There has been light speculation for a long time about whether Google+ Business Pages will eventually replace Google Places altogether. It would seem to be the logical next step in the evolution of the service as they are getting more businesses involved with their own pages while pushing to get as many users as possible. So far, they’ve been getting users (over 100 million now) but very little engagement. Users spend an average of 3 minutes per month on Google+ compared to 6-7 hours per month for Facebook users. Shortly after the launch of Plus last year, some were wondering why there was no business…

In 2009, Google launched Places, an offering designed to take the place of its Local Business Center. Though it delivered dramatic improvements from day one, it focused on the same general goal of helping local companies increase their visibility. Today, the service is still going strong and arguably better than ever, yet few local marketers are using it to its full potential. Fortunately, we have compiled a few tips on how to use Google Places to spread the word about your business. SEO your page When leveraging Google Places to increase visibility, it is important to understand that the “page”…

The tech world has been buzzing for a month about Google Plus, the social network that is challenging Facebook for supremacy over our likes, shares, and attentions. While social may be the present and future of Google, something that has been the past, present, and future has changed and points to a change in the way that Google is doing business. Google Places has been a valuable asset for a while. It gives more data about local businesses than many businesses post themselves on their own websites. One portion of Places that has always been appealing is the combined reviews aspect. Until today,…