How are you all handling temporary closings on GMB?
-
Hey! Obviously things are crazy right now and in my company, we are having to temporarily close some locations. How is everything handling that with GMB? Obviously I will post but should I add special hours?
-
Hello Daniel,
You are right - this is an unusual time for all of us, and local businesses are facing some real challenges. If you need to temporarily close your location, contact Google via twitter at @GoogleMyBiz. Mike Blumenthal reported on the 16th that Google will be pushing out a "temporarily closed" label on businesses that local and state governments have ordered to close.
Other areas of your GMB listing you can use to push out info about the changes include:
-
Hours of operation
-
Google Posts
-
Description
-
Google Q&A (remember, you can write questions AND answer them as the business owner, but you can't apparently mention COVID-19 in this area.)
For restaurants, Google is apparently allowing them to edit their business name to state that they are offering takeout.
I recommend reading this post from Darren Shaw for more ideas: https://whitespark.ca/blog/keeping-gmb-accurate-during-covid19-pandemic/
I hope this helps, and I'm wishing you well.
-
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
GMB for Auto Dealers - New Rules
Hello, I would love to confirm if I am interpreting the auto dealer rules for GMB correctly. My understanding is that two car franchises / brands (e.g. Ford & Chrysler) can share the same physical location, but have their own GMB listing? "New car dealerships are eligible for multiple listings. You can have one listing for your dealership and one listing for each brand you sell of new cars." https://support.google.com/business/answer/9074301?hl=en&ref_topic=9074323 Thank you!
Local Listings | | P.Myers0 -
How to manage two websites that have the same locations on GMB?
We have a client who sells chalet holidays on two different websites. There are 12 Chalets in total dotted around the alps. We want these locations to feature on Google My Business for both websites. However, it seems to only let us choose between having one website or the other. What's the best way to have both featuring all 12 chalets? Currently, we have them all listed individually in a grouped location under one website. Looking forward to hearing all your great geeky suggestions!
Local Listings | | SolveWebMedia0 -
Creating multiple GMB listings same address?
Hi Guys, We have a medical centre which has different services like medical, dental, pathology, mental health and 3-4 other services. They are all at the same address within the medical centre. Currently, we have a GMB listing just for the medical centre. But we're looking to create separate GMB listings for each service. I was wondering if anyone has done this before and can speak from experience of the pros and cons of doing this? It seems we will have a lot more GMB listings to manage, but we should benefit more from relevant GMB searchers and this will improve our visibility. Cheers, Mark
Local Listings | | brandonegroup1 -
Unlinking Google Local Listing from your GMB Account with other locations you have
I have listings that I need disconnected from my main Google My Business account. I can close, or remove which is similar as closing, but the goal is not to close the listings, just to remove the association to my google account, and im not transferring the listing as well. Anyone know how to accomplish this? Goal is to clean up old listings that are exist but I dont manage Thanks for all the help
Local Listings | | vmialik0 -
Places.SinglePlatform.com "Menu" links on your GMB listing?
I just experienced this and after lots of frustration was able to figure out how it happened and how to fix it (keep reading). **HOW: **So apparently Google did a deal with Constant Contact which owns Singleplatform.com that allows them to publish edits to ANY local business and they have used this to SPAM entire categories of local businesses by adding in a "Appointments" and/or "Menu" link to the Google My Business listing for search/maps and they have done it in such a way that it is extremely difficult to remove/fix. (NOTE: they are not listed in Google's list of 3rd parties which automatically add info to your listing....https://www.google.com/maps/reserve/partners) **THE PROBLEM: You have a link to a menu or appointment page that you did not add and can not edit. **The options for setting a URL for "Menu" and/or "Appointment" (and a few others https://support.google.com/business/answer/6218037) are tied to the Primary Category set on your GMB listing and are only available to certain categories. FIXING: You would think if you are a verified owner of your GMB listing, it would be simple - but Google/SInglePlatform.com have gone to great lengths to make it more difficult.... Step 1 - Make sure you are a verified owner of GMB listing Step 2 - Change your Primary category on the business to one of the categories which supports the link in question (no definitive list, but I know setting Primary to "Restaurant" will get you Menu and "Interior Designer" will get you an Appointment link) Step 3 - Save the new category Step 4 - Now you will have the option under your "URLs" section of GMB listing. Step 5 - Change the URL from the SPAMMY link to a relevant page you control and Save Step 6 - Change Primary Category back to what you want.
Local Listings | | arowland2 -
Please advise on GMB and citation building - 1 owner, 2 businesses, 1 address + 1 phone no.
Our client has an established driveways business, "A", that has been servicing higher end customers. This business has GMB and citations built. He has now started another driveways business, "B" that targets mid-class customers. This second business operates out of the same office with the same phone no. A Google rep has advised that the 2nd business will not be able to have a GMB of its own if it's operating out of the same address as the 1st business. How would you actually tackle citation building and creating a GMB for this second business?? Would appreciate any advice!!
Local Listings | | Gavo0 -
Does Google Analytics automatically desseminate Maps/Places traffic from Organic traffic? Do webmasters still have to apply UTM parameter tracking to URLS in their GMB profile listings?
It was recommended a few years to apply UTM parameters to local URLs to get more accurate referral/source tracking in Google Analytics. Here is an old Moz post about this process https://mza.seotoolninja.com/blog/tracking-traffic-from-google-places-in-google-analytics However does GA automatically separate this traffic out nowadays? Is there a method to identify the traffic coming from Maps/Places without UTM parameters? Is UTM tagging still necessary if we want to see these traffic reports?
Local Listings | | RosemaryB0 -
Removing phone number from GMB = lower rankings?
Hey, all! I have a client who needs for people to see her website before they call her, or else she spends 15 min explaining what's already on the site. Her Google My Business rankings are excellent for a lot of keywords (yay!), so people are seeing the number big and bold and just picking up the phone. I called GMB support to ask if removing the phone number would affect rankings, and they said "I don't think so". If this weren't a HUGE deal to the client, I wouldn't take the chance, but she feels that she's losing business by being on these calls when legitimate prospects try to call and get voice mail. So... any experience with removing phone numbers from GMB, or any other creative solutions to the quandary? Thanks so much for reading! ~ Scott UPDATE: Well, we went ahead and tried it anyway, and our GMB listins on the 7-pack nosedived! STRONGLY recommend against this, at least with the current algorithm!! The phone number is back now. 🙂
Local Listings | | measurableROI0