Launching NOW! Update for MERGED G+Local Pages - Management Upgrade

[Linda Buquet]

Excited to share a new update that's just starting to roll out now.
(You may not be able to see it yet, as it's just starting to propagate.)

This update is for the verification and editing experience for users managing pages in Google+
(not the Places dashboard). So in other words if you have either merged your Place page and G+ page OR if you have a G+ Business page set as local category and 'verified' it.

THE HIGHLIGHTS

- better status updates that tell business owners if their edits are pending or rejected

- progress bar to help business owners fill out the most essential information

- can now add categories via Google+

- updated look and feel

Here is the full post describing the changes from Jade at the Google forum:

Update to Local Business/Place Page Management in Google+ - Google Groups

We’ve made some updates to the verification and editing experience for users managing pages in Google+ (in the Local Business or Place category). Take a look by visiting the page for your business, navigating to the About tab, and clicking Edit Business Information.

What’s new?

- better status updates that tell business owners if their edits are pending or rejected

- progress bar to help business owners fill out the most essential information

- can now add categories via Google+

- updated look and feel (tell us what you think!)

Turnaround time for quality checks on edits will remain the same but we're working hard to improve this experience as well. We hope you enjoy the new business information editing experience in Google+!

The Google+ help docs have been updated as well:
Edit and add information to your local Google+ page - Google+ Help

YAY on being able to add categories and better status updates!
Thanks Google!

 

[Mike Wilton]

I played with this on our company listing and I REALLY like it. I actually have a bit of hope for G+ Local if they can keep this up and fix all the issues. I find it interesting though that you can't choose any custom categories. You can only choose from a select set of categories that they provide.

 

[Linda Buquet]

Thanks Mike, I have not had time to try to play with it yet. Interesting about the custom cats, but I had a feeling she was moving in that direction.

 

[DJLocal]

I have to agree, this is definitely a step in the right direction. I like the managements look and layout but I hope Google continues to develop it. I am nervous this is the only update that we are going to see for a while.

 

[Andrew Sawyer]

Thanks Mike, I have not had time to try to play with it yet. Interesting about the custom cats, but I had a feeling she was moving in that direction.

It makes sense since custom cats are not allowed in GMM. Seems short-sided to allow custom cats on one side of the house but not the other. A lot of the time business owners and others were just using them as keywords to hopefully rank better instead of distilling what the business "is." Hopefully now there will be more pressure to have a better list of cats.

I'm crossing my finger that the categories sync between GMM and G+.

 

[Linda Buquet]

Yes there's lots of buzz about the lack of custom categories.

Here's a post Mike did with a good discussion starting:

Google+ Local Categories Inadequate for the Job

 

[Andrew Sawyer]

Yes there's lots of buzz about the lack of custom categories.

Here's a post Mike did with a good discussion starting:

Google+ Local Categories Inadequate for the Job

Just finished reading and I generally agree with Mike, but his example about Engagement Ring Merchant with a screen shot didn't win me over. What jewler doesn't have engagement rings?

 

[Cleaner44]

Did you notice that the Google+ pages had new features today?

It appears to me that Google finally began the replacement of the Google Places dashboard. The Google+ page allows categories and even helps you create custom categories by giving examples.

It also seems that they force verification with a PIN which would seem to push non brick and mortar businesses away from the + page for now.

This seems to be a big step toward an improved dashboard... I hope anyway.

 

[Linda Buquet]

Re: Did you notice that the Google+ pages had new features today?

Thanks for posting. We have a discussion already started about it so I'm going to merge your post into that one to keep everything together.

 

[Cleaner44]

Re: Did you notice that the Google+ pages had new features today?

Thanks for posting. We have a discussion already started about it so I'm going to merge your post into that one to keep everything together.

Thanks Linda. I looked for an existing thread but failed to find it. I will need to do a better job of searching next time.

Exciting times!

 

[Linda Buquet]

No worries! So much info here, it's hard to find existing posts.

But FYI on major Google updates, I always put them in this section of the forum.
"Google+ Local IMPORTANT"

 

[Chase Billow]

Thanks for staying on top of things, Linda!