Ok, so we’ve been talking a lot about Google My Business recently, but deservedly so. They have really stepped up their game in light of COVID-19. From introducing new online attributes, to dine-in options, to the ability to add a COVID-19 post and more, Google My Business has evolved to help businesses adapt to our increasingly online world. They’ve added new and helpful and important features once again: from the Black-owned attribute to new features in product listing.
Black-Owned Business Attribute
In its effort to promote and support Black-owned businesses Google has partnered with U.S. Black Chambers, which provides leadership and advocacy training to Black business owners. As part of their ongoing effort to support long-term solutions for the Black community, Google has released a GMB attribute identifying Black-owned businesses in Google Maps and in Search. This attribute also comes in response to the growing number of searches for “black-owned businesses.” This new attribute will appear in the “highlights” section of Google Maps and GMB along with other attributes such as “Women-Led,” “LGBTQ+ Friendly,” and wheelchair accessibility.
The attribute appears as a stripped circle with a black heart in the center:
Image: Courtesy of Google
How to Add the Black-Owned Business Attribute to Your GMB
- Login to your Google My Business account.
- Select the location you want to edit.
- On the homepage is a spotlight on this feature that reads “Celebrating Black-owned businesses.” Click on the “add attributes” button. This will take you to the attributes section of GMB (which can be accessed by clicking on “info” in the left-hand menu).
- Select “Black-Owned.”
- Click “apply.”
Black Owned Businesses in Downtown Harrisonburg
We believe that it’s important to support Black and brown owned businesses, especially local ones! Join us in shopping and dining at these wonderful Black and brown owned businesses in Harrisonburg.
Products Listing
The ability to add products to your Google My Business has been around for a while now. It’s a great way for businesses to showcase their products and services to customers right from the search results page. This also helps improve Search Engine Optimization: populating this section adds more content to a profile which in turn increases your rankings in relevant searches. Adding products is also helpful if your business offerings are not clear in your company name. Basically, it can only help your business’ SEO.
Here’s how products appear in Google My Business, if a business has more products listed, then arrows will appear in that section, allowing you to scroll through all the options.
How to Add Products to Your GMB Listing
- Login to your Google My Business account.
- Select the location you want to edit.
- Towards the bottom of the left-hand menu select “Products.”
- On the Products page select “Get Started.”
- Go ahead and enter all of your product information: name, category, price, description, image, and a customizable button.
Google Has Made It Free to List Products on Google Shopping
Due to the ongoing challenges that face retail stores during the pandemic, Google has advanced their plans to make it free for businesses to list their products on Google Shopping in the United States. For many retailers, this new addition allows better, free exposure to millions of potential customers. In conjunction with this new feature, Google has partnered with PayPal to allow sellers to link their accounts. For more information on this new feature and how to take advantage of it, check out Google’s Help Center.