagat’s star-ranking system (with the previous paywall now eliminated)and the Google+ social network. With Google+ Local, you can get place recommendations based on your circles, past reviews and location. You can also publish reviews and photos, peruse local reviews from people you know, and more.
Local-business search results are available in a new Local tab in Google+, as well as a standard Google search, in Google Maps and in the Android apps for Google Maps and Google+. (iPad and iPhone apps for Google+ Local are not yet available.)
As Dennis Schaal of USA Today explains, users will benefit most from Google’s new feature by becoming Google+ members. On the most basic level, you need to be logged in as a Google+ member to view all of the relevant information.
“Non-members get bare-bones treatment,” Schaal says. When searching for a local law firm, for example, users who are not Google+ members will see the top ranked firms with brief, one-sentence descriptions. On the other hand, logged-in Google+ members will have access to all user reviews, a list of similar places and any comments left by people in their social network.
Google+ Local has created buzz, but not without its share of criticism from competitors, like Expedia and TripAdvisor. Some claim Google “is emphasizing its own products to the detriment of natural search results from competitors,” reportsSchaal.
This is yet another reason to get on the bandwagon to maximize local SEO for your law firm with Google+ Local. Otherwise, you may be missing out.
Please comment below if you have any questions. For more information, please contact me or visit my website http://www.legalnichepros.com
Michael Waddington
President, Legal Niche Pros, LLC
Attorney at Law
Licensed in GA, SC, PA, & NJ
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