Google’s latest enhancements to its Place Pages offer further proof that the importance of local SEO is continuing its impressive growth. In its ongoing effort to compete with Yelp as the number one destination for finding reviews and recommendations of local businesses, Google has added two new features to its Place Pages in Google Maps:
1) Status updates of up to 160 characters that will be displayed for up to 30 days giving business owners an opportunity to communicate with potential customers in a Twitter-like format
2) Verification badges enabling a business to “claim” its Place Page, assuring viewers that the information and status updates they’re seeing are indeed being updated by the business owner
These two new features in Place Pages are in addition to the location, hours, images, menu, reviews, recommendations and other displayed information. Google implemented Place Pages into its Google Maps a few months ago to help create a more user-friendly experience. Instead of displaying business information in a bubble, as before, Place Pages create a unique business page that could be indexed by search engines.
