{"id":104864,"date":"2020-12-10T19:17:00","date_gmt":"2020-12-11T00:17:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dacgroup.com\/2021-predictions-3-ways-local-listings-will-evolve-next-year-2\/"},"modified":"2024-12-19T16:43:45","modified_gmt":"2024-12-19T21:43:45","slug":"2021-predictions-3-ways-local-listings-will-evolve-next-year-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dacgroup.com\/en-gb\/insights\/blog\/local-search\/2021-predictions-3-ways-local-listings-will-evolve-next-year-2\/","title":{"rendered":"2021 predictions: 3 ways local listings will evolve next year"},"content":{"rendered":"

You don’t need us to tell you that the year 2020 will go down as one of the most disruptive on record. Yet, despite the disruption and disorder, there was significant progress made in a huge number of fields, disciplines, and industries\u2014and particularly in digital marketing.<\/p>\n

Brands the world over have been forced to accelerate their digitisation, bringing forward digital roadmaps by several years. But our subject matter experts have been anticipating these developments all along. For them, 2021 is now in clearer focus because<\/em> of the chaos of the last year, not despite it.<\/p>\n

In the first installment of our seven-part predictions series (all of which are available right now<\/a> if you just can’t wait), we reveal how local listings will assume an even more significant role in customer journeys over the next 12 months and more.<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. \n

    Google attributes will be crowdsourced<\/h2>\n

    Attributes and amenity information once only existed within the hospitality vertical in Google My Business (GMB)<\/a>, but the pandemic saw Google attributes become a minimum requirement for GMB listings to function properly. Starting with restaurants needing to make it abundantly clear if they offered takeout and delivery, attributes expanded throughout 2020 to cover a multitude of business offerings in every business category.<\/p>\n

    Every business worth its salt now includes attributes on their business listings to inform users about fundamental business aspects, such as online or in-person services. Others have taken it a step further and have provided auxiliary information about their business, such as wheelchair accessibility, dietary options, and female or veteran leadership and ownership.<\/p>\n

    \"Google<\/p>\n

    In other words, attributes have become commonplace either as a requisite for a listing’s completeness or as additional content to further improve user experiences. With their prominent position on a business’s listings and knowledge panel, users now expect to see attributes. Listings that still haven’t adopted them look neglected next to their competitors.<\/p>\n

    In 2021, incomplete listings will have attributes assigned to them via crowdsourced data<\/strong>. Google can already populate addresses, phone numbers, and websites without any verification from the business owner, and attributes are next on the list.<\/p>\n

    Attributes have shown themselves to be a useful, practical feature, and Google will force their use when business owners fail to implement them. Critically, attributes will become a major factor in local SEO<\/a>\u2014matching a business with a user’s query\u2014so all business owners will need to include attributes on their listings to remain competitive. Just remember that automatic assignment of attributes will inevitably lead to some undesirable inaccuracies; your best bet is to manage them directly.<\/li>\n

  2. \n

    Google reviews will gain functionality (and prominence)<\/h2>\n

    From adding a review carousel to a new “Get more reviews” button on the local knowledge panel, Google strongly emphasised its reviews in 2020. In previous years, the search giant was happy for users to rate businesses on a basic five-star scale, but now heavily emphasises review content. Why? Because users can now search a business’s reviews by key terms and, more importantly, Google results now include review content when matching searches to businesses.<\/p>\n

    \"'Get<\/p>\n

    Google is attempting to increase its market share in the review space and, more specifically, is trying to poach users from sites like Yelp and Trip Advisor. That’s why it’s copying many of Yelp’s more robust review features to encourage the kind of reliable, content-rich reviews users prefer (which it can mine to auto-assign attributes, as explained above). Google is even now suggesting that users follow “local guides”, who have in turn been encouraged to leave more reviews of their own.<\/p>\n

    By increasing the quality and scope of their reviews, Google is hoping that users will look at more than just the star rating of businesses\u2014and come to see Google as the de facto<\/em> source of reliable information for users in the consideration stage.<\/li>\n

    \n \n
    \n
    \n

    \n Stay Forward <\/h2>\n

    \n Get exclusive insights into digital
    media's top-trending topics delivered
    directly to your inbox. <\/p>\n <\/div>\n\n

    \n
    \n
    \n
    \n \n