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There’s a lot happening these days on the Google Local Search front. In addition to the recently announced Google Tags and a new look in Google Local Search results, Google has now rolled out some additional improvements in their Place Pages (see here for video overview of Place Pages and the Google Local 7-Pack).
First, some good news about Google Reviews. If you have claimed your listing and have an owner-verified Google Place Page, you now have the ability to respond publicly to reviews your visitors have posted. It’s a terrific opportunity to add your perspective when required or to soften the blow of a negative review. Approach this new opportunity carefully, though, and take a deep breath before responding to negative reviews. You might want to read this post by Mike Blumenthal before you do: Responding to Negative Reviews: Your Prospects are Your Real Audience (the title alone is great advice!). Note that this does not extend to reviews that Google pulls from other sources, only the ones entered directly on your Place Page. This move shows good progress by Google on the Local Search front and suggests that they are putting more attention into Place Pages (some even think they intend to evolve this into a Social platform…we’ll see).
Second, Google has been incrementally improving the analytics in the Place Pages Dashboard, so you can see how many people are visiting your Place Page, what keywords bring them there, what actions they take, etc. And rather than having to remind yourself to view these analytics, Google has now started emailing to Place Page owners a Monthly Performance Update email, so you can’t miss the data on how you’re doing.
These small but frequent incremental improvements are good news indeed for Small Business Owners. If your business has a local customer base, you don’t want to miss this increasingly productive opportunity to establish your Google Place Page presence.
