Google My Business New Attributes
Google continues to come through during this Coronavirus pandemic with their recent addition of attributes to the Google MY Business (GMB) listing.
These attributes on GMB are usually services or features that the businesses wish to highlight to customers. This also allows customers to make informed decisions about the places they want to visit. The usual attributes that are used are “Wi-Fi”, “ good for kids” or terms of that nature.
Back in May, Google added three new attributes for restaurants and cafes. They were:
- curbside pickup
- no contact delivery
- dine-in
Right now, it is extremely helpful for us to know if the restaurant has “curbside pickup” than if it has Wifi. For the current situation, you also can see which businesses are temporarily closed and which are opened now in Malaysia.
Just a few days ago, Google was seen quietly rolling out more new attributes for online services. Twitter user Tom Waddington noticed this new attribute “Online Care” for desktop searched results in the knowledge panel. Later on, Carrie Hill from Sterling Sky, Inc., reports seeing the following four attributes appearing in business profiles in the knowledge panel.
- Online Care
- Online Appointment
- Online Estimates
- Online Classes
Now with most businesses still forced to stay closed during this period, many are forced to look for online alternatives to services that used to require them to be there in person. This includes doctors, personal trainers, therapists, lawyers, insurance agents and so on.
Google definitely came in at the right time with these updates. Now businesses can update their GMB profiles accordingly, so that their services can be utilized by those who need it.
How can I add these attributes to my GMB?
- Sign in to Google My Business
- Click on the location that you would like to manage
- Click on “Info”
- At “Add Attributes”, click “Edit”
- You can search for the attribute that you want to add or look through the available options that can be suitable for your business
- When you’re done, just click “Apply”.
You need to have verified your google my business account before the changes to your business information would be updated on search result.
Please do remember that these attributes are only available to a selected category of business. Eg. You can only find the attribute option of “curbside pickup” available for the restaurants and places serving food and drinks. It is very likely for you to find these attributes if you belong to said category that would possibly provide said service.
It is comforting to see these updates from Google because they are a huge aspect of our daily lives. When this pandemic happened, it felt as if the world was falling behind because of the amount of changes that were happening in such a short period of time. Now it does feel like we have another chance at a new normal because of the information that we have now.
I can’t wait to see what updates Google will continue to have!
