We all know that Google Places listings are important because we use them in our everyday lives all the time.
50% of those using local search will visit the store within a day (and those are Google’s 2014 figures).
So what can businesses do, very simply, to improve local search?
The evolution of the gambling industry has always been intrinsically linked to the diversification of its channels.
From the racecourse, to telephone betting, retail shops, online and now mobile, industry players have faced the need to adapt each time a new channel has presented itself.
A major consideration for any customer-facing business is how to use technology to create meaningful and positive customer experiences.
How can a brand use the data it has captured to help build memorable and personal relationships at every stage of the customer journey?
Google+ is an interesting conundrum as many people feel obliged to use it in the face of any logic and just because “it’s Google”.
We’re all sitting around expecting that one day Google will unveil its true purpose and all the effort will have been worthwhile, but at the moment I feel that blind optimism is one of the only things keeping it going.
Admittedly the latest updates have improved the usability somewhat and Hangouts are certainly an interesting feature, but in the face of the sheer amount of time spent on Facebook and Twitter’s increasingly important role as a news platform it does seem that G+ is floundering while trying to work out what purpose it actually serves.
Normal users don’t need to fret about this problem and can wait for Google to lure them in with a killer new feature, however for brands it raises a bit of a dilemma.
The UK’s online gambling sector was worth more than £2bn in 2012 and bookies have been quick to adapt to the digital world to make sure they are maximising their market share.
For example, most of the major bookmakers have smartphone apps and Paddy Power has come up with some excellent viral ads to help raise its profile.
It’s an industry we’ve touched on previously, with stats showing the Irish betting shop is the top performing brand on social networks while Coral proved to have the most user-friendly website.
And with this in mind, I thought it would be interesting to take a closer look at how William Hill uses the four main social networks.