Google My Business: What Isn’t Working During Covid-19 Pandemic? | Vicinus.ai
Although Google My Business (GMB) is always updating its features and improving for the businesses using it, there are still limitations. During the covid-19 pandemic, there have been a few issues regarding Google My Business such as the inability to claim businesses, deactivation of reviews, and ‘temporarily closed’ signs.
However, there are some ways that these difficulties can be eased. In this article, we will cover some of the issues faced in 2020 and how to combat them in 2021.
1. Why have Limitations Been Placed on GMB?
There are a few reasons why limitations have been placed on Google My business during 2020 and through to 2021.
- Working from Home: Obviously, depending on the industry, there are some limitations to working from home. This is relevant for GMB listings especially.
- Store managers requesting frequent changes: There are many store owners/GMB listing managers who are needing changes made leading to error messages. This has increased support requests from Google too.
- Focusing on Important Updates: Google My Business focusing on important industries during this pandemic, mainly health services.
2. Why is My Google My Business Unable to Update Information During Covid-19 Pandemic?
As a result of some of the issues listed above, Google is having to prioritise important updates to listings. These are critical things such as opening and closing times as well as any health-related updates too.
“’We will prioritize reviewing all edits for critical health-related businesses. At this time, we will also prioritize reviewing open and closed states, special hours, temporary closures, business descriptions, and business attributes edits. ”
3. Are Google Posts Still Important During Covid-19 Pandemic?
Google posts are important to keep your business updated and your customers in the loop about any changes to your business too. However, this has become even more important during the covid-19 pandemic.
For example, letting customers know that perhaps although your business is closed for business, click & collect is still in operation. It is also important to update your customers on any health & safety guidelines that they need to adhere to in order to be safe shipping during the covid-19 pandemic.
If you have a multi-location business, Vicinus can help with Google posts. To keep up with your customer engagement, Vicinus can help update your customers with business information via an image and caption post. Vicinus’s auto-scheduler enables these posts to be present on all your business listings.
For more information, contact us on our website, or email us at contact@vicinus.ai
In Google’s ‘Guidance for Businesses affected by COVID-19’ they suggest that:
‘If your business is affected by COVID-19, update your Google My Business profile to provide the most accurate information to your customers. You can provide updates about your business to customers such as:
Your adjusted hours of operation, for instance, if you close early.
Add ‘More hours’ that describe other business operations such as delivery, takeaway, and drive-through.
Select an attribute to show that you offer online services such as classes, appointments, or estimates.
Delays on specific business services.
Extra services that you’re providing for the community.
If your business is ‘Temporarily closed’.
The updates will show on your Business Profile on Google Search and Maps.’
