214-310-1356
Google has been busy this summer. In June it seemed to be updates galore. I covered some of those updates here. So what about July? This month is shaping up to be no different.
The July 2021 Core Update, started on July 1 and at a much faster pace than the June update (they took almost the entire month). Search Engine Land is estimating the rollout will be finished in another few days. Instead of our traditional article this week, I wanted to share some hot items around the web that you need to know about.
Google Business Profile Goodness – Tips From Around the Web
1. How often have you skipped completing the opening date field when optimizing a Google Business Profile (GBP) listing?
Joy Hawkins reported that she was doing an audit, and the business she looked at was shown as being in business for only 7 years, when in fact they were in business for 23 years – a bit of a discrepancy! Since the opening date was left blank in the GBP listing, Google pulled this data from a source that wasn’t accurate.
2. Are you wondering if Google Business Profile posts are worth the effort?
The Whiteboard Friday on the Moz blog reveals a study into 1,000 GBP posts. To summarize, use emojis in your posts, avoid seasonal posts (they performed the worst) – and updated posts stay on a GBP listing for 6 months before falling off. Justifications (we refer to them as mentions in this article) pull from GBP posts and will help a business to surface in the local pack. Make sure to use UTMs on the GBP posts so you can see the traffic to the business website. If you don’t do this, you won’t be able to tell whether the traffic is coming from a GBP post.
3. Does reporting fake Google Business Profile listings do any good?
There’s so much Google Business Profile (formerly Google My Business) spam online that Google cannot clean it all up without our help. For every 10 fake listings they take down, it feels like 100 more appear. This case study on cleaning up fake GBP listings had some positive results for this business’ restoration client. Cleaning up GBP spam is good for your clients, which means it’s good for you.
But Google isn’t the only one making moves this summer. Bing is making some changes too.
Bing Is Improving Their Graphical User Interface
Search Engine Roundtable reported that Bing is testing a graphical version of Explore Further. If they roll out this change to everyone, they may find more users liking their search engine. Bing is also testing turning search results gray when you hover your mouse over their page selector. The biggest news that impacts Bing search results is from Microsoft. Multimedia ads are now available that will display on the right side of search results.
Why Should We Care About Bing Search Results?
Bing making changes to their search results is a sign that some consumers prefer Bing. That’s right – it means you can’t ignore Bing, no matter how much you want to. In response…
- Are you creating and claiming Bing Places listings for your local business clients?
- Are you ensuring your clients’ websites are submitted through Bing’s Webmaster Tools?
While Bing isn’t the largest search engine they have their own percentage of market share, so act accordingly.
Advice Local Has You Covered – Bing, Google Business Profile, Yelp & More
When it comes to creating local profiles on the most important directories, we know exactly what it takes and how to accomplish it. Request a demo today – we have the tools, the technology and the team to make it happen. Call (214) 310-1356 today.