Google My Business debuts to help small businesses connect with customers via Search, Maps, and Google+

Google today launched Google My Business, a new free tool available at google.com/business. As its name implies, the tool allows small business to connect with their customers.

It does this by putting all Google services useful to businesses in one place:

• Update your business info on Search, Maps, and Google+ to make it easy for customers to get in touch.
• Add beautiful photos of your business and a virtual tour of your business interior to help customers see what makes your business unique.
• Connect directly with your fans and customers by sharing news, events, and other important updates from your Google+ page.
• Stay on top of reviews from across the Web, and respond to Google reviews.
• Understand how people find and interact with your business using custom insights and integration with AdWords Express.

Google is also planning to launch an accompanying Google My Business app for Android and iOS. This will allow businesses to manage their information on the go, although the company wouldn’t say when to expect a launch other than “soon.” Update: Google tells us the Android app will be launching later today; you can grab it now from Google Play.

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We do know, however, how it will look like on Android:

Google says it also in the process of upgrading current users of Places for Business and the Google+ Dashboard to Google My Business. The company has tried various offerings over the years to woo businesses, and this is simply the latest attempt to bring everything under one roof.

It’s certainly a proper pitch: if your business is online in any form, skipping out on Google Search is simply not a good idea. The other Google services are icing on the cake, so managing them from one place is a logical move.

See also – Google launches Google Partners, a program to give agencies Web resources, support, and training and Google promises Fiber for small businesses ‘in the future,’ but you can use the ISP if you work from home

Top Image Credit: Kimihiro Hoshino/Getty Images