Google Rewards Mobile Friendly Websites

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Today, April 21st 2015 Google released big changes to its search algorithm by giving mobile-friendly websites an increased ranking. This isn’t breaking news as Google announced back in February that this change would be taking affect with more and more users going mobile it only makes sense to give the users a more user friendly mobile experience.

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#OnTheMap – Let’s Put Our Cities on the Map with Google – We’re an Official Partner

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Local 360 is happy to announce that we’ve been welcomed as an official partner of Google’s Let’s Put Our Cities on the Map #OnTheMap.

We’re here to help get small businesses online, and manage their information so more customers can find them. When we put small businesses on the map, we help people find, share, and connect with the people and places they love, strengthening our community.

Our services offered through this program are free, and we welcome your community to take advantage of them. If you have a local organization like a chamber of commerce, municipality, neighborhood association, downtown association, etc, we’d be glad to meet with you and share our specialized service and expertise.

Let’s put our cities on the map!

Read more on Google’s Official Blog

Google’s Magic Leap Video

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Google invested over half a billion dollars in a virtual reality company called Magic Leap. This recently released video may explain why:

Post by The Week UK.

90% of local people search for this “on the go”?

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It seems like everyone is “on the go” these days. I thought for a moment it was because gas prices were below $2.00 per gallon here in Fargo, ND and everyone just got their tax return back. Ok, maybe that’s somewhat true..but, with all the new gadgets and mobile devices, most people enjoy being on the go because technology keeps them aware of what is going on at all hours of the day. So how does this impact consumer purchases and what can local businesses do to market to this growing trend?

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In a recent consumer data study from a research firm (sponsored by google) over 4,500 online consumers took a survey across nine categories:

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  1. Local Services
  2. Restaurant
  3. Automotive
  4. CPG
  5. Media & Entertainment
  6. Finance
  7. Retail
  8. Technology
  9. Travel

 

The survey found that nearly 90% of local people using smartphones and 84% of tablet owners searched local businesses for hours, directions, address and the businesses products and services.

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The study also discovered that the consumers searched for local business information throughout the entire 4-step purchase process.

  1. INSPIRATION: When you realized you wanted or needed to make the purchase.
  2. RESEARCH: When you actively looked or researched your purchase.
  3. PURCHASE: When you purchased your product or service.
  4. POST-PURCHASE: After you purchased your product or service.

 

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Another interesting point that the survey found, conversions after a local search were 2X as likely vs. a non-local search, plus over 50% of the smartphone searchers visited an offline store following the search within 24 hours. Read more

One of the most important steps for any business owner is to make sure your business information is complete and 100% accurate on all Google networks (see Google guidelines).

Want help? Call 701-540-5922 or email the “Local 360” team in your area at [email protected].

 

 

Explore inside ‘The Colbert Report’ with Google

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The funny, hilarious and always entertaining Stephen Colbert will host the last episode of “The Colbert Report,” tonight.

For those fans who are unable to make tonight’s show or have always wished to make it to a show, you can finally take a friendly 360 degree interactive virtual tour around the entire set, thanks to Google Maps Street View | Trusted. Click around, look up, look down, zoom in on Stephen’s desk. You’ll have the best seat in the audience. If you have dreamed of hosting “The Colbert Report” take a view from behind the desk and host your own ‘Report.’

I know we’re are all sad to think that tonight’s show will be the last, but rest good tonight knowing that you can relive your favorites moments thanks to Google’s Street View Technology. As Dr. Seuss said best, “Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened.”

Be sure to tune in to Comedy Central tonight at 10:30PM CST.  Invite and attract customers inside your local business and increase your rankings and visibility on Google. Email us at [email protected] or call 800-358-0101.

Read more at businessinsider.com

 

Inside Google’s Secret Drone-Delivery Program

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A man named Neil Parfitt is standing in a field on a cattle ranch outside Warwick, Australia. A white vehicle appears above the trees, a tiny plane a bit bigger than a seagull. It glides towards Parfitt, pitches upwards to a vertical position, and hovers near him, a couple hundred feet in the air. From its belly, a package comes tumbling downward, connected by a thin line to the vehicle itself. Right before the delivery hits the ground, it slows, hitting the earth with a tap. The delivery slows, almost imperceptibly, just before it hits the ground, hardly kicking up any dust. A small rectangular module on the end of the line detaches the payload, and ascends back up the vehicle, locking into place beneath the nose. As the wing returns to flying posture and zips back to its launch point half a mile away, Parfitt walks over to the package, opens it up, and extracts some treats for his dogs.

The Australian test flight and 30 others like it conducted in mid-August are the culmination of the first phase of Project Wing, a secret drone program that’s been running for two years at Google X, the company’s whoa-inducing, long-range research lab.

Video: Project Wing

Read more at theatlantic.com

How to Earn Links with Google’s New Business Photos

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If you’ve ever used Google’s Street View technology and been surprised by the alien relaxing by the side of the road or the two-legged white cat casually strolling down the avenue, you know what kind of fun you might have now that the same technology is available for business use. And we decided that’s exactly what we were going to do.

First of all we had to hire a trusted Google photographer or agency. Then when we knew what date they were coming we staged our offices to provide puzzle’s, objects, images and other creative gimmicks. By carefully planning our virtual tour, we created something that feels more like a virtual reality game, than a boring photo shoot, and that will also add excitement to our social media campaigns.

Read more at searchenginejournal.com

Inside Google’s Big Plan to Race Amazon to Your Door

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Though Google over the years had experimented with letting consumers buy goods with the help of services such as Google Wallet and Google Checkout, it accelerated this strategy in 2013 with Shopping Express. The service lets shoppers buy things from local retail stores through Google, which then delivers them to consumers from the physical retail store on the same or next day.

“You can very much expect that we are putting a lot of money into this and we’re excited and willing to sustain that investment over time as this gets going,” said Tom Fallows, head of Google Shopping Express.

Read more at recode.net

Google Business Photos May Correlate With Higher Local Search Ranking

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Up until now, when a client asked if Google Business Photos had any influence on their search rankings, I just kind of mumbled something to the effect of, “Usually when Google rolls out a new service, the companies that adopt the new technology do better in search rankings. And it can’t hurt, so yes, let’s try it out.” But do Google Business Photos help with local search rankings? Google’s been mum, and I haven’t been able to find any research on the matter. So I decided to test if there was a correlation between adoption of Google Business Photos and local search rankings.

We found that (for the most part), sites that ranked the highest in local search had also adopted Google Business Photos.

Read more at moz.com

Google Street View moves inside businesses

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Google’s Street View panoramic images of streets are moving indoors. The search engine is now posting panoramic views of the interiors of businesses.

You probably remember when Google sent vans to drive through every street around town, taking pictures of the outside of businesses and homes. Now you’ll be able to see inside some businesses with the same panoramic technology.

Read more at nbc12.com