Did Your Business Get Hit By Google’s Latest Local Business Change?

Google recently made one of the biggest “shifts” the LOCAL search results have seen in a loooong time! In making this huge change, Google’s pissed off a lot of business owners. Are you one of them?

As a business owner you may (or may not) know about Google’s free web pages it offers to local businesses – these free pages are known by a variety of names, such as Google My Business, Google+/Business, Google Maps, Google Places…(By the time you read this Google may have changed the name of this program one more time. Do you sense my sarcasm?)

You know…THIS little thingy right here:

That section of the Local search results was known as the “7 Pack” and is PRIME REAL ESTATE because it brings in LIVE PHONE CALLS by the boat load.

And business owners KNOW IT!

Being in the “7 Pack” is basically pure GOLD as far as a local businesses are concerned.

In addition to the phone calls they get, it’s also an “ego boost” to the businesses who are lucky enough to be listed in this section. People trust the businesses that show up high in the search engines. Google wouldn’t put them towards the top unless they were good; right?

And let’s face it — everyone likes to have their ego stroked a little bit. As a business owner, this ego boost is not only helpful to you mentally, it’s also boosting your customer or client base; right?

So What Changed With Google’s Local Listings?

Let’s take a look at that same search result for the term “Electrician San Jose CA” as it looks TODAY:

Do you see the difference? If not, I’ll give you a hint: the 7 pack of businesses just became only a 3 pack of business listings. Google cut these local businesses by more than half! 

The 7 Local Pack Just Became The 3 Pack And THAT Means BIG OPPORTUNITY For YOU!

Yes, a whopping 57% of local business owners who WERE enjoying massive amounts of phone calls from the “local maps” section just got fed a nasty blow by Google.

But this time it had NOTHING to do with something the business owner or their SEO consultant did wrong to their website to try and “game” the system. (Google DOES penalize websites that do shady practices – a.k.a. “black hat” – but this change has nothing to do with that.)

So why the big change? Well, Google IS a business and is becoming a corporate monster who wants to make as much money from paid ads as possible. And honestly if you’re a business owner you know how it is: your job is to make money. So who could blame Google for wanting to make more money? THE BUSINESS OWNERS who are no longer listed on the first page of Google search engine results pages… that’s who!

And quite frankly, they should be pissed off!

Google DOES provide a “More” link so a searcher can see more local listings, but let’s be honest, NOBODY clicks on the “more electricians” button under lucky business #3.

So basically, business numbers 4, 5, 6, and 7 just got the shaft! And business numbers 8 through 1,562 (or however many are not in the 3 Pack) are absolutely DROOLING to be in those coveted three spots!

Now more than ever you NEED an SEO expert to help you rank higher in the search engines so you have a higher chance of getting listed in these premium spots. If up until this point you’ve said, “I don’t need help with search engine optimization,” you’re wrong. Afterall….

• All business owners want more qualified live phone calls coming into their business on a daily basis.
• All business owners know exactly who their competition is and will do ANYTHING to be one step ahead of them!

Did you know that Google Gives Every Business a FREE Page That Can Help Them Rank Higher on Google?

If you don’t know about Google My Business/Google+, then you should. You can see if your business is “claimed” by visiting: http://www.gybo.com/business. Want to know the crazy thing? 40% of local businesses haven’t even “claimed” their local listing and the majority of the other 60% have incomplete listings that are destroying their chance of ever ranking in the new “3 Pack.”

Need Help? Get your FREE ebook with step-by-step information on how to claim and optimize your Google My Business/Google+ page. Or, better still, email us at sherry@earlybirddigitalmarketing.com or call 319-409-3287 so we can set up a time to help.