Here are 6 ways to optimize your local business listing on Google Maps.
1. Use the temporarily closed function
Google rolled out a "Temporary Closure" feature at the end of March, and even applied it automatically to certain businesses based on government sources regarding business closures for certain categories. Companies can manage this feature.
Until March 26, 2020, marking a business as "temporarily closed" impacted the visibility and ranking ability of Google listings. In some cases, the business profile would not appear for brand search and would rank below open businesses in Google Maps. Danny Sullivan, Google's public search liaison, confirmed that the temporarily closed feature no longer has an impact on ranking or visibility.
2. Updated opening hours
If your business is open with reduced or modified hours for a temporary period, use the special hours on those days to replace normal office hours.
Here's what the published special times look like:
Some businesses that had used the Special Hours feature to add closures received an automated email from GMB with the subject line, "Important: [your business] is marked as closed on Google."
So avoid option 2 if possible!
3. Update your main phone number
If you've had to close your doors and are unable to transfer calls during this period, add a new main contact number in the interim (such as your cell phone number) and set your usual phone number as the secondary number.
4. Update main category
You need to look at your categories to see if there's one that's more relevant to define as your main category at the moment. For example, a company using the main category "Sushi Restaurant" may want to temporarily switch to "Sushi Takeaway".
5. Stay in touch with your customers via Google Posts
The Google posts feature is a great way to provide updates to your customers as the situation evolves. Google posts remain active for a week, but are time-stamped and replaced by the last post, making it easy to manage and share your last post.
6. Update company title
Companies can update their business name to add relevant information, such as "Delivery offered" or "Order to bring" to their business name due to COVID-19. Adding information about services that is not part of the company's actual business name is contrary to the guidelines, but is temporarily permitted and must be removed when the company resumes normal operations.
At Family Agenda our customers have received all 6 optimizations. Please contact us for a demonstration of our services.