Google My Business is now Google Business Profile

Things are changing over at Google – for starters, Google My Business is no longer Google My Business. In an effort to consolidate their services for business owners, Google is renaming Google My Business to Google Business Profile, and removing the GMB app from the app store. But don’t worry, you won’t lose out on being able to manage your Google presence – simplification is really the name of the game here. Your business profile isn’t going away, and business owners will still be able to access, edit and manage their Google Business Profiles easily and comprehensively. 

That being said, there are a few things changing along with the rebrand, so we’ve compiled all the info you need to know to get up to speed and maintain total mastery over your business’ Google presence.

The Google My Business app is Shutting Down

But not to worry! There are still plenty of ways to access your profile. Both Google Search (yes, like the original Google) and Google Maps will have ways you can get into your profile and make changes or updates. This includes editing the public information associated with your profile, like address, contact details and business hours. You can also make posts and respond to reviews from here as well. Previously, accessing your GMB dashboard from a desktop was unclear and complicated, and was a big reason for many business owners not bothering to interact with their business profile. This new shift away from mobile to focus solely on a desktop interface will encourage ease of use for both new users and experienced Google vets.

Claiming and Verifying Your Business

Whether you’ve done it through phone, text or even snail mail, Google’s processes for claiming and/or verifying your business page have been convoluted in the past. While these measures are important to ensure control of your business page doesn’t fall into the wrong hands, it is tedious. New changes will mean that the Business Profile verification process is much easier to navigate – all you need to do is search your biz name in Google and there will be an option to verify your profile there.

New Features you can Manage all From the Same Spot

It’s not just about updating your listing and maintaining your core company info – other Google business products like ads, analytics and insights will be easily accessible from the same interface. You’ll be able to easily access valuable data like how many click-throughs and views your links and Business Profile have been getting, which search queries are leading people to find your business, and more. All this info is hugely useful when it comes to optimising your Business Profile, and we think it’ll totally change the way brands manage their online presence. Ads will also be manageable from the same interface, which means you can easily see your ad performance and easily optimise ad sets and campaigns on the fly.

Messaging Comes to Desktop

You may be familiar with Live Chat pop-ups or 24/7 web chat functionalities on certain business’ websites, and it’s not supremely well-known but this functionality is built into Google Business Profiles as well – in fact, it was always a part of GMB, but buried under a few different menus and only accessible via smartphone. Not very useful if no one knows about it, right? Well, part of the Business Profile overhaul is the arrival of messaging to desktop, which will make the function far more visible and approachable for customers to engage with. It provides a great new channel for you to have a direct line of contact with potential customers or those seeking to learn more about your business, and is a great opportunity to continue growing your brand awareness.

Multiple Locations

One of the most exciting results of this overhaul will be how Google caters to larger corporations and businesses with multiple locations. New tools will give users the capability to manage multiple location pages at once, as well as attribute management permissions for specific locations to specific users. This is great news for agencies who want to be able to manage business profiles for multiple clients.

Many in the digital space believe this move is a win for business owners of all sizes – the consolidated interface will make managing business profiles easier and more accessible, as will new functionalities like messaging, multiple locations and easier page verification that are designed to enhance both the customer and business owner experience. Business owners will be able to enjoy better control over their brand’s Google presence as well as a more transparent understanding of how their brand appears in public searches, who has permissions to make changes to their profile, and more.

Want to revamp your Google Business Profile and make sure it’s in tip-top shape to win over potential customers? Give Racket a holler and let’s chat about how we can work together.