Back in November 2021, Google rolled out a new update announcing they were rebranding their Google Business Listings to Google Business Profiles with an intention to move the business profile management out of the Google My Business apps and directly into Google Search, Google Maps and their respective apps.
The main intent of these changes is to make it easier for business owners to actually claim and manage their listings.
What Has Changed?
The main change is that now the listings can be managed directly from Google Search and Google Maps.
This may feel familiar as back in the days you always had the ‘suggest an edit’ feature on the front end, however for all the major content updates you were required to perform them on the actual dashboard.
Now, you will be able to type your business name into Google Search or Google Maps and if you are logged in to your Google account that has access, you will have a control panel with a set of features and options to choose from.
The main features include:
- Adding images
- Adding posts and updates to your business
- Updating the business information (such as opening hours, services, etc)
- Claiming and verifying your Google Business Profile directly in Google Search and Google Maps
What are some of the benefits of the new rebrand and layout?
The intent from Google is to allow business owners to make these changes straight away without having the fuss to having to go to the dashboard which a lot of times was causing confusion and taking more time.
This new interface is intended to allow the business owners the opportunity to manage their listings in the simplest way possible.
In addition, it is important to highlight that the functionality of Google My Business profile hasn’t changed that much, all of the same fields and sections are still around.
Need Help With Your Google My Business Profile?
At eWebsites we have a proven-track record of successfully managing Google Business Profiles for our customers and are always keeping on top of the industry changes in Local SEO just like this one. It’s always important to keep your profile properly optimised – make sure to check out our top 5 tips on how to optimise your profile.
If you would like ongoing support, please reach out with our team today!
