Various Google properties are essential for SEO work. These tools include Google My Business, Google Search Console and Google Analytics. The evolution of applications like these has been interesting to follow and when one has a major change it causes quite a stir. Recently, Google have confirmed the renaming of Google My Business to Google Business Profile which will come into effect in 2022. The Google My Business console is important for managing business listings within Google and a critical component for local SEO. In the near future, Google plan to retire the Google My Business app and integrate aspects within Google Search and Google Maps – we’ve seen something similar with other Google owned products such as Android Auto features moving into Google Maps too.
Google My Business hasn’t always been known by this name and the change isn’t a concern for SEO specialists. Many people working in the digital marketing industry will remember the names “Google Places”, “Google+ Local” and maybe even just “Google Local”, all of which are previous iterations of the name and brand.
Previous naming and branding of Google’s local business management tool
For a long while, Google have enabled management of local business listing directly within the search interface. In fact, this functionality has been around for several years with several updates and changes over this period. If you’re logged in and have the correct permissions, you have options in line with your local property to make edits or post updates. Similar options are also available within Google Maps. Plans for the current Google My Business interface lean towards businesses with multiple locations and Google will encourage smaller, single location businesses to use the tools within Search and Maps. In the coming months, Google My Business will be rebranded as “Google Business Profile”.
SEO managers don’t need to panic as a similar Google My Business tool will still be available, offering the same functionality to manage multiple listings. If you’re carrying out SEO work across a number of clients, having all the properties in one place and retaining the ease-of-use of the dashboard is very useful. New functionality for local business is on the horizon too, including web chat and direct calls.
Google My Business profiles provide a lot of information used by Google for local search results. If you have any questions about these changes or are concerned about your rankings, please give us a call.