SmallBusinessNewz

Google Allows Businesses To Respond To Reviews

Whether your approach to a bad review is to apologize or go berserk (or something in between), Google's made it possible for business owners to have their say.  Owners can now respond to reviews posted on the Place Pages of Google Maps.

Google Maps Now offered in 30 New African Countries

Google has added new Google Maps domains for 30 countries in Africa. This means that users in these countries will be able to use Google Maps to find local businesses. In the U.S. and other places where such a feature has been available, it has been heavily used by consumers for this reason, and it should open up a great deal of opportunity for these countries.

Google To Help With "In The Neighborhood" Customers

Most brick-and-mortar small businesses don't exist in a vacuum; they're located somewhere in the vicinity of other organizations, and may even be in that exact spot for a reason.  So a new Google Maps feature called "Nearby places you might like" could turn out to be of significant value.

Why Wikipedia May Be Important to Local Search

The local search landscape is changing. There's no doubt about it. Naturally, Google accounts for the largest part of such change, and in a variety of capacities. Read this article and watch the videos embedded within to get some advice from experts about local search in general.

Google Reviews Get More Specific

In most cases, increased accuracy works in everybody's favor, and the situation's no different when it comes to reviews.  Small business owners should be pleased to know, then, that Google Place Pages now allow for people to rate multiple aspects of a company.

Getting Your Business on Google Maps Street View

Update: Google has just now (for some reason) officially announced the Trike. Read more details about it here.Original Article: I don't know how many times we've talked about the importance of your presence on Google Maps. A lot of people will simply go to Google for a local business listing before even reaching for the phone book these days. I'm one of them.

Google Gives Your Business its Own Page

Last week Google launched a new Google Maps feature called Place Pages. The purpose of these pages is to include as much information about places (which can be businesses or cities) in one spot. So for example (the example Google used upon announcement), if I search for "Burdick Chocolate Cafe" on Google Maps, and I go to the more info link for its listing (it's a place in Cambridge, MA), I will get reviews, photos, the map listing, directions, street view, and more.

Put Google Maps Directions on Your Site

This week Google launched a new Google Maps gadget called the directions gadget, which lets businesses offer customized Google Maps directions to their locations. This means you no longer have to type and update multiple sets of text directions. "Let's face it: customers are only looking for directions from their specific location," says Julie Zhou, Product Marketing Manager, Google Maps.

Google Provides Valuable Data to Local Businesses

Google has launched a new dashboard feature for Local Business Center that lets businesses get greater insight into how customers are finding their local business listings. Best of all, it's free to use. Your local business listing on Google looks something like this:

Search as a Local Marketing Tool

Clearly many people overlook the opportunities they have online to promote their businesses on a local level. Sure economic times have produced some trouble waters for local advertising, but that doesn't mean the need is not there.