Google Helps Businesses to Stay Proactive During COVID-19 Crisis

1. Google Google Helps Helps Businesses Businesses to COVID COVID to Stay Stay Proactive Proactive During Crisis Crisis During Since the last few months business owners like you are facing an unprecedented crisis caused by the COVID pandemic But it’s important to keep calm during the period and use it to strategize your next step Instead of getting nervous with low less web traffic and conversions we suggest you take a pause and improve your company’s online presence especially on the search engine

2. In fact Google is actively supporting this Google My Business GMB has added a dedicated COVID Update section that you may find listed at the top of the Posts section Here you can update your current business status and keep your customers informed You should leverage the powerful features and tools offered in the GMB account to obtain new leads and drive conversions Wondering how Stick to the end to find the answer ➢ Optimize Optimize Google Google My My Business Business Profile Profile with with the the Latest Latest Update Update Change Change Business Business Hours Hours If your business hours have changed update the opening and closing times That way your customers will know when you are open If your business is not permanently closed but has stopped providing services temporarily you can mark your business as temporarily closed And don’t worry Marking your business as temporarily closed doesn’t affect your local search ranking and will be treated just like an open business That’s why we recommend you to continue taking local results local SEO SEO services services to stay relevant in the search Add Add a a COVID COVID Update Update Post Post to to Your Your Profile Profile Use this feature to share more details about your business with your customers You may add information about Safety and hygiene practices that your business has incorporated like sanitation procedure tamper proof packaging non contact delivery and so on Any change in your business operations like delivery only call for details and others If you own a restaurant you may want to showcase the reduced menu items or

3. deals This way the COVID update posts would appear in prominent spaces on your profile and become more noticeable to the leads And should you find this to be a bit tricky then engage the services of an experienced digital digital marketing marketing agency agency India India Connect Connect with with the the Customers Customers Download the Google My Business app and turn on the messaging option This will allow your customers to easily reach you Keeping up communication with your leads during this critical time shall evoke a positive brand image Here you can customize an automated welcome message that customers can receive once they contact you And you will get notifications for incoming messages in the GMB app This is a useful feature if you aren’t reachable by phone or someone contacts you after business hours Edit Edit Your Your Business Business Description Description The description section provides a brief overview of your business What you offer what is your main USP your business history etc Now you can use this section to share the latest info about your business such as an extra service you are providing to the community if your business services are delayed and others Highlight Highlight Dining Dining and and Shopping Shopping Options Options Businesses like shopping and dining have several attributes at their Google My Business profiles For example some attributes for a restaurant may include outdoor seating takeout casual dining delivery Wi Fi etc Now you can edit this section to inform customers about your service availability during the pandemic For instance you may want to keep the delivery service active but the outdoor seating facility may be closed and so on This information will prominently appear on your profile once customers search for your business on Google Search or Google Maps The supported attributes will have a

4. “✓” sign and the non supported ones will have an “X” sign Bear in mind that if any business is marked as “temporarily closed ” these edited attributes won’t surface on Google Maps and Google Search So if you are providing a delivery service don’t mark your business as “temporarily closed” ➢ But But What What about about the the Start Start ups ups Now the earlier section was about optimizing your GMB profile with the latest information about your business during the pandemic Here we assume that your profile already possesses all the necessary information and you only need to update the latest status of your business But what about the rest What happens to those who have just started their business and faced such a crisis You have our full sympathy and active assistance We suggest you utilize this lockdown time and organize your business profile That way when everything gets settled you won’t have to worry about a thing The GMB account offers some highly useful tools to create a distinct web presence for your business If you are not yet introduced to GMB profile here’s something to start with Images Images If your GMB account doesn’t have an image it may pull a Google Maps image or display nothing at all Images create a professional vibe so do not forget to add these Reviews Reviews Positive reviews produce a healthy brand impression and earn customers’ trust In fact according to a survey by Moz reviews are one of the key local search ranking factors However due to the pandemic Google has reduced this functionality and no new reviews are being accepted by Google But keep this in mind for future Post Post Feature Feature

5. This is a great tool to add updates on your services offers events and anything else you want your customers to know URL URL for for Online Online Orders Orders If your business allows customers to place orders or book appointments online you may add links to these pages directly in your GMB profile This is a simple and quick way to share your services and earn leads Location Location Hour Hour Attributes Attributes We have already discussed in detail about the opening hours and attributes These are a must have in your profile Additionally add your business location to earn trust from the customers As you can see it takes adequate expertise to set up a GMB profile On the other hand it is absolutely necessary to foster your business and improve local search ranking So to save your time and effort we recommend you to hire hire local local SEO SEO service service providers Are you curious to know the benefits of local SEO services Then read our blog on the subject ➢ Take Take Control Control – – A A Word Word of of Caution Caution Google Support maintains that it relies on various authoritative data sources national provincial state and local governments non profit organizations etc to mark certain types of places as “temporarily closed” on Google Maps and Google Search An authoritative data source may mark schools gyms museums and stores as temporarily closed and Google tries to implement these across all listings that fall under these categories The Support page further intimates that Google seeks to remove temporary closures at the end date as announced by the authoritative sources All these initiatives are commendable but there can be trouble for business owners like you If your store is fully or partially active a temporary closure mark can adversely affect your business So we recommend you to take control and edit your status on Google My Business profile manually The changes will be effective immediately Conclusion Conclusion

6. The COVID pandemic has given rise to fear and uncertainty not only in terms of health but from an economic perspective as well But on the positive side technology is coming forward to help people stay informed productive and connected during this time So leverage the benefits of technology keep your customers informed and let Google know that you are a reliable source of information If you have any more queries or require any assistance we are only a step away Stay home stay safe Best wishes Source Source https https www www webguru webguru india india com com blog blog google google helps helps businesses businesses to to stay stay proactive proactive during during covid covid crisis crisis WebGuru WebGuru Infosystems Infosystems Email ID enquiry@webguru india com Phone No Mobile No Visit Us https www webguru india com Stay Stay Connected Connected Via Via https www facebook com webguruinfosystems https www linkedin com company webguru infosystems pvt ltd https twitter com webgurutweet http pinterest com webguruindia https instagram com webguruinfosystems