With a lot of changes happening relating to business operations during the coronavirus outbreak, it is important to keep your clients and patients informed of changes to your standard operating procedures. To raise awareness of their recommendations, Google has placed a notice at the top of Google My Business support pages that reads:
“If your business is affected by COVID-19, update your profile to provide the most accurate info. Learn more.”
The recommendations further state:
“If your business is affected by COVID-19, update your Google My Business profile to provide the most accurate information to your customers. For example, change your hours of operation if you’re closing early, or add more details to your description. The updates will show on your Business Profile on Google Search and Maps.”
Yesterday, Google CEO Sundar Pichai made an interesting post on Google’s blog about all the ways Google is responding to the coronavirus pandemic. Of note, Google Maps will show if a place or business is temporarily closed by using Duplex, a new technology for conducting natural conversations to carry out “real world” tasks over the phone. Duplex will help Google gather this information. Pichai wrote:
“In the coming days, we’ll make it possible for businesses to easily mark themselves as ‘temporarily closed’ using Google My Business,” Pichai wrote. He also said that the company is using its AI assistant Duplex to contact businesses “to confirm their updated business hours, so we can reflect them accurately when people are looking on Search and Maps.”
What To Do
If you have any changes to your normal operations, it is important that you update your business information on Google.
Here are our recommendations for making updates to your Google My Business listing:
- Change business hours: If your business hours have changed, or if your business is temporarily closed, update your hours accordingly.
- Update the business description: Explain whether or not your business operations are affected by COVID-19. “Business as usual” is a valid piece of information, and can be as helpful as listing any changes that you may be instituting.
- Publish a post: You can get further exposure to any changes in business operations by making a post. It can also be a great opportunity for you to share information about any extra precautions your business is taking at this time to help ease any fears clients and patients may have about keeping appointments.
- Update contact info: Make sure your phone number is correct so that customers can reach you.
We Are Here for You
At MyAdvice, we are here to help. If you need assistance, guidance, or help with your Google My Business listing, please reach out. We are here for you, and are adept at utilizing the best that Google My Business has to offer.
