Google Local NEW Q&A Feature Now Live

This is an extract from TWIS SEO News & Updates 25 August 2017.

Read about the new Google Local Q&A feature that’s just gone live and tips on how to deal with questions and provide answers.

Click here to contact me to discuss creating, managing and optimising Google My Business listings and managing the new Q&A features.

#SEO #SEONews #GoogleMyBusiness #LocalSEO #GoogleLocal #SERP

Summary – Google Local Questions & Answers:

• Following a bit of testing,the Google My Business team have now released the new Q&A Feature to all mobile search results which generate local listings.
• The Q&A section becomes evident once you click into the Google My Business listing.
• You can submit a question publicly, and the company / general public can answer it.
• This type of crowd-sourced information has a history of being spammed, or gamed, or just wildly inaccurate.
• Like reviews, it doesn’t look like you can remove or edit questions and answers which are not relevant or incorrect.

Actions to take – Google Local Questions & Answers:

1. Log into Google My Business to check if you have any burning questions waiting to be answered.
2. Answer the questions, or mark the answers provided by the public as being useful.
3. Consider questions asked as indicating missing content, either in your GMB listing, or on your website.
4. Create content which directly answers these questions.
5. Click here to contact me to discuss creating, managing and optimising Google My Business listings and managing the new Q&A features..

Discussion – Google Local Questions & Answers:

I can see exactly why Google is releasing this crowd-sourced Q&A feature: it is trying to garner information which is not available on the web, or in the businesses Google My Business listing.

It is also doing this so it can improve its information for natural voice search and provide a response which doesn’t send the user to a website. (This hasn’t been seen yet, but it is a blindingly obvious next step).

The problem is that, somewhat like reviews, these things can be gamed, played with, or just be horrendously inaccurate, either through genuine error, or deliberate misdirection, usually from direct competitors. I am not convinced it will be a winner. There is just too much noise for it to be terrifically useful.

More info:

• Google My Business Q&A Announcements
• H/T SE Land

Return to Top

We recently released the super-exciting The State of SEO in mid-2017. Read it now.

Return to Top

• Google Local has a new Q&A feature.
• This will allow potential customers to ask questions and get answers from you or other customers.
• This can be used as a content generator for your listing, or for your site.
• Local Q&A could work well, or all go horribly wrong.
• Read The State of SEO in mid-2017.
• Read about how Google’s Mobile First Index is not Mobile Friendly.
• Finally, get your content ranking well on Google by starting to understand Find Crawl Index.

Thanks for reading. If you would like to discuss what these changes mean for your web property, or would like to know how to implement them, please feel free to contact me.

Return to Top