Google+ has become almost a requirement for small businesses.  Google has put a heavy emphasis on these pages in their SERP (Search Engine Results Page). If you’re doing Search Engine Optimization properly, your official website (www.yourbusiness.com) will often be shown on the results page, but using Google+ will impact your company’s SEO as Google is now showing geo-targeted results for search terms near the top of the SERP.  Also, Google has discontinued Google Places and replaced it with

Google+Local. If you previously had a Google Places account, you’ll want to log in to Google+ to convert your former Places page to the proper Google+ Local format.

Google+Local has also made reviews and ratings a more central part of the search experience. Zagat reviews are now freely available and fully integrated into business listings.  Gone are the Google star rankings, and replacing it is Zagat’s 30-point scale.

Here are some areas to help you with your Google+ optimization:

Add the Plus 1 Button to your web Page - +1s a particular page receives determines how well it will rank in search.  This will also make it easy for people to share your blog posts.

Put your updates in your Google+ which will show up in search results - This is helpful for both personal profiles and brand pages.  Your profile and specific status updates that are relevant to searches will appear.  Don’t forget to add keywords to your updates to help your score.

Personalized Search – This is an interesting twist.  Google search can include personal and regular results.  The personal will come from your social media presence.  If you build up your Google+ following, your content may be shared with your followers and show up in their searches.  Check out Search Plus Your World.

Get your Pages and Profiles found in Search Results - Just like any good SEO methodology, keep updating your Google+ business page by optimizing your keywords.

Essentially, Google+Local puts businesses and potential customers in even closer contact and adds a social element to business search results and your marketing internet strategy that weren’t previously available.

How will you use this new format to better promote your business?