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Earlier this year, Google announced that they would no longer be supporting “personal” Google + listings. While many of us had GMB listings for our businesses, the change from Google seemed to indicate a new priority for the search engine: Google for Business. And while many of us already had GMB listings, only a few of us understood the importance of GMB for SEO.

Recently, we attended the “Success Summit” at the University of South Florida where we learned that it’s important to consider your map listings when putting time and effort into optimizing your GMB listing. For instance, one of the Summit presenters said that because his marketing business was located in a small town in Central Florida, he appeared at the top of the Google results page. Pegasos has a number of offices in Central Florida, so we are re-thinking changing our GMB listing.

No doubt, GMB is a vital SEO strategy. But don’t set it and forget it. We need to be thinking of GMB like our social media platforms. Content (written and visual) should be changed frequently. And like your social platforms, it is an opportunity to engage with clients and prospective clients, feature products, answer questions, etc. And Google has made it as easy to post on GMB as it is to post on your Facebook page.

As content writers who are often called upon to write about businesses we know little about, Pegasos frequently checks out a client’s website and follows-up by checking their GMB listing. Never has it been more important to solicit those reviews on your GMB page; we often use them as quotes in articles for third party validation of our clients.

So, we know what Google likes? What doesn’t Google like? Make sure you don’t create duplicate listings. You may have six (6) Facebook pages for your business, but you need only one (1) Google My Business Listing; otherwise you could end up on Google’s naughty list.

Finally (and perhaps most importantly) Google has made it easy to monitor analytics to see how your GMB is performing. They have converted this mechanism into a very user-friendly platform for marketers.

Could GMB replace websites altogether? For clients on a shoestring budget who don’t have funds for an expensive website, this could be a viable replacement. One questions whether Google is promoting and growing GMB so that they gain even more control over Internet traffic. Pegasos partners with a number of digital agencies that specialize in SEO, and we remain their keyword writers of choice. Contact us today at kelly@pegasos-pr.com. #RiseUp