September 1, 2017 | Written by: Jeremy Beckett Share this right now:Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)MoreClick to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window)Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)Click to share on Telegram (Opens in new window)Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window)Click to share on Skype (Opens in new window)Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)Click to print (Opens in new window) What’s this about? 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 Google Local NEW Q&A Feature Now Live 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: Log into Google My Business to check if you have any burning questions waiting to be answered. Answer the questions, or mark the answers provided by the public as being useful. Consider questions asked as indicating missing content, either in your GMB listing, or on your website. Create content which directly answers these questions. 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 The State of SEO Mid-2017 Released We recently released the super-exciting The State of SEO in mid-2017. Read it now. Return to Top TL;DR 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 Related Share this right now:Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)MoreClick to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window)Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)Click to share on Telegram (Opens in new window)Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window)Click to share on Skype (Opens in new window)Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)Click to print (Opens in new window) Post navigation ←Previous: Google Testing New Subscription Options for Publishers Next: AMP Ads Get Even Faster →