ReachCast Blog: Web Presence Optimization for Local Business

This Blog Has Moved!

Tue, 12 Feb 2013 19:31:28 GMT

We want to say a huge thank you to all our readers of the ReachCast blog. We wanted to let you know that in order to consolidate our blogging efforts at ReachLocal, we have moved this blog to blog.reachlocal.com.

We’re still writing about all the same great topics, now just all from one place – our ReachLocal Online Marketing blog. Join us there to continue the conversation about Web Presence Optimization, social media marketing, reputation management, SEO, and the latest tips, tricks, and tools for local businesses to market themselves online.

If you’re subscribed via RSS, please update your subscription by subscribing to this feed via RSS, or, sign up to get posts sent to your inbox via email! And, don’t forget to follow @ReachLocal on Twitter, like us on Facebook, circle us on Google+, and check us out on Pinterest to stay up to date in the latest in online marketing for local business from ReachLocal.

Thanks again to all our readers! We look forward to continuing the conversation with you.

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Facebook Engagement: Getting Fans to Say "Yes" to Your Business

Fri, 09 Nov 2012 21:29:19 GMT

If you are one of the millions of local businesses that are using Facebook to engage with consumers, then you have probably asked yourself, “How do I get more fans?” But the question you should really be asking is: “How do I get more engagement from the fans I have?”

The reason answering the second question is more important is simple. According to this infographic of Facebook engagement statistics, for every fan that engages with you via likes, comments, shares, and other social signals, there are on average 34 more friends you can reach with your content.

See "The Simple Science of Facebook Engagement" infographic here.

So what can you do to ensure that you are engaging the consumers you already have? Here are a few key stats from the infographic and tips to apply these takeaways to your business.

Posts with images receive interaction rates 39% higher than average.

Thanks to Smartphones, taking relevant images for your business Facebook page has never been easier. Plus, with infographics, memes, and sharable photos available across the Web, finding images that boost engagement with your fans is an easy alternative to creating your own. If you do use someone else’s images, make sure they aren’t under copyright protection.

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41%of Facebook users check Facebook up to two times daily.

If you have a personal Facebook account, you probably see how quickly your Facebook news feed changes throughout the day. And chances are, your fans experience the same thing. So, posting fresh and relevant content on your business page is a great way of staying visible to the people who follow you there.

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25% of people who use Twitter or Facebook to complain about brands expect a response within the hour.

Actively managing your entire Web presence takes some effort, but can result in a great online reputation. The key to minimizing negative feedback on social media is to always provide great customer service, on and off your social sites. But when you are online, make sure to keep your social media conversations relevant to your business, don’t overreact to complaints or negative posts, and monitor your feeds regularly to catch negative comments early, so you can help keep your fans and customers happy

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How are you using social media to engage with your fans? Have you used any of the tips in this infographic on your business’ social media profiles? Let us know in a comment!

About the Author

Tara Banda writes about how small business owners can reach local customers through social media and online marketing for the ReachCast blog.

More from ReachCast Blog: Web Presence Optimization for Local Business: Facebook, social media tips, Facebook statistics, engagement, Facebook engagement, infographic

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Optimizing Google+ Local Pages: A Quick Introductory Guide

Wed, 07 Nov 2012 19:38:23 GMT

Google+ Local pages, the business profile pages that replaced Google Place Pages, are a key source of local business information online. If completed 100%, a Google+ Local page provides potential customers with everything they would want to know about your business, in one localized spot. Now more search and social-friendly than ever, your Google+ Local page serves as an information hub for your business and helps it index organically on Google and its maps listings when consumers search your business name or keywords. Here are four tips tor optimizing your Google+ Local page.

Claim and Merge Your Google+ Local Page

The new Google+ Local pages provide more robust information about your business, so it’s important to make sure it’s accurate and complete. For example, your profile page displays basic business information such as your address, phone number, business hours, and a website link, but unlike your previous Google Places pages, your new profile page also serves as a hub for reviews, photos, and videos of your business. If you previously claimed your Google Places page, you already have a Google+ Local page. But, if you did not already claim your Google Places page, or if you did not have a Google Places page at all, you have a little work to do to get started. Once you have claimed and added your business details, familiarize yourself with your Google+ Local page and begin promoting your page so consumers can connect with you there. Then, by merging this page with your Google+ Business page, you’ll have an even more robust hub that allows you to share social-friendly content with consumers.

Get More Reviews for Your Page

With 72% of consumers claiming that they consider online reviews as trustworthy as personal recommendations, you can see just how significant a role reviews play in whether or not a consumer will do business with you. So to increase your Zagat rating on Google+ Local, ask satisfied consumers to leave you a review on your Google+ Local page. The more positive reviews you have, the higher your score will be, which can lead to more consumers trying your business. Having a high score is important as your reviews are highlighted in the map listings when consumers search for your business type.

Use SEO Best Practices

With 85% of consumers searching for local businesses online, the importance of maintaining a strong and active Web presence for your business is becoming increasingly valuable. Regularly updating your photos and videos and asking happy customers to leave you reviews are two great ways to keep your page relevant to the search engines. In addition, doing simple things like making sure your address is correct on your Google+ Local profile can help ensure that your business shows up in the maps section of the Google SERP. Also, including a description about your business that includes some of your business-related keywords can help your business show up in the local search results, especially if you don’t have a website. If your pages are merged, the integration of search and social on Google+ means it’s more important than ever to make sure your page and stream of content is optimized for local search.

Inform and Engage Your Audience

A Google+ Local Page is local listing page for your business information, but when merged with your Google+ Business page, it also serves as a social site for you to interact with your current and prospective consumers. With the new option to post updates, you can add content similar to what you would post on Facebook, Twitter, or your blog, such as business updates, industry news, photos, videos and more. Posting fresh and relevant content on a regular basis can help you reach more consumers who want to connect with you, engage with you, and share your posts on the site.

With more people using information online to help them make purchasing decisions – and more competitors using the Web to market their businesses – it is more significant than ever for your business to make it easy for potential customers to find you and learn about you online. Claiming and optimizing your Google+ Local page will provide an additional resource for you to inform and educate your consumers, as well as help you portray a positive online reputation, taking your businesses’ Web presence from meek to robust without requiring much additional investment.

Have you claimed and optimized your Google+ Local page yet? What Google+ Local features are you getting the most out of?

To learn more about claiming, merging, and optimizing your Google+ Local page, check out our ebook Google+ Plus Local: Your Guide to Optimizing Local Google+ Pages.

About the Author

Jillian Chopin is a Senior Web Presence Professional for ReachCast. Leading a team of WPP’s who focus on cosmetic and medical campaigns, Jillian is passionate about her career and about serving as a Web presence expert and “go-to-girl” for her clients.

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Social Media Do's and Don'ts to Optimize Your Web Presence

Fri, 02 Nov 2012 16:03:07 GMT

You may be a social media-savvy business owner who logs in to your social media accounts regularly, or a social media newbie who panics over every status update. In either case, you are taking steps to boost your Web presence, and that’s going to take some practice. So in order to minimize major social media mistakes, here are a few quick “dos” and “don’ts” to make sure your social media profiles show the best side of your business.

Don’t: Brand Inconsistently Across Your Pages

We have all experienced it: you follow a brand on Facebook, but when you visit their website, it doesn’t even look like the same business. Avoid this error by consistently branding your business across your entire Web presence, from your logo and imagery to fonts and even the way you spell your business name. By streamlining your Web presence, you not only ensure a smooth user experience but also present a professional identity online. Make sure you are using a consistent business name, logo, address, colors, and message on all your assets, not just on your your social media profiles, but also on directory listings, online advertising, landing pages, your business website, and your blog to establish your brand online.

Do: Know Your Audience

When it comes to publishing content on social media, it’s critical to know your audience and the type of content they prefer on each channel. What conversations are they having? What are they looking for from your business? Chances are you have some of the same followers on Facebook and on Twitter, so cross-posting the same content may not be effective for engaging both audiences, so think twice before you “spam” the same content on every one of your social media accounts. Also, keep in mind the preferred content type and limitations of each platform; for instance, a long post on Facebook would not work in the 140-character limit of Twitter.

Do: Promote Your Social Pages

Too often, business owners fail to grasp the importance of creating buzz about their social media pages. They spend hours upon hours creating and optimizing their social media pages on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, or their blog, but their customers still may be unaware that those pages even exist! So, promote them. For instance, you can include your social media icons on your website, business cards, email signatures, newsletters, and in-store signage. Also, simply ask people during conversations or at the point of sale to join your business online. Turning an already-existing customer into an online fan or follower is easier than you would think…if you just ask.

Don’t: Set and Forget

One of the most common social media mistakes made by SMB’s everywhere is viewing social media as a one-time thing rather than an ongoing process. Your fans and followers connect with you on social media because they want useful content and information, but they won’t come back if you don’t give it to them. So, you need to regularly post fresh content like photos and videos, coupons and promotions, useful tips, and more, in order to engage your audience. Then, review your audience’s responses on each channel to determine what types of content work on each platform and how often you should post. Remember that building your Web presence and driving engagement is a marathon, not a sprint, so you won’t see results overnight. But keep at it; the more you become an active participant in your discussions online, the more your audience will come back and share your business with their friends.

Social media can provide boundless opportunities for you to connect with your customers online. Following these few simple social media dos and don’ts will ensure that you and your business reap the benefits of social media marketing.

What other social media dos and don'ts would be on your list? Let us know in the comments!

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Study: People Who Own Smartphones and Tablets Perform 21 Local Searches Per Week

Tue, 30 Oct 2012 19:31:10 GMT

It’s no secret that mobile search is on the rise, now that more Americans own Smartphones than they do feature phones.

A new study illustrates this mobile search growth with a survey of 1,100 U.S. adults. According to the results, people who own a PC, Smartphone, and a tablet conduct an average of at least 21 local searches per week, compared with 13.5 local searches per week by people who own a PC and a Smartphone. In steep contrast, people who don’t own a Smartphone conduct an average of 5 local searches per week.

The study also reveals that Smartphone-based mobile searches are starting to overtake PC-based searches in categories like restaurants, entertainment, and retail.

According to another study conducted by Pew Internet in March, 46% of Americans own Smartphones, although this number is likely higher with reports that iPhone 5 sold over 5 million units in its first weekend and the tablet iPad Mini sold out in the first three days.

What do you think about this research? How many mobile devices do you own, and how many local searches do you perform with each one? Let us know in the comments.

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21 Social Media Marketing Tips [Infographic]

Fri, 26 Oct 2012 20:00:05 GMT

Today, businesses define social media marketing in many different ways. Some businesses see it as an extension of offline and online advertising. Others use social media as a way to interact with current customers. But no matter how your business uses social media, there is one thing you should remember: social media is a place to be social.

If your business has a presence on social media, but is not actively communicating with consumers, you could be missing out on reaching potential customers and boosting customer loyalty with those who already follow you on social media. This infographic illustrates 21 social media marketing tips your business should remember in order to get the most out of your social media efforts, and give the most to your fans and followers.

In addition, to illustrate the importance of social media as a marketing tool, a new survey reveals that 47% of U.S. social media users contact businesses on social media for customer service related issues. And, 30% of social media users favor social media over a phone call to resolve these issues.

So, how does your business measure up when it comes to social media marketing? Let us know in the comments!

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About the Author

Tara Banda writes about how small business owners can reach local customers through social media and online marketing for the ReachCast blog.

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5 Tips for Using Social Media to Boost Customer Loyalty

Tue, 23 Oct 2012 18:50:04 GMT

One of the biggest challenges businesses today face is maintaining customer loyalty after the sale. And today, with 1 in 5 people using some form of social media , it only makes sense that businesses have also set up accounts on these social media sites to reach these people. In fact, more businesses have created a Facebook page (11 million) than have claimed their Google+ Local listing (8 million).

Plus, as 63% of consumers using social media choose local businesses with a social media presence, it is crucial that businesses take advantage of these platforms to stay engaged and connected with their customers and increase customer retention rates. Here are five easy ways to retain customer loyalty through social media engagement.

1. Ask for Customer Feedback

The first action that you can take to boost customer loyalty is to ask your customers for their feedback about yours products, services, and customer support. Whatever your business offers, you can ask your customers, “Do you like this?” You can always directly ask them after a transaction, but you can also elicit feedback indirectly. For example, you could post a positive review on a social media site or a picture of the waiters at your restaurant with a statement like, “We think our staff is awesome. Don’t you?” or “‘Like’/RT this if you think our staff is great!” Some customers will agree with you, but some may post a comment about a negative experience with your business, so it’s best to be prepared if they do. But no matter what they say, you’ll learn more about what you can do to change and grow your business as well as letting your customers know that they have a voice about your business.

2. Run Social Media Contests

What better way to boost customer loyalty than to have a fun contest for your social media fans and followers? If done consistently, you could potentially see an increase in your customer engagement on sites like Facebook. One easy Facebook contest you can try is a photo caption contest, and you can do this with or without a giveaway option. The concept is to post a photo, with a tagline like: “Caption This Photo”, and your audience will make up their own “headlines” to describe the photo. You can use photos related to your business, like someone eating a delicious plate of food from your restaurant, or a cute animal visiting your vet clinic—always with permission, of course. Whether or not you are giving away a prize for the best headline, like a coupon or freebie, you should publicly recognize the winning customer, and if there’s a prize, share what they have won. You can also ask your customers to submit their own appropriate photos for the next round. This type of social game is sure to encourage more engagement and boost customer loyalty.

3. Post and Pin Engaging Content

Posting engaging content on Facebook and other social media sites is an essential way to stay connected to your audience. For instance, the first thing customers will see when they visit your Facebook timeline is either the newest piece of content you have posted or the content you have pinned to the top. So, by pinning fresh content to the top of your page, like photos and videos, interesting stories, engaging questions, and useful tips, you’re more likely to engage consumers right away. In fact, one Facebook study from Wildfire shows that images get more comments in a business’ timeline, and that pinned content generated 39% more likes and 32% more shares than unpinned content.

4. Respond in a Timely Manner

Now that you’re engaging consumers on social media, it’s important to respond to questions, comments, and other feedback in a timely manner. In fact, one study shows that 25% of consumers on Twitter expect a response from business owners online, but in reality, only 9% receive a response. On Facebook, 35% of consumers expect a response after “Liking” a business, but 58% never hear a response from a company. With your timely responsiveness, your customers will surely know that you care about what they say.

5. Get Involved in Your Community

Getting involved with your community not only helps build your brand offline, but can also boost your online reputation from customers who see you have a vested interest in local charities or organizations. You can connect with your existing customers and retain their loyalty by supporting a cause that is important to your community, like sponsoring a Little League team, volunteering at a soup kitchen, or donating to a local charity. Use this opportunity to give back to your community and show that what you do also has an impact outside your business. For instance, you could run a campaign and announce you will donate one dollar per Like or retweet to raise awareness and funds for a local charity you support to help increase awareness for the organization as well as customer engagement on your social sites. Don’t forget to post pictures related to your involvement to boost loyalty with your existing customers.

What are you doing on social media sites to boost customer loyalty with your business? Let us know in a comment.

About the Author

Lindsay Paramore is an expert on online marketing and branding for business owners. She works as a Web Presence Professional for ReachLocal.

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Posting Politics & Other Social Media Mistakes Small Businesses Make

Fri, 19 Oct 2012 17:55:00 GMT

For any business owner participating in today’s social media landscape, it’s important to find a balance between sharing too much and participating too little – both from your own personal social media accounts and those that represent your business. Chances are, as a small business owner, a large portion of your business’ fanbase overlaps with your personal social graphs, because friends and family are naturally some of your biggest fans and advocates. So, it’s important to keep in mind some common social media mistakes small business owners make when posting online so you can avoid them.

Talking Sex, Politics, or Religion

As a general rule of thumb, it’s important for small businesses to keep both their business presence and their personal presence professional, friendly, and drama-free. Just like it’s best to avoid talking sex, politics, or religion in polite dinner conversation, it’s usually best to avoid these types of topics on social media posts as well – especially from your business accounts.

Remember: Both your business and your personal brand matter.

Making Your Mantra “All Business, No Fun”

Whoever said “all business, no pleasure,” most certainly had no more than two or three Twitter followers, all of whom had an egg for their avatar. While it’s important to avoid posting strongly opinionated statuses, political posts, and questionable photos, posting personable, entertaining, or, engaging posts two to three times weekly can help boost increase your engagements and grow your fanbase. So, try sharing fun content like appropriate photos, videos, quotes, facts and stats, polls, and shared content from other pages.

Remember: It’s important to humanize your brand!

Not Tailoring Your Message for Each Channel

Knowing your audience and communication channels are just as important as the actual message that you’re communicating. It’s important to understand the culture and norms of each social platform you are using in order to build a great community and appear authentically engaged. For example, using a hashtag within a post on Facebook, which doesn’t support hashtags, can make you look sloppy – or point out the fact that you are automatically cross-posting your statuses on both sites. Instead, take the time to create and share unique posts for the social media sites you want to maintain a presence on, and tailor your strategy to the culture of each site.

Remember: Execution matters, so understand the norms and best practices for every site you post to.

Being Overly-Promotional

It’s important to strike the right tone as a business owner online. Having an overly-promotional social media page cannot only keep potential prospects from connecting with you online but can also cause existing fans to unfollow you. While it is reasonable to promote yourself and your business online, it’s important to do so strategically and tactfully. Share important news and information about your business in a friendly way, and avoid spamming your social media followers with frequent self-congratulatory posts.

Remember: Your social media followers have a choice whether or not to follow you, so be respectful of their time and attention.

Knowing what – and how – to post to social media sites as a small business owner can be a challenge. So, avoid these common posting mistakes, and remember the rule of thumb – “if in doubt, leave it out!” And, if you ever post something and immediately worry that it has crossed the line, take advantage of the “delete” button.

What is your personal rule of thumb for participating on social media sites as a business owner? Do you talk about your business on your personal accounts? Share your thoughts in a comment!

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The Web Presence Optimization Tips Experts Swear By

Mon, 15 Oct 2012 18:50:00 GMT

In April, Google updated their algorithm with the now infamous Penguin release. The follow-up to Google’s 2011 update, Panda, Penguin was a shock wave that changed how pages rank in Google in a dramatic fashion. The update has caused quite a stir for search engine optimization (SEO) experts who have had to work night and day to figure out what works and what doesn’t under these new algorithm changes.

With these changes to Google and other search engines, one thing is clear: building a solid Web presence is critical to get found on search engines. One way to help build your Web presence is to create and optimize your social media pages to rank on the search engine results page. Here are a few Web Presence Optimization tips the experts swear by.

Claim & Optimize Your Social Media Sites

Google, Yahoo!, and Bing are now all putting more emphasis on social media sites when it comes to your rank on their search engines. The four main social media sites that any SMB should be a part of are Facebook, Google+, Twitter, and YouTube. Other social sites like Pinterest are also gaining traction to boost your organic search rank. Start by claiming a page or profile on each of these sites for your business, and then optimize each page to include a consistent use of your business name, link to your business website, and other important factors to help you get found via search. Here are a few resources to check out:

Regularly Engage with Your Audience

Google’s algorithm isn’t just checking to see if you have a social media profile for your business. It’s also noticing how often you’re updating those sites and engaging with your audience. For instance, if your Facebook fan page is basically a shell without any activity, you can expect that fan page to provide little to no value in regards to ranking on the search engines.

At least once per day, someone should be responding for your business to comments, retweets, mentions, and any type of engagement received on your Facebook fan page, Google+ page, Twitter page, or other social media page. Become familiar with the different ways that users interact on social sites and make sure that you’re checking for updates and responding regularly.

Put More Emphasis on Quality Content

Publishing quality content on the Web is a powerful way to get your business’ social media sites indexed by Google, Yahoo!, and Bing. But, what is quality content exactly, and how can you create it?

Create informative, interesting, or entertaining articles that are geared toward your target consumers. What do your target consumers want to read about, or what are they interested in learning? When considering content topic ideas, think about frequently asked questions your business receives on a regular basis from consumers. This will allow you to generate educational content that consumers can really benefit from. Once you’ve created your content, be sure the finished pieces are not only educational but also entertaining to read. Keep in mind that quality content isn’t meant to only sell your products and services. It’s meant to educate your consumers while also keeping them engaged or entertained, which builds trust between your business and consumers. For example, if you’re selling cars, generating quality content about fun destination trips in your area would be useful and entertaining to your prospects. Who doesn’t love a great road trip story?
Post photos and videos. Additionally, the more photos you can add to your galleries on each social media pages, the better. Google loves images, and with good reason. Not only are they loved by users, but they also allow you to personalize your brand, showcase your products and location, and interact with your audience. Similarly, having search-optimized videos on YouTube can boost your search discoverability, because YouTube videos tend to rank well on Google, and consumers love to click on and watch videos. Make sure you are including your top keywords in your titles, tags, and descriptions as well as links back to your website, so they are more likely to rank in search when someone searches for those terms.
Publish content regularly. Google is also looking at how often you update your pages and publish fresh content. If you’re only publishing one piece of quality content per month, you won’t generate the activity that you need to build search discoverability, and Google will see that you’re behind your competitors in regards to updating your page.
Point hyperlinks to relevant pages on your website. Often, SMBs will create content on other sites that links back to an irrelevant page within their site. In other words, they’re linking to pages within their website that have nothing to do with the actual content topic, which can negatively impact their native site’s SEO. For example, a blog post about preventing diabetes that links to a site page about asthma treatment isn’t considered quality content and will most likely be ignored by Google. On the other hand, if your post is about preventing diabetes and links to a page that discusses diabetes in some way, you’ll see better results. Ask yourself if the hyperlinks within your content take consumers to a page that also educates them on the exact topic of your post. Google is searching for relevancy of links, a critical component of SEO.

To help your business build a robust Web presence and rank well in search, keep your focus on producing quality content that is informative, thoughtful, and entertaining. These guidelines for helping build a Web presence can help you be successful on the search engine results page.

What kind of search-friendly content are you creating for your business? Are you using social media to help your business rank well on the search engines? What other Web Presence Optimization tactics have you tried? Leave us a comment to let us know!

About the Author

Ashley Stalnaker is a Web Presence Professional at ReachLocal who helps small business owners enhance and build their online presence through social media, content marketing, and reputation management.

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10 Things You Need to Know About Google+ Local Reviews

Wed, 10 Oct 2012 18:36:24 GMT

Recently, Google launched some major changes to Google Places, its local listing service, that allow local business owners to connect with their existing and potential customers in a unique and more human way. Google Places quite literally put local businesses on the map, and now, its replacement, Google+ Local, helps connect those businesses to consumers more directly. These Google+ Local listings are not only a part of search and maps but also have a new look and feel as part of Google+.

Google+ now has 400 million users. With all those potential eyes, local business owners on the site need to put a stronger emphasis on their customer reviews. In fact, 67% of consumers online read reviews of businesses before making a purchasing decision, and 70% of consumers trust a business with a minimum of 6-10 reviews. Here are ten things you need to know about the new Google+ Local reviews.

1. Reviews Lost Their Stars

Google certainly didn’t lose any “star quality,” it still averages 4.7 Billion search queries per day, but gone are the days when Google showcased a star-rating on listing pages and in search results. Now, Google is using a 30-point rating system adapted from Zagat. So now, in the place of stars, you’ll see a number rating in the format of “# / 30” displayed in local search results for a Google listing and on the page itself.

2. Google+ Local is Using Zagat’s Rating System

If you are a restaurant owner, you may be quite familiar with Zagat. For the rest of the business world, Zagat is a review site consumers can use to find restaurant reviews and recommendations in their city. The Zagat numerical system is based on a 30-point rating, which takes the average score each reviewer has left (on a scale from 0-3) and multiplies that number by ten. Google acquired Zagat in 2011 and has adopted their rating system for their new Google+ Local pages.

3. You Now Need 10 Reviews For Your Rating to Display

With Google Places, a business owner only needed five reviews in order for the star rating to appear on their listing. Now, with Google adopting the 30-point rating system, you need at least ten reviews for the number rating to display on your Google+ Local Page as well as in the search results.

4. There’s a New Sorting System for Reviews

Google+ Local reviews are now put through a sorting filter where the “Most Helpful” reviews are displayed first. This filter is based on the searcher’s connection to the reviewer, the text of the review, and how many votes that particular review has acquired from other users. The more relevant and popular the review, the higher it will be placed in this new sorting system.

5. Google+ Local Favors Reviews from Friends

As part of the new sorting system, when a user is logged in to their personal Google+ account, the reviews from their circle of friends will actually show up higher than any other reviews on a business page. In other words, reviews from other Google+ users in someone’s circles will display higher than reviews from people who aren’t in their circles.

6. Your Old Reviews Will Migrate to Your Verified Page

Once you have completed the PIN verification, your Google+ Local page will merge with your Google Places page. All of your reviews will merge over to the new format once you have completed this important step. Note that when you see a review from a “Google User,” this just means that particular reviewer has not created his or her own Google+ Profile Page quite yet and left the review prior to the switch to Google+ Local. Any new reviews added will require a user to log in before leaving a review, adding more transparency and authenticity to reviews.

7. Old Star Ratings Integrate Into Your Score But Don’t Include a Review

Your page will always show how many reviews your business has received, but it may show some users reviews with text along with “scores without review” – which is essentially an old star rating that did not include any review content. This star rating will be factored over into your new overall score.. Going forward, Google will not post any review now that does not have text in it.

8. It’s Important to Respond to Positive and Negative Reviews

It is very important to your online reputation to respond to reviews on your Google Plus Local page. But, don’t just respond to negative reviews; you should also respond to customers who give you great reviews! When others see that you are not just responding to the negative reviews, but also to the positive ones, reviewers are more likely to think of you as genuine, and therefore trust you enough to check out your business.

9. To Generate Positive Reviews on Your Page, Ask for Them!

To gain more positive Google+ Local reviews, focus on asking happy customers to leave you a review on the site. More than likely, when you ask a happy customer face-to-face to leave your business a online, when they will take the time to share their experience with your business, they’ll have positive things to say!

10. You Can Integrate Your Listing with a Google+ Business Page

Now that Google’s local listings are integrated into Google+, a Google+ page is now an absolutely critical part of any local business’s online marketing plan. This part can get confusing, but stay with me. Think of Facebook, where you have both a personal profile and then you have your business page. The same is the case with Google+, but they have also taken that a step further by adding your local listing onto the site. Not only that, but you can actually merge your business Google+ page with your Google+ Local listing to manage it from one place. This will allow you to connect directly with fans and followers, helping spread word-of-mouth about your business online, and potentially serving as a dynamic hub for your business, encouraging your fans to leave you reviews. If you haven’t already claimed your page, here is what you need to do.

Step 1: Obtain a Google+ Profile Page. This is your personal profile.
Step 2: Create a Google+ Business Page.
Step 3: Claim Your Google+ Local Page. Once you have verified this page through PIN validation, the Google+ Business Page and the Google+ Local Page will merge. To learn more about merging and optimizing your Google+ pages, check out our free ebook Google+ Plus Local: Your Guide to Optimizing Google+ Local Pages.

Now that you have a better understanding about the new Google+Local reviews, what do you think of the change? How are you handling positive and negative review on your Google+ Local page?

To learn more about optimizing your Google+ and Google + Local pages, check out our Google+ Local ebook.

About the Author

Lindsay Paramore is an expert in online marketing and branding for business owners. She works as a Web Presence Professional for ReachLocal.

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