Idea Transcript
Understanding Google My Business & Local Search GOOGLE+ LOCAL
GOOGLE OPENS WAITLIST FOR TESTING POSTS WITH MULTI-LOCATION CHAINS JUNE 26, 2017 | MIKE BLUMENTHAL | LEAVE A COMMENT
In a post on the Google My Business forum, Google allowed the sharing of a link to a form to for multi-location chains to express their interest in testing multi-location sharing of Posts.
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They note on the form:
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Posts for large multi-location businesses Posting across multiple locations is currently not supported in Google My Business. If you are a large business interested in Posts you can join the waitlist by submitting this form.We may send updates and notify you when the feature is available.
GOOGLE+ LOCAL
GOOGLE POSTS ROLLING OUT WORLDWIDE JUNE 22, 2017 | MIKE BLUMENTHAL | 41 COMMENTS
Google is formally announcing the world wide availability of Google Posts today. The product allows a business to micro-blog directly to their Knowledge Panel result, create Posts of up to 300 words in length and include a photo. The Post can be further defined as an event with a date range or a call to action link can be added with a URL to a page that the business’s chooses. According to Google the product will initially roll out to most categories of businesses but not all. Apparently (and not surprisingly given the degree of monetization) Hotels and B & B’s are excluded at launch. I would be curious to learn which other categories where you are not seeing Posts being available. Google is working to expand the available categories. The launch is specifically about providing Posts to Local businesses that are using the GMB dashboard and is not available to brands via G+. Posts have a limited life span of one week during which they will display within the Knowledge Panel. Posts designated as an event will last as long as the event timeframe. Up to ten posts will show simultaneously via a carousel type display which the user can scroll through to see those not showing in the panel. In the mobile interface Google has added a 3rd tab to the Knowledge Panel for Posts in addition to the recently added Reviews tab. Current. Older posts are accessible via this tab. On mobile, the Post content card with the first 100 characters of the post shows ABOVE the address and is very prominent. Consistent with other recent Knowledge Panel and local developments, Google is obviously hoping the SMB generated content and/or reviews will keep users engaged in the Knowledge Panel specifically and search generally for a longer time. Posts can be shared by users socially across Facebook, Twitter, G+ and email. A link is provided to access the post via search as well.
On the desktop the post shows in the branded Knowledge Panel for the business. When a user sees a 3 Pack and the business is selected from the 3 Pack, the searcher is taken to the Local finder where they will have a second chance to see the Post. It is not yet clear exactly where or how Posts that have drifted off the front page will live for desktop users or whether they will be indexed, searchable and discoverable via search.
Unlike the recently released Website product, which focuses on smaller businesses in the developing world, Posts is clearly targeted at businesses that are already users of Google My Business in the US, Europe and elsewhere. It appears to be both a sticky way to get businesses back into the GMB dashboard regularly and as a response to Facebook’s ease of posting. Like Websites, it does give Google potential access to the type of content that businesses are currently sharing on Facebook but to which Google has very limited access. While there are those that speculate as to when it will be monetized, my sense is that, for the present, the Posts product is the hook to attract businesses back to Google on a regular basis where the business owner will then be pitched on AdWords Express and other fee based products. Who knows what will happen after Google finally monetizes every other nook and cranny in local but for the foreseeable future its a loss leader not an income generator. To some extent, given its placement, it might offer local restaurants a way to put their reservation link front and center above those of the many order companies looking to get a piece of the pie. There is a vocal and unhappy crowd of local restaurants in the forums that still think the Knowledge Panel and local listings are theirs and that order links over which they have no control are an abomination. (I happen to agree with them). Creation of a post is dead simple. It is accessed from the GMB dashboard via a highly placed left side link or via a card. The card shows your latest post with the number of times the post has been seen.
Analytics are lightweight with Google only showing total times it was seen and the number of actions taken. Actions are only visible if you click into a specific post. This data doesn’t appear to be included in Insights and there is no current way to see the data from posts over time or in an aggregate view to be able to easily assess what is working and what is not. Google has indicated that Insights will be addressed.
As noted, when creating the post you can add a photo (animated gifs and video are not supported). A pixel size of 750 x 750 is recommended with a minimum of 250 x 250 required. It auto crops the image to square and allows the user to easily identify which part of the photo should show. It is not yet clear whether that aspect ratio is respected in all display contexts as I have seen several different desktop displays.
The post, as noted, needs to be between 100 and 300 words in length. ONLY the first 100 characters show in the Knowledge Panel at the time of search so you need to make the first 100 characters really count in terms of messaging. The call to action can be selected only from the given list of Learn More, Reserve, Sign up and Buy. There currently is no verbiage that allows for “Book” or “Make an Appointment”. Google did note that they are open to adding addtional calls to action in the future. While it is not very emphatic on the desktop, the call to action is very obvious on mobile which is where the Post is most likely to be seen. It will be interesting to see SMB uptake of the product. The product is easy for the SMB to use and more importantly, easy to understand what it does. In that sense it sidesteps the intrinsic complexity of local search and offers up a simple, functional product. It provides some amount of organic reach for free (clearly in contrast to declining post reach in Facebook). But it is visible only after a consumer has in one way or another chosen your business thus limiting the reach to either a brand recovery search or a very late in the funnel keyword search. Obviously there is a looming question of how spam will be handled, how automated Google’s removal is and how nuanced it is. Google has delineated a number of abuses that will lead to removal (additional Help files are here). It is no small issue if they don’t take down obvious spam or if they do take down legitimate posts that have been improperly identified as spam. Given the short life cycle (7 days) of a Post, I doubt that there will be any reconsideration requests. But I can imagine users flooding the forums wondering why their post isn’t visible. It is the sort of product that Google was discussing in 2012 in the form of the “Business Builder” but that has been delayed by the loss of Marissa Mayer, the change over to the Knowledge Graph, the forced march into and the exit from G+ and a number of back end updates that were needed to bring the GMB dashboard into the modern world. By the same token this is the second major new feature added to the Google My Business Dashboard within the past two weeks. Interestingly these two features do not yet work together. But this rapid rate of introductions indicates both significant resource allocation and a certain sense of urgency on the part of Google. Unlike efforts with Plus, this new product open up the front page of Google to small business content. That could be a huge differentiator if leveraged. Google Local has long been the doormat and not the door at Google. So, despite limitations of the product, I welcome the fact that Local is finally moving forward. As in all things Google, their antipathy towards marketing and advertising might hamper this products adoption. If the product survives and is promoted it should see significant SMB uptake Here are some examples of businesses that are currently showing Posts. If you have an example of a business using it in a particularly creative and/or successful way please send it along. Just Mind Austin tx Barbara Oliver Jewelry Buffalo NY izanami Restaurant Santa Fe
GOOGLE+ LOCAL
MIKE B AROUND THE LOCAL WEB JUNE 20, 2017 | MIKE BLUMENTHAL | LEAVE A COMMENT
Summer has finally arrived to Western NY. And for me a burst of energy and new articles. Tweet
Here are some of the articles I wrote (or in the case of LocalU or StreetFight co-wrote) around the web: Making Sense of Posts in Google’s SMB Product Portfolio – With David Mihmn at Streetfight. I have been following the development of posts since it first showed up for a local merchant early last year. I am bullish (or at least as bullish as any rational person can be with a new Google product) while David Mihm is more skeptical of its longevity. Read our thoughts.
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How Willing Are Consumers to Leave Reviews? – Consumers attitudes towards writing reviews, at least in the US, are changing. I have been surveying their attitudes as to their willingness to actual read reviews instead of just write them and this piece looks at the almost linear decrease in “never write reviews” and the simultaneous increase amongst those that do. Video Deep Dive: Consumer willingness to leave review– With Mary Bowling at LocalU. We discuss these changes and compare them to attitudes around the world. Available as a video, transcript and also now available as a podcast. Video: Last Week in Local June 19, 2017 – With Mary Bowling. It was a busy week in local. We look at the implications of the Whole Foods buyout, the outcomes of using link building services and ways to more easily implement AMP on a wordpress site. Available as a post and podcast. Or if you want the links delivered to your inbox, via email subscription. Give us 15 minutes and we will give you the world of local.
GOOGLE+ LOCAL
HOW WILLING ARE CONSUMERS TO WRITE REVIEWS? JUNE 19, 2017 | MIKE BLUMENTHAL | 4 COMMENTS
Consumers have long been fans of reading reviews but have been reticent to actually write reviews. It seems from my longitudinal surveys that that attitude is steadily changing. Tweet
I was surprised to see the near linear increase in self reported review write AND to learn that those over 65 are just behind 25-35 year olds as the most active reviewers.
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Head over to the GetFiveStars Blog, and read the recently published research that detail these changes over time. How Willing Are Consumers to Leave Reviews? I also discussed this research at length at the LocalU blog: Video Deep Dive: Consumer willingness to leave reviews
GOOGLE+ LOCAL
GOOGLE MY BUSINESS WEBSITE FAQ JUNE 13, 2017 | MIKE BLUMENTHAL | 19 COMMENTS
Here are some answers to your Google Website questions. Tweet
Google My Business Website FAQ Does the site support Schema?
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No, while the data is structured in a way that makes it easy for Google to read, it does not use Schema Does Websites support SEO? Not really. There is a limit to a single page of content, there is no access to title tags and the metadescription. Obviously whether at a unique domain or the business.site url it can be linked to. How many pages can a GMB Website have? One. Are there any analytics? There is no integration of the product with Google Analytics. There is no simplified Insights data at inception but that is likely to follow soon. Is there any way to track phone calls made from the site or requests for driving directions? Not at this time Does it support social sharing from the page?
Its easy to move from one theme to another
No, not in the current iteration. Does a business need to be verified to get a Google Website? No but the business has to verify if they want the website to be linked on search and maps. But apparently there is a new, quicker sign up in countries that are being targeted, like Indonesia. Is the Google My Business Website product available worldwide? (click for more)
GOOGLE+ LOCAL
GOOGLE MYBUSINESS WEBSITE BUILDER RELEASED WORLDWIDE JUNE 13, 2017 | MIKE BLUMENTHAL | 25 COMMENTS
Today Google is announcing the worldwide release of their small business web builder, Websites. First spotted in January, it is a simple, single page web builder that allows a business to create a basic webpage in 5 minutes (or less if really simple). Tweet
It is accessible either via the Google My Business dashboard. The Website Help files are here. In India, signup has its own page and the product warranted an official Google India blog post. So far the announcment in the US has been decidedly muted and shy of details.
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If there is a verified listing in the GMB, the data for hours, driving directions & business name as well as photos will be automatically inserted into the web page. Any changes to the GMB will also autoflow to the web page. As I have noted previously, the product is not really a replacement for a full blown multi page website that many businesses have already in the United States but for the business just coming on line in the developing world. It is also a reasonable play for a business in the US that has a Facebook only presence but wants to start increasing their exposure in local search. The product lacks a number of obvious features like social sharing buttons, structured data, control over title tags & meta-descriptions and an easy way to create a call to action button. It does however allow a small business operator to produce an attractive mobile ready site in 5 minutes. And it is well suited to a first time website for a business with no or very little web presence.
Its easy to move from one theme to another
The web site produced resides at business.site and while it creates a default url (yourbusinessname.business.site) there is an option to easily change the default url or to buy your own domain for the site directly from Google. Here is an example of a site that I built in a few minutes this weekend: sissons-chainsaws-stoves.business.site. Obviously the product is confronted with all of the standard issues that Google has in the local space: Will Google bother to spend any money promoting the product or will it languish in the backwaters? All too often Google has lacked the commitment to make their local products work. Will the product, which is one of several current web builder products at Google, be a long term stable feature or will Google give it the axe in 18 months? For a business to build a strategic asset like a website takes faith in Google that I am not sure that they have earned. Will the product continue to evolve feature wise? This is a very nice 1.0 rollout but it is clearly not yet feature rich Landing page for Website product in India enough. Will it suffer from Google ADD that we have so frequently seen in the past where they build something and then forget it? How will Google handle the obvious problem of a business thinking that they immediately deserve higher web visibility without any of the standard web prominence activities? It seems that the gap between producing the website and appearing regularly in search is large and without significant educational resources Google will continue to experience an expectation gap amongst their users. When viewed together with the other tests that are still active, Google Posts and Google My Business Chat, we are starting to see a picture of Google’s plans for the Google My Business Dashboard as a place where a business needs to go regularly. These three products are attempting to overcome the set and forget it problem that Google has always had with the business dashboards of the past. These are clearly also products that are direct competitors to Facebook’s ready ease of use and enticing engagement for the small business operator.
Click to see the actual website that was created
Google really needs this website building product to take off in the developing world or they run the risk of small business irrelevancy. The business web did not develop in much of Asia as it did in the US. And alternatively texting as a b-c interface and smartphone apps did develop and Google does not have anywhere near as strong of a presence in those arenas. This has given WeChat in China and Facebook elsewhere a huge advantage over Google in the SMB market. Much of that information about small businesses is thus not visible to Google’s bots. This product and the others I mentioned were needed by Google in 2013. Unfortunately Google was mired in the need to extricate local from Plus and both time and focus was lost. It has also taken a number of foundational GMB developments in both their product and thinking to get to this point. The product isn’t an obvious knockout win. While it may be of value in developing countries, it is not at all clear what value it will provide in the US were web sties are the norm and can be had inexpensively. However when paired with the previous efforts in developing the Google My Business Dashboard and the current products in testing, it seems to even the playing field with Facebook and give Google a fighting chance to hang onto their lead in small business discovery. And if Google properly promotes the product and its benefits then the chances of success would increase. Google needs this product for two foundational reasons; as a source for getting and updating small business data and keeping the “open” web relevant for small business marketing. Do you think that Google will succeed with this product in developing countries? In the US? In the other industrialized nations? Here are screenshots of the process (Click to view them larger in order of the process of setting up a page.):
GOOGLE+ LOCAL
UNANNOUNCED GOOGLE POSTS BETA GETS HELP FILES & CONTENT POLICY JUNE 12, 2017 | MIKE BLUMENTHAL | 7 COMMENTS
Google Posts, a simple blogging like tool for the Google My Business Dashboard that posts directly to the Knowledge Panel, is still in beta and is, as yet, unannounced as a product1. But it now has several Help Pages. Tweet
The Post Help section has 3 pages: 7
Create a post on Google Edit or delete a post on Google Posts content policy
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Given that the product allows direct posting of content by a business to that business’s Knowledge Panel in the main search results, the Content Policy for the product is of particular interest. The problem with spammy, inappropriate content is likely to be a huge issue for Google with Posts. Google, in crafting the rules very broadly, has left themselves a ton of latitude as to which posts can be pulled down. While it isn’t clear which types or frequency of inappropriate posts would lead to a suspension of the feature, it seems obvious from the content that suspension is a possibility. And while broad in scope there are a number of specific scenarios, practices and business types that are called out. The obvious like child porn, phishing, bait & switch and escort services are obviously prohibited. But “content related to regulated products and services, including alcohol, gambling, financial services, pharmaceuticals and unapproved supplements or health/medical devices” is excluded as well. Another interesting restriction, very broad in intent, is the prohibition of “Images, videos or links that negatively distracts user attention”. Isn’t that what this product was designed to do? While it is not yet clear whether and how abusive content will be taken down, I would presume that one reason for the long beta (this product was first seen early in 2016) was the need to automate this process. What are your thoughts on the Posts product in general? Will it make it out of Beta and will it be successful? What is success in this context? Will giving small business a simple, direct post to search gain mindshare vis a vis Facebook? And more to the point, will Google be able to control the inevitable spam that will spew from the product with the rules promulgated in this policy? Will Google be able to staunch the tide of Pay Day Loan and drug offers? Here is the Post’s Content Policy reproduced in full:.
GOOGLE+ LOCAL
GOOGLE MY BUSINESS WEBSITE APPEARING MORE BROADLY – RELEASE IMMINENT? JUNE 9, 2017 | MIKE BLUMENTHAL | 6 COMMENTS
Google Website, their single page website builder, is becoming more widely available. The product is still in beta but the increasing user reports of its availability (h/t to Thibault Adda, the local seo at Darden Restaurants for his Tweet) and the increasing number of sites at the domain suggests that the product is moving toward release.
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Growth of sites at the domain business.site (the new location for the sites) has moved from 5680 sites on April 17th to 39,3000 today. Growth at the original domain, business.google.com/website, has stopped and still shows 269,000 sites.
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I first reported on the product in January of this year. The web builder, a single page, easy to create, mobile optimized page, is well designed to capture usage in the developing countries where a web presence has not been a required business marketing activity. Its usefulness in the US is limited although I suppose it makes sense for companies that have chosen a Facebook only approach that want greater search presence. It might also make sense as a quick tool to test Adwords Express landing pages. In all of the above scenarios Google has their work cut out for them persuading businesses to create a web presence in countries where none has been required or to supplement a Facebook only web presence with another tool.
GOOGLE+ LOCAL
GOOGLE LEVEL 5 LOCAL GUIDE DIES OF CAFFEINE POISONING WHILE REVIEWING THOUSANDS OF STARBUCKS LAST WEEK JUNE 3, 2017 | MIKE BLUMENTHAL | 19 COMMENTS
Ok. I admit I don’t know if Mark Henderson, Google Local Guide Level 5 really did die from caffeine1 but I do know that he reviewed thousands of Starbucks across the Midwest, the Eastern Seaboard and the South last week.
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And I know that he is a Level 5 Local Guide and that if he didn’t die, he should, at least virtually. To recognize his extraordinary efforts, he will be posthumously awarded entrance into the Google Spam Hall of Shame.
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Clearly Mark is a spewer2. He and several other high volume spewers (aka review spammer persona) were brought to my attention by a reader who recognized my affinity for these sorts of things3.
Spewer Dude
Click to view in all of its glorious detail
Several very interesting things about this particular spewer. Two weeks prior he made a cross country jaunt to review Chick-fil-As from California to the New York Island4. He has written over 3000 reviews, almost exclusively about Starbucks & Chick-fil-A. He is not alone in his predilection for chain chicken and too much caffeine. He has at least two partners in crime, Jack Mitchel and Joe Mittler. Between them they have written over 6000 reviews of Starbucks, Chick-fil-A and other chains, including Olive Garden, Quiznos, Pizza Hut, Jersey Mike’s Subs and others. And the kicker, virtually every review written was previously posted at TripAdvisor circa 2012.
For me this is interesting on several fronts. If it isn’t obvious TripAdvisor has as many issues as Google vis a vis fake reviews (duh5). It certainly leaves one thinking that major chains could be involved in buying reviews along with the rest of American businesses. My spewer tracking software didn’t throw up huge flags but it is a possibility. The other possibility is that these are test bots, posting in an effort to ascertain the limits of Google’s review filter. What do you think? 1 – Who knew that you could in fact induce a fatal heart arythmia from too much caffeine? Apparently some poor teenager did just that in April after he consumed a Latte, Mountain Dew and an energy drink within 2 hours.
2- Review spammer is a mouth full so my wife suggested “spewer” as an alternative
3 – He wanted to remain anonymous but I am more than willing to throw a link out to anyone that provides a lead on a story that I publish.
4- Most of you are familiar with This Land is Your Land. But as children growing up, we never heard that Woody Guthrie was a fierce anti-fascist socialist and we often only heard the first few verses of this song. This one that was frequently left out seems relevant today:
There was a big high wall there that tried to stop me A sign was painted said: Private Property But on the back side it didn’t say nothing This land was made for you and me
5- When my children were little they said “duh” (with dripping sarcasm unbecoming of an 8 year old) so frequently and annoyingly that we “banned” the use of the word in our house by executive fiat. Amazingly my children were of such an age that they actually believed that a word could be banned. That didn’t last long but at least we didn’t have to listen to “duh” every 30 seconds.
GOOGLE+ LOCAL
MIKE B AROUND THE LOCAL WEB JUNE 1, 2017 | MIKE BLUMENTHAL | LEAVE A COMMENT
Video Deep Dive: Sponsorships as an opportunity in Local Marketing – an educational interview with Megan Hannay of Zipsprout about ideas for leveraging a business’s relationship with local NFP agencies to enhance their digital marketing. (Now also available as a podcast). Tweet
Video: Last Week in Local May 30, 2017 – Join Mary B and me and guest host Joel Headley as we discuss last week’s news and interesting articles in Local. (Now available as an email newsletter or as a podcast).
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New Feature: Tag Testimonial Widgets At GetFiveStars we have been busy. I love customer generated feedback as it can help with both search results conversion AND as social proof on your “selling” pages on your site. Now we offer the ability to easily use this feedback on the service, product or locale pages of your site. Understanding Facebook’s Place as a Small Business Marketing Vehicle Another biweekly discussion with David Mihm where we discuss some of the interesting contradictions for small businesses as they attempt to integrate Facebook into their top of funnel activities.
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