Update Your Google Business Listing for the Covid-19 Recovery

In additon to your official business website your free Google My Business listing is also a critical source of information for consumers. Here are 3 steps to ensure you're sharing accurate and complete information:

Make sure your business is marked as “open”.

Many businesses were automatically marked as “temporarily closed” by Google throughout April and May. Check to make sure your listing is not marked as closed on Google in your GMB dashboard or by searching for your business on Google or Google Maps. If you see the red, “temporarily closed” or “closed” banner, you will need to “reopen” your business.

Access your GMB dash board at http://business.google.com. Click on the “manage now” button and search for your business. Google will supply a few options on how to verify the business is yours. Once verified, look for the “mark as open” button under the info tab.
Ensure your hours are up-to-date.

Business hours impact visibility of your listing across many different platforms. For example, when people search for “businesses open now” it will only show the businesses opened at that specific time. Double check to make sure your hours are correct.

Google very recently added a new hours feature for businesses. The “more hours” is located in the info tab and allows businesses to specify types of hours. This option will allow you to add hours for specific services or specials. For example, happy hour or designated time for high-risk populations.
Utilize new attributes.

Google introduced additional attributes highlighting delivery, takeout, and pickup options for certain business types.

Check the business attributes section under the info tab at http://business.google.com to make sure that you have checked all of the relevant attributes. By highlighting specific ones it will significantly impact the visibility of your business in specific search results. For example, if a potential costumer searches “businesses with curbside pickup.”

There’s also considerable value in attributes even beyond recently added options related to covid-19. Users may be searching for wheelchair accessible, kid-friendly, or other audience- specific needs.