In November of 2010, Google introduced Place Search, a function that has been present on Google for some time, but was refined and rebranded under this name when it was released for public use. ‘Place Pages’ (as they were dubbed) were initially released earlier in the fall and followed a similar structure to sites like Yelp. Each local business page was setup to include a map, a compilation of online reviews from other websites about the business, links and contact information. In November ‘Place Pages’ evolved making it a more essential search engine marketing tool.
The Features & Benefits of Google Places
* Users no longer have to use the local search 7 box to find a business or place. Google can better bring up results with a simple query and by predicting a user’s location. Users no longer need to include a business name and city location.
* Paid and organic listings both appear in the Google Place results.
* With the presence of more organic results, SEO strategy now becomes more important with these ‘Place Pages’.
* as clients/customers post reviews through Google Places on the listings and businesses add more content to their pages (links, images, giveaways etc) rankings increase both within Google Place Search and ordinary Google search results.
For more information on how you can use Google Places to enhance your internet marketing strategy, check out our web visibility services.
