It may have felt like a normal year, but the arrival of Google My Business updates left quite an impact on the digital world. There were a plethora of updates and features launched last year to help businesses connect with customers. Google My Business product development team introduced changes that will help businesses grow, especially in the local landscape.
We have enlisted all the updates and features added to Google My Business and here is a blog post that summarizes all those changes. So, take a look at the list of all the updates Google rolled in 2019. This list will help you analyze your GMB and it will also help you improve local customer engagement. Let’s begin!
Attributes
You can add a list of attributes under the information section on Google My Business page. Business owners through this update have the opportunity to highlight specific services or features and other unique qualities. This is another way to stand out to customers and make them feel welcomed.
Not only this but this feature also allows the customer to seek quality-driven services. Using this feature you can highlight features like wi-fi availability, accessible amenities, parking, online-scheduling, and other business features. All these features if mentioned will also help you stand out from your competitors.
Also, you can mention if your business caters to the needs of physically challenged people or if your business is women-oriented. Eventually, all these attributes will help you better connect with your customers. They will know exactly what you offer and how does your business work and what kind of services your customer can expect from you. However, the attributes will vary from business to business. So, provide information that is relevant to your business.
Products
Google added this feature to help businesses add their products to GMB. This feature allowed them to catalog their products in an orderly fashion. It is also a great way to increase customer engagement. If you have your products displayed under the product feature, your potential customers will have a clear idea of what you have to offer. Users can scroll through the images of the products you wish to display. Not only this but each product will also offer detailed descriptions like price, special features, and similar products.
The product page is also an opportunity to connect to the concerned page on the website. Products can be grouped into collection allowing businesses to categorize the products as they seem fit. This also another way to strengthen your Google My Business Listing. The highlighted products will appear above the products section making your profile strong.
Social Media Profiles
Google has been wary of adding social media profiles to Google My Business. However, it looks like this feature is here to stay. If you scroll to the very end of the page you will find that you have the opportunity to add all your social media handles. This feature is located right beneath the knowledge panel with enough space to add Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin, YouTube, Pinterest, Tumblr, etc.
The process of adding these profiles is not that simple but with a few codes, you will be able to inform Google about the social media pages associated with your business. For that, you need a structured data markup helper and you can generate codes without any complication.
Also, it is vital to note that generating code is not rocket science and this process is as simple as copy-pasting a URL. So, make sure you complete your GMB profile by adding the social media handles associated with your business.
Google Marketing Kit
The Google Marketing Kit is designed to help you show what your customers think about your business. You can use this feature to enhance the authenticity and trust of your business. In fact, Google gives preferences to businesses with higher positive reviews. So, if you have excellent customer reviews ensure you take advantage of this update.
Google Marketing Kit allows you to showcase excellent reviews given by customers on GMB. You can use this kit and present your good reviews on other platforms. You can also create social posts, custom posts, videos of five strat reviews. Interestingly, this kit also offers business owners free stickers allowing increased customer engagement. This way you can easily invite customers to follow, book, review, or link on the Google My Business page.
Welcome offers
This feature is quite new and is often used by business owners who utilize Google My Business app. In other words, if you use GMB app you can easily create exclusive welcome offers. These offers are one of the best ways to incentivize users and new customers to come and join the business. A good offer can work in your favor and the more offers you present the better chances you have at selling a product or your services in general.
Service Area Business
It was difficult for Google to establish businesses with no physical location. So, to deal with service area businesses (SAB) Google introduced a brand new sign-up flow that helps businesses mark their presence. This new sign up flow system allows the business owners to enter details like location and business type. With the help of this feature business owners can establish their identity alongside other businesses.
All you have to do is answer the question if you have a store, office or not? If the answer is no, then Google will lead you down the SAB path. After answering a few questions you will be able to establish a complete online presence. However, make sure that you fill all the concerned fields properly.
The process of SAB evaluation is still underway and there is a need to make the most out of this feature. This is why Google has been focusing on improving this feature. In fact, in November, last year, Google eliminated radius-based service areas and replaced them with specific cities postal codes. This way all types of business owners can list themselves locally.
Videos and Photos
Videos and photos are an integral part of Google My Business. But in 2019 Google came with a major update. According to this update, business owners were allowed to take more control over their photos and videos. Business owners can choose the cover photo and logo highlighted above GMB listing. Not only this but you can also add additional photos and videos related to your business.
It is also noteworthy that earlier the logo was showcased right above the listing. However, now, this feature allows logos to appear in the search results and Google Maps. This is a great way to increase and improve the branding of businesses.
Online reservations and appointments
With features like ‘appointment’ Google provides the opportunity to add a second link to your website. This link is known as the appointment URL and its purpose is to direct users to your website. With the help of this URL, people can make direct appointments.
Additionally, this feature was created to schedule direct appointments, or place an order, or contact you for the required information. This helps users save time and minimizes the process of navigation. User-experience is enhanced with the help of this feature and they get quicker appointments and reservations.
The above-mentioned updates have a great impact on SEO. On the other hand, Google is continuously using machine learning to enhance the overall performance of GMB listings. Also, it is making the local mobile searches more evident and visual. With all the updates and changes in GMB features, you have a greater chance of improving your SEO game. So, we hope this list of last year’s updates will help you improve your rands online presence.
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