What are the underlying effects of dropping local NJ & NYC business reviews on Google+?
When we last spoke about Google+, we mentioned that the company had revamped its social media platform to focus on their Communities and Collections. If you operate a Google+ page for your business in NJ and NYC, you may have noticed quite a few more changes to the social media website. Your business page no longer displays reviews and other information such as addresses, phone numbers and hours of operations. The company has confirmed that these changes will be permanent.
Google’s Community Manager, Elizabeth Powers wrote, “Reviews will no longer be shown on Google+ Pages in the new Google+ design. Reviews are still accessible on Google Search and Maps which have always been the primary way that users find business reviews.”
The company statement confirms the suspicions of many industry experts, that Google+ Local pages were underused in favor of Google Search and Maps. In fact the frequent users of Google+’s business pages were mainly business owners. The majority of Google users – the consumers your business wants to reach – didn’t visit often enough. Another issue cropping up is the inability for customers to submit reviews of local businesses, due to the redesign. It’s an impending sign that Google is giving up efforts in helping small businesses create a presence on Google+.
What does this mean for your company?
Cutting out local business reviews may come across as a disadvantage for businesses in the local NJ and NYC region, where the competition is fierce, but you may not need to delete that Google+ account just yet. As a local business operating in the tri-state region, we continue to stick with our Google+ account in order to network and create solid connections with other local businesses. In more positive news, businesses can openly nurture their social media profile, without the fear of openly disparaging comments from an unsuspecting customer. Actual business reviews on Google’s main search engine still exist. They now serve a different purpose from your business profile on Google+, allowing business owners to promote their brand freely without having to tailor it to extraneous opinions.
If you have questions about social media, SEO, PPC or any of the other services we offer at Kraus Marketing, contact us at (973) 998-5742 or at www.KrausMarketing.com. We can help you optimize your social media profiles and develop new ways to strengthen your brand and promote your company