Google My Business: Changes to Be Aware Of
You may or may not have noticed that Google has temporarily removed some features from Google My Business as a result of the current COVID-19 situation. There are a few features that have been changed during this time that you need to be aware of, so here’s some help in understanding what these are and how it’s affecting the GMB page:
Where are my new reviews?
For the time being, Google My Business will not be publishing any new reviews. You will also not be able to reply to your reviews or new Q&A’s until further notice. Don’t panic though – any existing reviews you have, replies to those reviews or Q&A’s will still be visible.
New Listings, Claims and Verifications
Google is now, understandably, prioritising reviewing new listings, claims and verifications for critical health-related businesses. For all other services, you can expect delays of the publication of any new listings, claims and verifications.
I’ve Edited My GMB Page, But Where Are My Edits?
You may have made lots of edits to your Google My Business page so that you are on top of your game and potential customers can see how you’re operating during the coronavirus crisis. But now you’re left wondering, where are they?
Google are running on limited resources, so they have issued warnings that any changes made to your business information will now take a little longer to review. As before, businesses that are directly related to healthcare and critical services will be prioritised. If you don’t fall into that category, Google are now only reviewing edits to the following bits of information:
Changes to your opening hours
Whether you are operating on special hours
Temporary closures of your business
Descriptions of your business – perhaps you’ve decided to run differently and would like to inform potential new clients of your stances on the coronavirus pandemic
Changes to your business attributes
If you’ve made edits to your Google My Business page, your efforts will not be disregarded – it will just take longer than usual for them to show up. Google have confirmed that it may take up to three days for your edits to show.
Can I Post Updates in Google Posts?
Yes! Google is currently not restricting the Google Posts functionality. If you’ve got new updates that you’d like to share with your customers, you can still let them know via GMB in the Google Posts function.
We would advise you take advantage of this feature whilst you still can. It’s another way to communicate with your audience and could potentially attract your next new client!
Don’t Forget to Post a COVID-19 Update
You can now inform your customers of relevant information relating to your business. This can include how you are now working, such as new events, new products, offers and announcements.
When you complete your COVID-19 Update, it will look like this under your usual GMB information. Don’t forget to add a CTA to your post and direct people to your new events, products or services!
We hope that our guide will help you to demystify some of your Google My Business questions and queries. We understand that these times can be challenging for businesses of all sizes. We are running all our popular digital marketing courses online, so that we can help as many of you as possible prepare for the environment after coronavirus and of course, keep you going right now. Our courses are free to charities or members of The Projects Brighton and currently only £10 + VAT for everyone else. Head over to our Eventbrite to find out what courses we have coming up next!