Google My Business Becomes Google Business Profile

Google My Business has become Google Business Profile. This will allow small businesses to better manage their profile and engage with their customers by bringing Google Search, Google Maps, and their respective apps directly from Google My Business apps.

Google My Business is Now Google Business Profile

The renaming is part of Google’s effort to differentiate small businesses with one location and those with multiple locations. This will make it easier for small business owners to manage their business on Google with a single listing. Google My Business is going to be renamed Business Profile Manager, which will be supporting larger businesses with multiple locations.

For small businesses, this couldn’t be simpler. By simply typing your business name in the Google Search or Google Maps box, you get the result as usual. However, you can now edit your business profile, reply to customer messages, launch promotions, and more. If that wasn’t convenient enough, you can claim and verify the ownership of your business.

Having multiple functionalities in one place means a much lower bar of entry into the Google ecosystem for small businesses. Once your profile is verified, you can edit the information of your business including the address, store hours, photos, and more.

According to Matt Madrigal, Vice President, GM, Merchants at Google, small businesses should manage their profile directly on Search or Maps. Madrigal goes on to say, in 2022 Google will be retiring Google My Business app. With this move, merchants can optimize the online experience of their business on Google by taking advantage of the upgraded experience on Search and Maps.

Increased Engagement

You can now make the most of your interactions with your customers on Google Search and Maps. When your calls come from Google, there will be a call history. This is now available for U.S. and Canadian merchants that have verified Business Profiles. With the call history feature, you can see the inbound calls that came from your Business Profile. Furthermore, you can review the analytics on inbound call performance to better optimize your customer engagement.

Another great feature is the ability to read messages. Google added the ability to chat with customers directly on Google Maps last year. As a small business owner, you can now also see and respond to messages right from your Business Profile on Google Search. To add accountability to the process Google is also adding a read-receipt for you and your customers to know when and if the messages have been seen.

Get Your Business Profile Up and Running for the Holidays

As the holiday shopping season gets into full gear after Black Friday, Google wants you to connect with your local holiday shoppers. With Business Profile your customers can find you more easily online. The local holiday guide from Google will help your business stand out so you can connect with shoppers.

A new “in stock” filter on Search lets your customers see your inventory. You can make your products show up by signing up for Pointy from Google , which is free of charge and right on your Business Profile on Search. With Pointy, you can automatically upload all your in-store product inventory by connecting directly to your existing POS.

Image: google

This article, "Google My Business Becomes Google Business Profile" was first published on Small Business Trends