From a potential client: I heard Google local wasn't as important anymore because ...

[Lloyd Silver]

I sat down with a potential client today and the first thing he said was:

"I heard that Google local results wasn't as important anymore because Google doesn't require people to sign up for Google Plus when they create a new Google account any longer."

It was the first time this has come up and although certainly easy to explain why his assumption wasn't correct was fairly easy.

I do wonder at time how viable Google+ is long-term. But clearly the local results and Google My Business would survive even if the platform was taken down.

 

[Linda Buquet]

Thanks for sharing Lloyd.

That's an odd assumption on his part - just because Google doesn't require people to sign up for Google Plus when they create a new Google account any more.

I don't think G+ is going away. The branding may be de-emphasized or something, but it will remain the backbone I think. Maybe it won't be called + but just Google.

But that does not affect GMB and he'll see as GMB continues to evolve and more and more features are added that Google Local is, if anything, becoming more important to Google. If it was not, they would not be putting more resources into it.

 

[Eric Rohrback]

I'm still under the impression that content promoted via G+ will help in indexing and hopefully exposure into different communities. Google kind of missed the boat on the social media craze, but they are getting better at tying everything in (product-wise). With so many people using gmail and the impact of personal search on the SERPs, I wouldn't count out G+

 

[Phil Rozek]

@Lloyd

What Linda and Eric said. Google Places (yes, I'll always call it that) mattered long before Google+, and it will continue to be the go-to local results despite whatever twists and turns Plus takes.

But just for the record, Google does require a Plus account for writing reviews. So there's still a push from that direction.

 

[Lloyd Silver]

Oh I agree. Just wanted to share what he said. And he's now an actual client, not potential, so his opinion was swayed fairly easily.