Google released new features in the Google My Business (GMB) portal this week. They have expanded the list of Attributes.
In the recent past, there was just the flag for “Women-Led”, “Veteran-Led” and “Family-Run” business. These flags would show on the Knowledge Panel for the Google Listing of the business (the area that shows the map, hours, contact, and pictures.
This week, the list has been expanded with more options for features that are offered “online” whether that’s Online Estimates, Online Care, Online Classes, etc. There are also some new items added for restaurants and bars dealing with the COVID-19 and offering Dine-In, Curbside Pickup, or No Contact Delivery type options.
Along with the new features, of course we both have storytime, and we just celebrated our 9-year wedding anniversary, so be sure to check out the video or click any of the timestamps below to jump around the video.
Time Stamps So You Can Jump To Chapters
00:00 Intro to this week’s video
03:20 We just celebrated our 9-year marriage anniversary
04:50 Updates for Google My Business – New Features
06:33 These are the current and new attributes in Google My Business
07:33 New items added for restaurants and/or bars
08:10 New items added for Online items like Classes, Orders, Estimates, Online Care, etc
09:05 Side Story: Kim and Conor’s Pizza Cooking Experience
10:30 Veteran-Led businesses have a setting in GMB
13:30 Online Estimates are awesome for Pest Control, House Cleaning, Carpet Cleaning, etc
14:15 Some issues reported with businesses that marked themselves as Closed for COVID-19, and now can’t re-mark themselves as open. If you run into those issues, feel free to contact us.
16:15 Story Time: Jewelry Store completely changed their business due to the closings
19:00 No Pressure Sales – An event that we ran in the past (2 years ago), we just received contact/a lead on it.
23:30 Thanks for joining us today. If you have questions about these new features/functions, let us know.
24:42 Final note; get Google Reviews. Here are a few tips.
Updated List of Google My Business Attributes
- Veteran-Led
- Women-Led
- Online Care
- Online Appointments
- Online Estimates
- Online Classes
- Dine-in
- Takeaway
- Delivery
- Curbside Pickup
- No Contact Delivery
A Note About The Online Estimates Flag
We work with a number of companies that are in the home services type industries – Pest Control, House Cleaning, Carpet Cleaning, Roofing Companies, Lawncare, and similar type businesses, and two of the new items that are huge bonuses are the Online Appointments and Online Estimates.
Keep in mind, that with an Online Estimate, that means that a user must be able to enter the various details, and the pricing is provided instantly to the user (collection of an email address prior to showing pricing is permitted). But essentially the estimate information must be an online transaction within the session, and not something that a potential client has to wait on a phone call to discuss their needs.
Over the years we’ve seen people say that they offer an Online Estimate only to realize that it’s just a contact form. While this does work in some industries, this is not something that Google is going to flag as an Online Estimate feature.
Join Us Each Week For A New Facebook Live
Every week, Conor & Kimberly have a Facebook Live that is open to everyone. We usually have a topic pre-planned, but we’re always open to new discussions during the broadcast!
If you have a topic that you’d like us to cover, drop us a note and we’ll do our best to get it added to the schedule!