Google Business Profile
Search Engine Land is your definitive source for Google Business Profile news and content. You’ll find a variety of up-to-date and authoritative resources, including the latest news, tactic-rich tutorials, and the latest data-driven insights to help you optimize your local search presence, work smarter, and make better decisions.
Why Google Business Profile matters for your strategy
Google Business Profile (GBP) is essential for businesses looking to attract local customers, improve their online visibility, and manage customer relationships effectively. With new features like AI-transcribed menu uploads, staying updated on GBP innovations can significantly impact your local SEO strategy. Whether you’re optimizing GBP listings, managing reviews, or utilizing advanced insights, this page offers tools and tips tailored to your business goals.
Our comprehensive coverage ensures you stay ahead of trends, such as new features for Google Business Profile, changes to local search algorithms, and actionable tips for maximizing the impact of your GBP; we break down what these changes mean for your local SEO strategy.
What you read here is written by our experienced in-house team, alongside subject matter experts from leading brands and agencies.
Explore strategies to improve your local visibility, manage customer interactions seamlessly, and improve your business’s reputation online
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2020 SEO trends that will influence your work
Google is aiming to be the end destination of their users' journeys. This, more than anything, defines major SEO trends for 2020.
Google Maps becomes more ‘social’ with Local Guides follow feature
Local Guides are part of the reason GMB and Maps are so successful.
Local SEOs still seeing volatility in ranking with Google’s latest algorithm update
The local search updates this month seem to be about relevance and how Google understands search terms for a business. But a lot of new spam is surfacing as well.
Local business study finds 0% of site traffic coming from email, paid media
Are small businesses not using email or digital advertising? The 'Google Analytics for Local Businesses Study' looked at 11K local businesses.
Here’s what you need to know about Google’s newest local algorithm update
Google’s biggest local algorithm update since 2016 will require businesses and agencies to be more vigilant about fighting spam in affected areas.
Google My Business discontinues toll free phone support
This will impact how quickly your Google My Business issues can be addressed.
Uber Eats readies ad sales for restaurants
Could it become a rival to Google and Yelp over time?
Achieving 3.7 Google My Business rating stars delivers highest conversion boost, study finds
Replying to a third of reviews may increase conversions by 80% for enterprise locations.
Google begins testing Duplex internationally
Duplex will be powering automated calls to confirm holiday business hours in New Zealand.
The future of search begins with a ‘V’
Voice and visual search will ultimately become significant drivers of query volume beside text input.
Which service-area business types perform best in local search?
New research from a dataset across seven industries that have a physical location were reviewed to answer this question.
Google showing mobile ‘search by photos’ option in selected local verticals
The new element appears to not have a fixed position but resides below the local pack, sometimes right below.
Revenge of the small business website
VC investments in Wordpress' parent and Duda, plus a new Yahoo website offering, show that SMB sites are still big business.
Which local citation sources matter now?
An informal poll of local SEOs yields some answers -- and disagreements -- about spending time on citations.
Yelp introduces ‘Connect’ and new Waitlist features for restaurants
Connect is a publishing tool not unlike Google Posts, but with differences.
Search used when brands are unknown, but it’s direct navigation for existing customers
A new survey from Yext explores what content sources are more trusted and what's at stake in not paying enough attention to third party platforms.
How SEOs can master voice search now
Optimizing for voice search means answering questions in featured snippets, paying attention to local SEO and perfecting your mobile-friendliness.
Google verticals, machine learning and no-click searches expected to have the biggest impacts on SEO
Survey also finds that SEOs think government investigations are least likely to impact the industry.
Google now showing competitor ads on local business profiles
The unit is from Local Campaigns and businesses cannot pay to remove them.
The importance of an effective review management workflow
Brands are at the mercy of third-party review management sites so it’s important to monitor and manage this process as best you can.
Yelp adds new personalization features in bid to regain local momentum from Google
The new capabilities are the beginning of 'major product changes' according to the company.
Why is there so little innovation in local?
The alpha and omega of local is now Google.
Google My Business adds bulk review management
You can now save time and find reviews faster with this new Google My Business feature.
SMX East: now with extra local
GMB, maps, reviews, voice and offline conversion tracking are all on the agenda.
Hotels can now add services, amenities in Google My Business
Now you can control your hotel details on Google Maps and Google Search.
Reservations, AR navigation coming to Google Maps
The new features are aimed at making Maps a hub for travelers.
Video: Mary Bowling on the growth of local SEO and importance knowledge panels
What a fun discussion with this local SEO legend, who has devoted her life to helping small businesses succeed.
Review counts matter more to local business revenue than star ratings, according to study
Womply also found businesses claiming their listings on multiple sites generated 58% more revenue than the average.
New research shows strong link between Google My Business photo quantity and search performance
Here's what analyzing 580,853 images across 15,191 Google My Business listings taught us about how GMB images could be impacting user behavior.
Analysis of SMB site builders finds connection between vendor and rankings
WP Engine, Squarespace perform well, market-leader Wix does not.
Do local citations matter anymore? Five local SEOs sound off
A range of opinions about how much attention to devote to citations.
Google shortnames bug persists despite Google insisting it’s fixed
Google said any current problems with suspended listings is likely the result of content or policy violations.
‘Get a Quote’ button added to Google business local knowledge panels
If you have Google My Business messaging turned out, you may start getting more messages from searchers.
5 tactics that encourage customer reviews
Make sure your business pages are claimed and ready for reviews – then be ready with a strategy to respond to them.
When bad user-generated content happens to good businesses
Monitor and create a triage for how you’ll handle questionable UGC content including reviews, photos and Q&A forums with incorrect information about your business.
Emoji SEO presents opportunities for video
Emoji search hasn’t quite caught on, but emojis still pose some interesting opportunities for your organic visibility.
Google says shortnames bug resolved, local listings restored
It's unclear yet whether the missing reviews issue has also been fixed.
Google shortnames and the case of the disappearing reviews
SEOs complained that adding shortnames to GMB profiles causes reviews to disappear or listings to be suspended. Google says it's working on it.
What two big studies tell us about the state of local marketing
New research from SOCi and FreshChalk point toward best practices and reveal how most local marketers are failing to execute.
Only 30% of SMBs would recommend their current SEO provider, survey finds
Those who spent $500 or more per month were likely to be happier, but the survey still finds low satisfaction with the industry overall.