Businesses with multiple locations should be breathing a heavy sigh of relief now that Google has introduced a new and improved bulk listing management tool designed to make the whole process easier and faster for business owners.
Google revealed several new changes last week which have been implemented to help SMBs and enable the follow actions:
- Edit one or more of your listings' data at once
- Search through your listings, filtering by specific information or for listings with errors
- Upload new listings using a data file or by adding them individually within the interface
- Tell us how we can improve this new interface by clicking the "Give Feedback" link
Google has also uploaded two tutorial videos to walk both new and verified users through the process.
Tutorial for new, unverified users
Tutorial for Verified Users
If you've visited your Google Places dashboard recently, you may have already noticed that it went through a makeover. Personally, I find the updated dashboard considerably more user-friendly and intuitive. I especially like how easy it is to find listings with errors. The easier it is to spot errors, the easier it is to fix them!
If you're a business owner with 10 or more locations and you've been avoiding uploading and/or correcting your information on Google Places because it was too much of a hassle or you weren't sure where to start, these new upgrades and the accompanying videos help remove both of those obstacles.
We've said this many times but taking the time to ensure that all of your online business listings are claimed and showing correct information is one of the most powerful things you can do to build your Web presence and your offline customer base. Nearly 20 percent of all Google searches are users accessing Google Place Pages – that adds up to millions of searches a day! If a user can't find you or it looks like your information is incorrect, they're not going to keep trying. It's going to deter them away for your business and push them toward your competitor. This isn't something you can afford.
The release of this new tool from Google is a good reminder of how important it is to claim and optimize all of your business listings. If you haven't checked to make sure they're accurate, use today to do it.
Consider it a little Spring cleaning as you:
- Claim your Google Place listing (and all other online business listings)
- Make sure the information is as accurate as possible and that it's consistent with what else is out there about you on the Web. It's vitally important that you align all of your listings and allow them to work FOR you and show your relevance.
- If you have already claimed your Google Place listing, work on optimizing it. Add some new Google business photos/videos. Update your keywords. Start thinking up new ways to build reviews or point people to your page. Don't leave it static.
The updated Google Maps Bulk Listing management tool is great for businesses for with 10 or more locations, but even if that's not you, it's also an important reminder that these listings matter and that Google is looking at them hard to determine relevance and search placement. If it's been awhile since you've optimized your Google Place listings, give it another look. It could be the difference between showing up and being invisible to your audience.
Fuente: Small Business Trends
New Bulk Listing Management Tool From Google Places
