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Google+ Local Page

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  • 17-06-2012 10:33am
    #1
    cormie
    Registered Users Posts: 20,836 ✭✭✭✭


    So the old Google "Place" page has been replaced with a Google+ Local page. I've read some negative reviews on the scoring system etc but I'm trying to find out just how easy it is for my customers to leave a review.

    Old "Place" URL: http://maps.google.com/maps/place?cid=9529551243965522023
    New + URL: http://plus.google.com/114851453574312840575

    Usually once I finish a job I'll email the customer asking them to leave a review. I built up 29/29 5 star ratings on the old place page and have so far got one 3/3 review on the new system. Unfortunately the name attached to all the reviews on the old "Place" page aren't there anymore and are replaced with "A Google User", which doesn't look the most genuine compared to having actual clickable names.

    Now I'm waiting to send more emails asking customers to review the service they received but I can't see what they will see once they click http://plus.google.com/114851453574312840575 in the mail. According to two friends I asked, you now need to have a Google+ account in order to leave a review. Simply having a Gmail/Google account won't do, which really complicates things for anyone I'm asking to leave a review and I'm sure will greatly reduce the amount of reviews I get too.

    Can somebody please confirm whether or not you definitely need to go through the Google+ sign up process in order to leave a review?

    Also, on another note: I believe I have one of the most, if not the most optimised website/brand in my sector in terms of the amount of reviews I have, SEO on the webite, I have a youtube channel, facebook, twitter, linked-in, am listed in several directory sites, good links, especially from the likes of boards and almost everything else. Now I do rate well in Google searches but for some terms such as "Man with a van" others are rated higher and their websites don't appear to be too well optimised and it's confusing.

    Also with the local listings, I'm way down the list but at one stage I was first and a search for "man with a van" would show up, in the actual regular Google result page, a nice shiny 5 star rating based on 17 (or however many it was at the time) reviews. This was brilliant but only lasted about a week and then whatever changed in Google, threw me back down. I do remember reading something about the results being relative to how far the person is from the service. I'm listed in Dun Laoghaire whereas I think my ISP is around Dublin 2 and there's a lot closer results than myself. This is understandable for the likes of searching for a hotel, cafe or restaurant, especially on the go using mobile etc, but for my type of service it's not really important. I come to them after all!

    If anyone can offer any advice on the above, including confirmation of exactly what's required of a customer with no Google account in order to leave a review, and any tips on how to get my listings showing more, where I believe they already should be and are optimised for, I'd really appreciate it!


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