Years ago, a simple website could be enough to do the job for your business on the internet. It's not in that way any longer. Facebook, Google+, Twitter, Pinterest, Blogs, Instagram, and much more are behind this drastic change.

Depending of the nature of your business, your business should be on Pinterest or not, should be on Twitter or not. If you provide a service (Ex: accounting) you won't probably need Pinterest or Instagram. But every single business, beside to their own website, needs a business page on Google+. Why? I will explain below...

Let's concentrate on the most popular search engine: Google.



Google controls the 68.69% of the Desktop Search Engine Market Share, and the 91.92% of the Mobile Search Engine Market Share (https://www.netmarketshare.com). A little bit of history... Google+ Pages was launched on November 7, 2011 to all users, which allows businesses to connect with fans. It allows entities which are not individuals (such as organizations, companies, and publications) to set up profiles of their businesses. On May 30, 2012, Google Places was replaced by Google+ Local, which now integrates directly with the Google+ service to allow users to post photos and reviews of locations directly to its page on the service. Additionally, Google+ Local and Maps also now feature detailed reviews and ratings from Zagat, who was acquired by Google in September 2011. On June 11, 2014, Google combined Google Places and Google+ Local Business Pages with the Google My Business product. The product uses the interface of Google+ but has many more features including insights and analytics.
(wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google)

Google+ Local, which used to be known as Google Places, is a free online platform that Google provides. It has two purposes – to help business owners increase their online visibility and to help people find, engage with, and review businesses in their local area. Google+ Local pages are for businesses that serve customers primarily in their local area.

A Google+ local page contains the following:

- The business’s name, address and phone number.
- A description of the business.
- The business’s location on a map.
- The business’s opening hours.
- A link to the business’s website.
- Photos and videos related to the business.
- Reviews of the business left by previous customers.
- A rating out of 5 for the business (based on scores given by previous customers).

When we search on Google, we get 2 different types of results: the organic search results (related to the relevance of the search terms), and the Google+ business pages related to the search terms if we search by geographical area.

 
If we search using the business name, then the top right corner of the Google search results page will be populated with the information from the Google+ local page of the business.



To put it simple, if you don't have a website, then the organic results won't point to your business unless a third party has written about it. And if you are not taking care of your Google+ business page, then a potential customer could just walk away from your business. Do you want to know how well the local businesses are in this topic? Let's take a look to the top 5 local establishments in different categories:

HOTELS

- Four Points by Sheraton Kelowna Airport
They added pictures, and a Google Tour to their business page, but they didn't verified the business with Google. The description is poor, no customization at all, last review is from 11 months ago. 0 Videos, 0 posts. The Google+ business page doesn't represent the business.
Link to their Google+ page: https://plus.google.com/114179647937582696829

- BEST WESTERN PLUS Kelowna Hotel & Suites
They added pictures, and a Google Tour was added to their business page, but they didn't verified the business with Google. The description is poor, no customization at all, last review is from 5 months ago. 0 Videos, 0 posts. The Google+ business page doesn't represent the business.
Link to their Google+ page: https://plus.google.com/108436618005627205778



- Hotel Eldorado
They added pictures to their business page, and the business was verified by Google. The description is poor, no customization at all, last review is from 1 year ago. 0 Videos, 0 posts. The Google+ business page doesn't represent the business.
Link to their Google+ page: https://plus.google.com/102715565691219046136
The page has been seen 651,104 times, what could be the impression of those visitors in front of an almost empty page?



- Delta Grand Okanagan Resort & Conference Centre
They added pictures to their business page, but they didn't verified the business with Google. No description, no customization at all, last review is from 1 month ago. 0 Videos, 0 posts. The Google+ business page doesn't represent the business.
Link to their Google+ page: https://plus.google.com/102659922400530773205



- Comfort Suites Kelowna
They added pictures to their business page, a Google tour was added, and the business was verified by Google. The description can be improved, a customized banner is on top of the page, last review is from 6 moths ago. 0 Videos, 0 posts. The Google+ business page represents the business.
Link to their Google+ page: https://plus.google.com/+Comfortsuiteskelowna
The page has been seen 190,298 times.



RESTAURANTS

- Little Hobo Soup & Sandwich
They are not showing pictures, and they didn't verified the business with Google. The description is poor, no customization at all, last review is from 1 year ago. 0 Videos, 0 posts. The Google+ business page doesn't represent the business.
Link to their Google+ page: https://plus.google.com/104549894643786075588



- Bouchons Bistro
They added pictures to their business page, a Google tour was added, and the business was verified by Google. The description can be improved, top banner not customized, last review is from 4 moths ago. 0 Videos, 0 posts. The Google+ business page doesn't represent the business.
Link to their Google+ page: https://plus.google.com/116631358949475600507
The page has been seen 217,780 times.



- Raudz Regional Table
Only a couple of pictures, and they didn't verified the business with Google. There is no description, no customization at all, last review is from 1 week ago. 0 Videos, 0 posts. The Google+ business page doesn't represent the business.
Link to their Google+ page: https://plus.google.com/109739085720229546535



- The Fixx Pasta Bar and Cafe
Some pictures but a dish is not shown, and they didn't verified the business with Google. There is no description, no customization at all, last review is from 2 months ago. 0 Videos, 0 posts. The Google+ business page doesn't represent the business.
Link to their Google+ page: https://plus.google.com/104538523915301942032



- Giobean Espresso
They are not showing pictures, and they didn't verified the business with Google. There is no description, no customization at all, last review is from 11 months ago. 0 Videos, 0 posts. The Google+ business page doesn't represent the business.
Link to their Google+ page: https://plus.google.com/106036670878059060141




ATTRACTIONS

- Safari Ridge Adventure Park
They added pictures to their business page, and the business was verified by Google. The description can be improved, top banner customized, last review is from 1 year ago. 0 Videos, they start to be active with posts. The Google+ business page represents the business.
Link to their Google+ page: https://plus.google.com/101979879922621405259
The page has been seen 59,273 times.



- Energyplex
They added pictures to their business page, and the business was verified by Google. The description can be improved, top banner not customized, last review is from 10 months ago. 0 Videos, only one post. The Google+ business page doesn't represent the business.
Link to their Google+ page: https://plus.google.com/103825547366985369116
The page has been seen 59,114 times.



- Big White
They don't have pictures, and the business has not been verified with Google. There is no description, top banner not customized, 0 reviews. 0 Videos, 0 posts. The Google+ business page doesn't represent the business.
Link to their Google+ page: https://plus.google.com/102393237919519539922



- Scandia Golf & Games
They have pictures, they included a Google tour, but the business has not been verified with Google. There is no description, top banner not customized, 0 reviews. 0 Videos, 0 posts. The Google+ business page doesn't represent the business.
Link to their Google+ page: https://plus.google.com/108931376152331382572



- Planet Lazer
They don't have pictures, they added a Google tour, and the business was verified by Google. The description can be improved, top banner not customized, last review is from 1 year ago. 0 Videos, 0 posts. The Google+ business page doesn't represent the business.
Link to their Google+ page: https://plus.google.com/100806485124283632606
The page has been seen 43,706 times.



A high percentage of local businesses are not using their Google+ page at all. Let me tell you a secret, you can use it to increase your website traffic, you can use it to attract and even convert leads in your Inbound Marketing strategy, and you can use Google+ circles and communities to their maximum potential and create real connections, as well as promote your business. Why are they missing all these possibilities? Could it be the lack of knowledge? Resources? Time? I can even justify small businesses where the owner is running the establishment, dealing with customers and sales, answering the phone, etc., but for companies with a marketing department, what is the excuse?

BEST WESTERN PLUS Wine Country Hotel & Suites is an example of a local business doing a great use of their Google+ page: https://plus.google.com/+Bestwesternwinecountry



Do you need more reasons that your business should not just be aware of the platform, but should be actively embracing it?

- Access To More People
In terms of connecting businesses with people at the exact time when they’re looking for a particular service in their area, nothing comes close to the reach of Google, which is the default starting point for most people searching online for information.

- Better Presence In Search Results
Google+ Local pages are normally listed above the standard search results which means that the businesses listed there have a greater presence and get more attention. It’s also possible to be listed in both Google’s local business listings and within the standard search results, which means two 1st page listings instead of one.

- Gain Trust With Customers
To people searching on Google, the verification process and unbiased rating/review system used for Google+ Local pages makes them more trustworthy than business websites, and rightly so, as Google makes it very difficult for unscrupulous businesses to attain good rankings in their local search results.

- Meet Mobile User Expectations
Unlike most business websites, Google+ Local pages, and even the local business listings themselves, are completely optimized for…

Feel free to ask anything. I hope this has been a good source of information to put your business in the right track.

Articles used as reference:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google
http://www.forbes.com/sites/ciocentral/2012/03/02/three-reasons-you-should-use-google-in-your-business/
http://www.seomark.co.uk/google-local-uk/
http://www.rebeccawardlow.com/6-reasons-to-create-a-google-business-page/
http://www.bizjournals.com/bizjournals/how-to/marketing/2013/10/how-to-use-google-to-grow-your-business.html?page=all
http://www.business2community.com/google-plus/using-google-grow-business-0835256#!49P28