Not long ago, Google rocked the Internet business community when it announced that Google Places was changing its name.  In addition to renaming it Google Plus Local, the boys and girls at Google HQ moved the service to their relatively new social networking platform, Google Plus.  The functionality didn’t change much, but was just upgraded to provide both businesses and consumers with more options.  Here are the new features and benefits:

Social networking and Google Plus Local

Google Plus is a fully functioning social networking platform and Google Plus Local is nicely integrated.  Now businesses can interact with their customers and prospects by posting to their Google Plus Local pages.  In addition to posting updates, you can send and receive private messages, promote yourself to develop a following, group your followers into categories (known as “circles” on Google Plus) and even review other businesses using your Google Plus business profile.  These dynamic social networking features offer a wide range of lucrative opportunities for staying close to your customers and prospects in unique and powerful ways.

Google Plus Local reviews

Google Plus solves your biggest problem with the way customers review your business:  customers who want to leave reviews must be signed in to their Google Plus account.  That fact means there will no longer be anonymous reviews, which delivers two very important benefits: 1) malicious reviewers will no longer be able to operate, and 2) you will know who reviewed your business and you can respond to them through their Google Plus profile.

In addition, replacing the old 5 star rating system is the Zagat 30-point rating scale that requires reviewers to explain their ratings with regard to customer service, food, and ambiance, for example.  This gives you real analytic tools for deciphering reviewer data to improve your business.

Reach

Not long ago Google Places listings were only shown on Google Search results listings.  Now, your Google Plus Local listing will show up when users search Google.com, Google Maps, and Google Plus, and most importantly, when people access Google through mobile apps.

Start taking advantage of all that Google Plus has to offer your business by utilizing the help of professionals like us at Hopp2it.  You can reach us by phone at 720-352-0795 or at our website at https://hopp2it.com/mobile-friendly