Keep your business up to date with the recent Google My Business update
Who all are having an account on Google My Business (GMB)? Every digital marketer would surely have their business presence on Google My Business. No doubt, Google My Business is one of the best online platforms to spread business presence across the world. But do you think without updating your GMB account, you will run a business effectively? Of course no. To help you maintain your GMB account, I have brought this article where I will enlist some recent update coming in Google My Business.
Are you not excited to learn the recent updates in GMB? If yes, keep reading below and don’t skip the article otherwise you will miss out the major update.
Recent Google My Business Update, you must be aware of
Since July 2020, Google My Business introduced many updates due to the Coronavirus pandemic. I also wrote an article on GMB’s previous update, you can read. But the recent update took place in October, this year. Here is the list.
– Google My Business reduced the video file size
Google My Business allows marketers to upload videos related to their products and services. Since the update came about GMB videos now the video file size has reduced. On October 5, digital marketers got to know that the GMB allowing marketers to upload videos in 75 MB size rather than 100MB.
Joy Hawkins is the first person who noticed the update and shared on Twitter, “If you’re having issues uploading videos to Google My Business, it could be because they just changed the video maximum file limit from 100MB to 75 MB.”
So yes Google has changed the maximum file size for the videos from 100MB to 75MB. Let me tell you that GMB introduced videos in January 2018. The maximum video size was 100MB then. Now the size is reduced with the recent update in GMB.
– Google My Business new feature Preview Call History
Another new update of Google My Business is its new feature of ‘Preview Call History.’ The feature launched back on October 6, 2020. The feature works by showing you your recent calls made to you from Google Maps and Google Search through your Google local listing.
Colon Nielsen is the first person who saw the feature inside GMB and shared details in the Local Search Forum. On this feature, the Google help document says:
- You can use call history to keep track of phone calls from your customers on Google Search and Maps.
- Your calls are all in one place to help you respond to missed calls and stay engaged with your customers.
- These calls may make it easier for you to find and do business with customers who found your business through Google.
- Any calls you get from your Business Profile will start with a short message that lets you know it’s from Google.
You can say that this feature will provide you Caller ID history for calls placed through the ‘call’ button in Google Search and Google Maps. According to Google, ‘Calls information is stored for 45 days in the ‘Calls’ tab.
Note: the Call history in GMB is currently rolling out in beta version and available for a selected group of businesses in the US only.
Let’s talk more about ‘Call History’ feature below.
How call history feature works?
The work procedure of Call History is very simple. It starts when your customer uses the ‘Call’ button on your Business Profile, their call display in the ‘Calls’ tab on your Google My Business app. From this tab only, you can see recent calls, missed calls, and more.
So once your call history is on, customers will connect to you via a forwarding number rather than number listed on your profile. At the beginning of a call, you will receive an automated message saying, “Call from Google.”
Note: You can view your call history via the “Calls” tab on your GMB app.
Other important updates of Google My Business
– Coronavirus content post update
About a month ago, Google My Business launched a feature for businesses where they were allowed to update posts related to COVID-19 news. When the content posted, it appeared as COVID-19 related information affecting your business. The coronavirus posts will appear above your standard posts. So these posts will appear until and unless the pandemic ends from the entire world. You can use this feature to show that your business also offers COVID-19 testing services.
– Local service ad attribute update
Another recent update of GMB where it allowed businesses to show local services ads like plumber, carpenter, home maintenance, etc. It allows businesses to make it clear to their customers how they can protect their health while visiting homes. Just make use of these local ads to reassure your customers that they can trust you to respect their health and safety.
– Profile edits on Search & Maps
This is also a recent update of GMB. With this update, businesses are allowed to create posts, reply to reviews, add photos, and update business information directly from their GMB knowledge panel or business profile.
The final track
Google My Business is the best platform to manage the presence of your business in the digital market. To effectively manage the presence of your business, you need to keep your business account updated with the recent updates. In this article, I have enlisted all the major updates that are important for every online marketer. Make sure you keep your account up-to-date with these updates.
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