From Google Local (2004), Google Places (2009), to Google My Business (2014), Google is now rebranding its local SEO product to Google Business Profile.
If you have your business(es) setup and verified with Google My Business, it’s important to know that changes are currently underway. Google has rebranded Google My Business to Google Business Profile and are planning to make major changes to how you update and edit your profile in 2022.
What is a Google Business Profile and How is it Different from Google My Business?
Google Business Profile is essentially the same as Google My Business and searchers (your customers and potential customers) aren’t going to notice a difference. The difference really is about making it easier for business owners to manage their profile.
You can now just type your business name into the Google Maps or Google Search, and you’ll get a profile management view that lets you update information, add photos and more. (You’ve been able to do this for a while, but nobody made a big fuss about it.)
Some new features are going to be available in the future to help you understand your business and boost your search performance. Right now, you can do more things directly from Google Maps and Search like claim or verify a business listing, send and receive messages from customers, as well as track phone calls from your Google Business Profile.
The Google My Business model is going to be outdated in the not-distant future and the Google My Business app will be retired in 2022.
How does this affect me if I have multiple business locations?
If you have multiple locations, the Google Business Profile Manager (what you’re currently using) will continue to be your way to update location information or add new locations.
Why is Google Doing This?
Google’s trying to make things easier for business owners. You will now be able to easily claim, verify, edit and fix any issues on your listing right on Google Search and Google Maps.
Why should you care?
While a lot of the full details and implications remain unknown, this change to Google My Business could impact your local search engine marketing efforts as well as your internal processes.
Our team of local SEO specialists consistently stay on top of the ever-evolving features in Google My Business (now Google Business Profile). Rely on our team to manage your local profile to ensure you are visible for every query that can generate more leads for your business.
