Google focuses on reviews and photos from place pages
It’s the talk of Search Engine Landia! Google has done it again. They’ve made major changes that impact lots of businesses – either positively or negatively – and they didn’t give a heads-up ahead or any meaningful guidance after the fact. That’s the Google way.
It’s Local Search Results that got the major updating – and WOW it’s a major focus on local! The change is complicating in that there are now 3 options for Local business searches -
- Organic Web search (which has now become a blend of local & organic with unknown hierarchy of factors) plus
- Places Search (with new, undefined algorithm) and
- Maps Searches.
Here’s what I like: Map in right rail forces paid ads down page but also calls user’s attention into right rail where they are. I think they’ll get better clicks than before. I don’t care much for Ad Words but it’s an interesting, gutsy move that people swore Google would not make.
Page 1 results also feature reviews and photos from Place pages, making it even more essential to get those Google Place pages (plus yahoo and Bing profiles) claimed!
Here’s one of several things I don’t like: Looks like businesses without websites are completely out of luck. I don’t yet understand the implications for mobile. People want to see the nearest businesses, sometimes, on local search – even if they don’t have a website.
(Almost half of all small businesses still don’t have a website!)
More fun is sure to come on this issue, for days to come, as everybody in SEO and Local Search get to work to figure out the good, the bad and the ugly of this latest Google adventure.
In the meantime, we are updating screen shots and features on Biz Visible services for distribution on Tuesday to our Plano partners.
