October 16, 2018

Staying Relevant in Google

No More Google Plus..

On October 8th 2018, Google announced their recent decision to shut down Google+, the internet social media platform owned and operated by Google. The reasoning Google provided for the decision was largely based on in

activity of the platform and security issues. Google stated “that 90 percent of G+ users sessions are less than five seconds”. The search engine giant will implement this change over the next 10 months, proving enough time for transitions. However, staying relevant with Google remains of greatest importance. Google My Business is now offering new cutting-edge features that can help boost SEO, online presence, and brand awareness. The first businesses to take advantage of these features have a chance for a competitive edge over other storage facilities.

New Google My Business Features

Announcing events, promotions, or storage tips are excellent post ideas for any storage facility. These posts are displayed on your knowledge graph in search engine results pages and in map results. In other words, these posts can help your facility establish a more decorated knowledge graph, which will help increase attention to your website listing. Google posts remain active for seven days and are displayed prominently on the knowledge graph. A case study from Search Engine Land displayed that using Google Posts can help to increase your organic and local rankings.

A post can contain up to 300 characters, however, only the first 100 characters will display in the knowledge graph. A short, sweet, and to the point post will most likely draw in more online traffic. Keep your audience even more engaged by

adding a call-to-action tab in your post. Google My Business provides you the following options for call-to-actions:

  • Book (link to your online rental tool)
  • Order Online (link to online rental tool or contact form)
  • Buy
  • Learn More (link to your facility’s blog page, unit page, contact page, or even a feature page)/li>
  • Sign Up (link to your storage auction page or any other events you have coming up on your website)
  • Get Offer (link to a coupon on your website or contact us page)
  • Call Now (links directly to your facility phone number)

Call-to-Action buttons are crucial for website engagement and tenant involvement. According to Marketing Land, your conversions, revenue, business, and profit depend on the power of your CTAs. Google posts help you with all of the above!

More Enhanced Google My Business Features

Google My Business now allows customers to ask questions directly from your Google knowledge graph in the search engine results pages. With today’s on-the-go lifestyle, answering questions from potential tenants quickly is imperative. The Google My Business homepage itself acknowledges the importance of responding to online reviews and questions. Google is taking this new feature very seriously, likely lowering rankings due to lack of responses.

Google treasures user-generated content as it evokes social proof. Social proof is the tendency to see an action as more appropriate if others have successfully completed the same action  (ie: purchasing a storage unit). User-generated content helps boost your trust with Google, leading to higher conversion rates. Also, user-generated content naturally shapes basic SEO attributes and helps your website rank for long-tail keywords. A long-tail keyword is a keyword that consists of two or more words. These keywords are more specific and often less competitive than generic keyword terms, giving your storage facility more opportunity to match generic user search term results.

Google My Business Elite – Your Solution

To keep up with Google’s ever changing digital landscape, The Storage Group now offers Google My Business Elite. A Google My Business listing is essential for your local rankings. It allows your facility to be easily found within local search results. Google has continued to be the leading search engine platform for quite some time. This package encourages a continued relationship with Google. Google My Business Elite includes a full setup with 10 FAQ’s and a complete Google My Business profile. This specialized bundle includes a weekly post on your Google My Business page and image additions to your listing upon facility submission. Facilities can promote any specials, storage auctions, events, products, tips, and more. This is the newest way to create new and fresh content directly on Google. These features can increase engagement and reach local tenants in a more direct way. Your chance to get ahead of the digital game is now.

Contact Jill Baker, Director of Sales, for more information.
jbaker@storagegroupinc.com
(407) 392-2328 x113