Google Local Business has been one of the most useful tools for marketers and businesses to help show off their products and services online. One feature that many of its users have wanted to see installed for some time is the ability to add links.

Well, Google have listened and this feature has now been added. Currently, you can add quick links or local business URLs to your listing for easier reservations, ordering and more.

Local Business URLs

Google Local Business just became more user-friendly for your average small to medium sized business. Now, specifically categorized businesses – such as a restaurant, to name but one example – can start to add new kinds of URLs to their profiles. For example, you could now hyperlink a landing page to the ‘Make an Order’ page or to your Menu page or even to a Reservations page. You have more control to market the most effective and useful features that encourages the user to take action and see what you are offering.

This can mean everything from placing a secure online order to making an appointment and ensuring that it is set in stone. This feature is a welcome addition as call to actions will be more prominent and users will be linked directly to the necessary page. Talk about providing great user experience.

We can now see a new way in how we use our Google Local Business pages. From changing how people can get access to the menu to how they reserve a spot or a table, companies such as restaurants and bars should find it much easier to advertise their services. Users will immediately get the information they need with little to no hassle.

How to Add URLs to your Listing

1. Sign in to your Google My Business account.
2. Choose the Google My Business listing that you want to edit.
3. Click into the URLs section.
4. Enter your URLs in the appropriate fields.
5. Click Apply.

So, start to take some time getting used to improving your business listings online starting with Google Local Business. When utilized fully, this can be a great way to attract new customers.

Source: Google

After what feels like many years of waiting, the new Google Posts feature has finally become live for all Google My Business users. This long-awaited feature has been in the back-burner for some time and can be enjoyed by anyone using Google My Business. This latest part of the platform, Google Posts, is already a massive hit with those who have used it. It plays a prominent role in adjusting how all small businesses can utilize their Google My Business listing.t.

Thanks to this new rollout, all you need to do now is log into your account and the head on over to the new Posts section, wedged comfortably between Home and Info.

This can also be done on both mobile and desktop devices, so you should find it easy to make a change and alter the way how your pages look whether you are in the house or in the office.

These new features will help make sure that you can create more content for anyone checking out your Google My Business page. When you start to write up a post, you now get the option to include a 300-word post, an image or an event title with a start and end time. This is very useful for making sure that you can get people interested in what you are up to, while also offering a little call-to-action for things like Reserve, Buy, Get Offer and Learn More. This makes it easy to get people excited about what is in store for them.

Get More Interactions with Google Posts

Thanks to these fresh features, you should be able to easily give people access to time-related events or something new that your local business is offering. With this, you should find it much easier to:

1. Share high quality special deals, seasonal promotions and much more. It will help make sure that customers can find these with a simple look at your business on Google. It also earns loyalty and could draw in new customers across the board.
2. To showcase the latest products that you have out at the moment.
3. Choose one of the easiest ways for people to contact you and take action, from giving them a chance to buy the product now to sign up for a newsletter or even just make a reservation at a restaurant.
4. Show off new events and get as many people as you can who might be interested in upcoming shows and program. It helps build hype and excitement about what is to come in the near future.

So, what are you waiting for? Try out Google Posts today, you won’t regret it!

Source: Search Engine Land

Over the last few years, as the smartphone industry has taken off and more people spend time online, internet security has become a much bigger, broader topic than it once was. With people now realizing that it isn’t just the big names or people who make themselves noticeable that are the target, too, more people than ever want to know that the sites they are visiting on the internet are safe. For most people, this means looking out for an SSL certificate to let you know that the site is secure and that your information and details are safe from being hacked, phished or used in any way.

For those who are unsure, a website that has an SSL certification is known by the fact that it has an https:// URL instead of just a plain http:// URL. Also, on modern search engines like Google Chrome, this shows a small green padlock next to the name of the site that says Secure. Basically, you are in a position where you know that the site is safe and that you can successfully come and use it without any problems.

With the rise in online usage and internet standards, this has seen a change in the way that people view internet security. For example, would you be shocked to know that 50% – half – of site that you will find on the first page of Google search engine result page is secured by a SSL certificate?

Basically, Google now looks to make sure that you are as safe as possible online. It can give you the chance to really change where you are at with regards to people feeling safe about your site.

Why SSL Certificate & HTTPS Certification Matters

1. For your reputation. If you sell any kind of product, then nobody will buy from you if you lack SSL certification. It’s that simple. Nobody feels comfortable buying from someone if they cannot give them a guarantee – which SSL is – that their details are kept private and secure across the board.
2. It matters for purposes of insurance. It would be very hard to get any kind of help or assistance to cover a fraud of theft case if your website is set up to take payments and details but it lacks any kind of SSL certification.
3. It matters for your own confidence. How would you feel if you go to a website and you see it is not secure? It makes most people stop in their tracks. Just know that your own business is literally less likely to succeed if you do not use HTTPS certification to get that added protection.

So, now that you know it gets you a minor boost in rank if you invest in an SSL certificate and make your website secure with HTTPS, when will you start migrating?

Source: Moz

Prepare yourself for another head-banging session – we’re about to deliver yet another algorithm update from Google. Many people missed the development of the Mobile-First Index which was announced on Google Webmaster Blog last November 4, 2016. It’s now a major part of Google’s algorithm.

So, here’s a nice breakdown of what is Mobile-First Index actually is. It’s helpful to know about all of these new features:

What’s New in Google’s Mobile-First Index?

1. Basically, the Mobile-First Index is a new part of Google as it tries to start ranking all content on search listings looking at it through a prism of mobile content. If your content loads poorly on a mobile device, then Google will make sure that you feel the punishment for that in the wrong way.
2. Even for listings that are for desktop users, it will be looked at through a mobile-first design style. We aren’t really 100% sure why this change was first implemented, but it’s been here for a while now and there is a good chance that most people missed the opportunity to make the most of it.
3. This new Mobile-First Index is fair on the basis that the majority of searches are now carried out on a mobile device. Ergo, so long as it suits the majority, then there should be a movement forward to try and make that the point that is to be addressed. As such, the Mobile-First Index is merely reflecting the fact that, for the first time, the majority of online searches come off mobile devices.
4. Fear not if you do not have a mobile website. Google says that it would like you to have a mobile site, but won’t be handing out bans and blacklists if you never bothered to set up one. It will also crawl the desktop version instead and, so long as it works methodically on a mobile device, you should be OK.
5. However, if you have a mobile site it might need some work. Google will be expecting you to make both mobile and desktop versions as similar as possible of content style, links and pages etc. so if this is not the case with your own device, you’ll need to do a bit of adjustment to make it so.
6. If your mobile site is less enjoyable and has less content than the desktop version, then you have your work cut out for you. This is going to be a big problem in the long-term, if not a major one at this moment in time. Google has said that it will look at your mobile site – and if you have a bad mobile site, it’s better to have no mobile site, essentially.

The best option is to have a mobile-friendly website to avoid any issues with Google.

If you need help with web design, you might want to check out our web design service. If you like what you see, feel free to take a look at our web design packages as well. Contact us today if you want a mobile-friendly and responsive website!

Afew years ago, the release and advent of the Google Penguin update was curse to many online marketers. It wiped out massive amounts of sites and essentially acted like a purge that removed much of what many people loved about their content that made them rank so high.

While Penguin was a painful step at the time, it was 100% necessary if you were serious about seeing the internet change for the better.

Now, the Penguin update – released in 2012 and growing ever since – is, as Google puts it, part of their core algorithm. They announced it on September 2016 via their blog.

Since then, it’s been a quiet but effective part of the key Google search engine ranking factors. As a major part of Google’s algorithm, with over 200 key signals used to help understand how good (or bad) a site is, this new release was a major part of what made Google transform so much in line with the smartphone era.

What Makes Google Penguin Update So Powerful?

Penguin was also the major change to the world of keyword ranking, bringing an end to the days of keyword stuffing. Now that it’s a major part of Google’s core algorithm, you can be sure that this is truer than ever; the days of keyword stuffing are long gone. Now, it’s all about things that include:

The kind of keywords that are being used on your website. Not just the keywords but the general relevance that exists within the content and how that is coming to fruition as time goes on.

The freshness and uniqueness of a website. If your website is powered by the same old clichés and says nothing new while also not being updated on a regular basis, then you are more or less certain to suffer at some point.

The region that you are based in; you are far less likely to be seen by an American, for example, if you are based in the UK. Penguin helps to further diversify not only when something would be ranked, but where it would show up once it was ranked in the first place.

The PageRank of your site. The better the PageRank, the more likely it is that you can get some kind of response from those who are coming to view your site.

What Does This Google Penguin Update Mean?

For the most part, it just reinforces the fact that the rules Penguin put in place in 2012 are now set in stone. As a key part of the core algorithm, Google now looks at more things than ever to determine the quality – or lack of – in a website. That is a very important distinction, and will play a big role in helping to determine what future users are able to do with Google.

In essence, this change sets up the future to be far more better in terms of search results and websites to add value to user’s experience.

Source: Google Webmaster Blog