Updated Google My Business Guidelines

In December 2014, Google made some changes to Google My Business quality guidelines, including adding specific rules for multi-location businesses.

• In February 2014, Google announced that it would allow the addition of a single "descriptor" to the business name in Google listings. As of December 2014, Google abandons the use of descriptors and only the real world business name (legal business name) is permitted for use, again. This point is emphasised by Google: “Represent your business as it’s consistently represented and recognized in the real world across signage, stationery, and other branding”.

• Other point to highlight is that as of October 2014, you are able to add other users as managers to a business account and these managers will be able to manage locations in the business account simply by logging into their own accounts, which is good news for multi-location businesses. In December update Google clarifies it by saying “Only business owners or authorized representatives may verify and manage their business information on Google My Business. If you wish to share access to your local page with others, you can do so by adding a manager.”

• The update also includes guidelines for:

- Business information (Address, website, phone number, categories…)
- Service area businesses vs. Storefront businesses
- Chains and brands
- Departments within other business, universities or institutions
- Individual practitioners (doctors, lawyers…)

We suggest you check out the Google quality guidelines for business pages as soon as possible, as you may discover you need to make some edits to your Google My Business account to be guideline -compliant.

As we know, these guidelines are generally considered rules, not guidelines, as failure to comply can cause your listing to be suspended or removed.

If you’re new to Google My Business, check out our blog post about why you should get Google My Business and how to get started.

If you would like to discuss about your local marketing strategy with a professional, you are always welcome to give our Digital Strategists a call on 01202 678777.

Author: Aysegul Yigitbasi

Quick Overview on Google Places Updates

As you may have noticed, Google has been automatically upgrading Google Places listings from the old system to the new Google Places dashboard and creating Google Plus pages under the same Gmail address. This resulted in the existence of two (or more) Google Plus Pages for a given local business - one for business and at least one for local.

Currently, it is not possible to merge two Google+ Pages (unless they are both of the type: local and for the same business at the same address). It is also not possible to pass followers from one page to another.

To make the decision to handle these accounts and to determine which of your pages should get the most exposure, you need to think about the following questions:

• What is the goal of your social presence and who is the target audience?
• Is the company national in scope or do most of its customers come from the immediate region?

Within this update , there has also been a change on the Google Places quality guidelines (changed on Feb 2014). You can now include a single descriptor to your business’ real-world title that helps customers locate your business or understand what your business offers. However, marketing taglines, phone numbers, store codes, or URLs are not valid descriptors.

Examples of acceptable titles with descriptors (in italics for demonstration purposes) are "Starbucks Downtown" or "Joe’s Pizza Restaurant". Examples that would not be accepted would be "#1 Seattle Plumbing", "Joe’s Pizza Best Delivery" or "Joe’s Pizza Restaurant Dallas".

If you are not sure about your Google Places settings, please review Google Places quality guidelines because failure to follow most of them will either keep you from being listed at all or from ranking well in Google.

If you have a local business and would like to discuss about your integrated local marketing strategy, you are always welcome to give our Digital Consultants a call on 01202 678777.

Author: Aysegul Yigitbasi