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What 2015 Google Updates Did I Miss? #FAQuesday

If you hit the snooze button at all last year, you may have missed an alarm for one of the huge updates from Google that hit the digital marketing stratosphere — hard. Businesses that didn’t keep up with crucial 2015 changes felt the pain. But there’s still time to wake up and do something about the latest SEO developments. Grab a cup of coffee and see what you missed and how The Web Guys can get you ready for 2016. Mobilegeddon: Go Mobile or Get Left Behind From asking for driving directions to shopping for shoes, almost anything can be accomplished using a smartphone or tablet. Google took note of the continued growth of mobile searches and made a significant change to its search algorithm. As of April 21, mobile friendliness became a search-ranking factor, ensuring users receive high-quality results when using mobile devices. Don’t worry you haven’t gotten on the mobile trend yet. Our Web design team can revamp your … Continued

Where Did My Google+ Reviews Go? #FAQuesday

Have you been on your Google+ Local page recently and wondered why everything looks so terribly unfamiliar? It’s no secret that Google is always and forever updating its products, and the Google+ social network was the latest to get a major overhaul.The tech giant launched a redesigned interface Nov. 17 that makes users’ Collections (posts targeted by interest) and Communities (groups organized by a mutual interest) easier to see in their home streams. At the same time, the Google+ Local pages for businesses were streamlined to share the look and feel of individual profiles. The new, simpler design no longer includes easy access to certain information, including the company’s business category, operating hours, and customer reviews — including the related star ratings.Out with the Old If you need a quick reminder of how the old pages looked, you can see from this classic view of The Web Guys‘ page that it integrated local information, posts, Google Photos, and YouTube on separate … Continued

How to Find Duplicate Google Local Listings

Google Local listings beam powerful signals about businesses to whoever is looking for related services, so the search giant keeps vigilant watch on this vital information. But signals can get crossed when a business has multiple entries floating around the Interweb. We deal with this all the time at The Web Guys, so let’s go through some ways to detect these rogue listings. But first things first… Why Should I Care About Duplicate Listings? The problem with duplicate listings is that they’re rarely identical — meaning only one is completely accurate. Old addresses and phone numbers have a way of resurfacing online, creating confusion both for Google and for potential customers. Google will recognize that a business has multiple listings, but it can’t tell which one to trust and may return bad information in search results. In particularly messy situations, it may even suspend the verified (and correct) account because of the uncertainty.How to Locate a Duplicate Listing Thanks to Google’s … Continued

A Breakdown of Google My Business

The switch from Google+ and Google Places to Google My Business has arrived. Here is what businesses need to know about the upgrade. WHAT IS THE SAME +1 clicks Posts (#hashtags, tagging people or businesses) Page tabs (About, Photos, YouTube, Reviews) Google Analytics Insights (will still connect and analyze content of accounts) WHAT IS DIFFERENT Manage reviews, Google Analytics, AdWords and YouTube from one page Dashboard can be viewed and managed from one menu Ability to edit local search information Ability to edit Google Maps address(es) Ability to respond to reviews Formal, provided business listings No custom categories No payment options or additional details will be listed Company reviews and +1’s combined into one search-powered page Local pages that accept upgrade automatically converted to storefront or service area pages THE BENEFIT OF PROVIDED BUSINESS CATEGORIES One of the most effective changes of the “My Business” upgrade is the business listing. … Continued