With more people looking to help and support small businesses, Google has announced new features as part of Google My Business in order to help SMBs weather the COVID storm.
Earlier in May, Google rolled out support links for businesses so they can post directly to business profiles in Google search results. This allows businesses to add donation links and links to purchase gift cards to their profiles. This links through to PayPal and GoFundMe for donations, with options for Square, Toast, Clover and Vagaro for gift cards.
Before this, Google had added the ability to include dining options and updated hours to business profiles so customers stay up-to-date.
You can now see which businesses are offering what services. For instance, with restaurants, you can see who is offering takeaway or otherwise. These are new attributes which appear in Google Search and Maps.
Let your customers know whether your food business offers takeaway, delivery, no-contact delivery, kerbside pick-up or has stopped providing eat-in service. Add or edit the ‘Eat-in’, ‘Takeaway’, ‘Delivery’, ‘No-contact delivery’ and ‘Kerbside pick-up’ attributes on Google My Business. Learn more about how you can edit attributes.
Tip: When customers search for your food business, your Business Profile will prominently show which dining options you currently support: ‘Eat-in’, ‘Takeaway’, ‘Delivery’ or ‘Kerbside pick-up’. Supported options will have a ‘✓’ and non-supported options will have an ‘x’. These options display prominently only after you update the ‘Eat-in’ attribute to True or False.
https://support.google.com/business/answer/9805441?hl=en-GB
Google has also spoken about introducing business attributes including online classes, online appointments or online estimates.
Google My Business also now allows secondary hours – an example includes store opening hours for specific demographics of people.
Transition to online services with ease
Merchants who normally provided in-person services are now pivoting to connect with their customers virtually—from yoga studios offering online classes to salons hosting virtual hair styling classes. We’re making it easier for customers to discover online classes and book virtual appointments with these new features:
https://www.blog.google/outreach-initiatives/small-business/new-tools-help-businesses-during-covid-19
Get discovered: Merchants who are verified on Google My Business will soon be able to add attributes like “online classes,” “online appointments,” or “online estimates” to their Business Profiles to let people know how they’re operating. Today merchants can add one of these attributes using Google My Business, and in the coming weeks it’ll be visible on merchants’ Business Profiles in Search and Maps.
Online service bookings directly on Google: We’re expanding Reserve with Google to help merchants offer easy appointment bookings for online services so customers can quickly find available times, book a slot, and add it to their Google Calendar—all directly from a merchant’s Business Profile. Millions of people have already booked in-person appointments with salons, restaurants and other businesses thanks to integrations from over 100 Reserve with Google partners. We’re now expanding this to include bookings for online services, starting with partners like Booksy, Regis, WellnessLiving, and Zooty. Merchants working with one of these partners can offer online bookings directly on Google and share details with customers about how to pay and join the meeting using their preferred video platform.
If you have any questions or need help updating your listing, get in touch for a chat with the Xanthos team.
