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Hello, local entrepreneurs and business owners! I’m sure I’m not alone in saying goodbye to Local U’s wonderful Last Week in the Local Series. It’s now a little tricky to keep track of local SEO information due to this break But, hang on. This quarterly issue on Moz keeps you informed on the most important local search trends of the last three months. Let’s jump into this pool of summer fun new opportunities and change!
First glimpse of local search on Google’s SGE
I was given access to Google Search Labs. You can check out my live-tweeted post about my first glimpse at Google’s tests of their brand-new Search Generative Experience. The first things I learned are:
A thumbs up for local searches, with five results; however, a thumbs-down on the fact that the SGE pack can’t link to any other website. The Local Finder needs to provide additional effects. If your initial five choices need to be more helpful, meet your needs, or are even spam, you need to look for a different question to get other possibilities.
There are some UX problems, such as the map disappearing when you click on one of the SGE results in the pack, meaning that you cannot revisit it to determine the next closest option, or formatting issues in Google Business Profile. Google Business Profile overlapping the results when you move around in the user interface, such as this:
The fascinating thing is that SGE remembers what you are discussing when you’re exchanging. For instance, search “best tacos in san francisco” and reply with “Who has organic tacos?” The bot “knows” you are talking about San Francisco, even though you didn’t mention the city’s name in your search. This is the characteristic of these chatty interactions, which is new to me.
A general impression is that it’s more like a closed loop/walled garden than the interfaces we’ve grown accustomed to with locals. When you enter this feature, you stay in it. This may be beneficial for Google but may not be ideal for the users. The time will tell.
If time is ticking and you’re in line to be admitted into SGE for a personal look, I suggest reading:
Google SGE: Meet the New Pack by Greg Sterling
How Google’s New AI Impacts Local Search by Joy Hawkins
The coolest people in the business refuse to believe that “SEO is dead thing” regarding AI, and I’m convinced that Local SEOs can be expected to utilize the SGE packs if released. My word to those business owners who are smart and local out there: keep in mind this: the fact that you are not robots can be your best advantage. Even if you can bring customers to your site through search, AI chat, or SGE, surveys repeatedly show that people prefer local service for personalization, and you shouldn’t be able to bot the process.
Finalmente! A special Google form to retrieve missing reviews
Have you noticed a rise in Google Business Profile reviews disappearing from 2022? It’s not just you; seasoned local SEOs such as Mike Blumenthal have reported an increase in legitimate review loss since Google changed to an AI-powered review filter last year. There’s good news; you’ll be able to follow Mike’s helpful guide to reporting missing reviews using an exciting new method.
Your workflow will begin from here and proceed through a series of steps that hopefully bring about your reviews being reinstated (no promises, obviously!) As Mike says, this change is a significant improvement; however, the process overall is quite a burden and difficult for owners of businesses. AI-related problems should be accompanied by the aid of an AI-aspirin bottle to all customers, especially when they involve reviews, because of the huge impact this content can have on the user’s reputation, ranking, and revenues.
Regarding reviews, you shouldn’t get them through donations
It’s always beneficial whenever Google clarify a gray area in their rules, and due to Joy Hawkins’ outreach, We now have a better understanding that the local company must not solicit an online review following an amount to a third party. Also, if your local grocery store gives $100 to a local no-kill animal shelter, Google advises you not to solicit them to “pay you back” with reviews.
The best approach is to think of these charitable endeavors as sources of hyperlinked unstructured citations shown above. Being recognized as a partner of local events, teams, or organizations is beneficial. In addition, it’s in perfect harmony with the “Authoritativeness” factor of Google’s E-E A-T concept that has reliable local websites that link to or cite your organization.
Video The short and long of it
Kudos to Andy Simpson for demonstrating this hack on a budget to use animation effects to transform local business pictures into short films. Videos are extremely popular on the local scene, but the “short” part has been the cause of recently-recent puzzles and parlaying.
Google’s guidelines on adding Video to your GBPs say that your videos must have a minimum of 30 seconds in length. But, experimentation by Darren Shaw suggests that it could be the file size and not the length of the Video that determines the appearance of your videos in your listing:
It is important to note that technically, videos longer than 30 seconds long aren’t compliant with the guidelines. However, the worst result for your business if you opt to make a longer video, is that it may not be recognized as acceptable. Perhaps worth giving it a shot. However, the most secure option is to record 30 seconds of your content to ensure it’s a good fit. Google certainly has its sights on Video and has recently launched YouTube videos, which some consider to be a response to the TikTok phenomenon. Local businesses in highly competitive markets can easily record in their GBPs and then upload them to hundreds of elements of their business’s locations inventory, staff, inventory community involvement, and much more!
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