>Limited Google My Business functionality due to COVID-19<
The department of Tourism, Heritage, and Culture is committed to assisting tourism operators gain control of their Google Business Profile listings.
*Note: Google will soon be renaming “Google My Business” to “Google Business Profile”. We are making the change across all our materials. More details can be found on this external site and at the bottom of this page.
You cannot ignore the juggernaut that is Google if you want people to find your business. Small and medium businesses aiming for success need to include optimizing their Google business listing in their business plans. Start by claiming and verifying your company’s Google business listing, then take it further by optimizing the listing.
Google Business Profile is a free and easy-to-use tool for businesses and organizations to manage their online presence across Google, including Search and Maps. We urge all small and medium business operators to claim and verify their listing. If you verify and edit your business information, you can both help customers find your business and tell them your story.
Why use Google Business Profile?
Google Business Profile (GBP) is the most important online listing for any local business. It drives the local business search results on Google search, Maps, Google Assistant (voice search) and more. In some ways, your GBP listing is even more important that your website. It is a free tool set up by the search engine giant to help businesses take control and ownership of their brand and location. As well it formats your information in a very mobile-friendly way by default. This is extremely important when one considers that local searches on mobile has long surpassed any other type of device years ago.
Ready to go? Follow one of our online guides to walk you through the process. Updated step-by-step instructions coming soon.
- UPDATE: Google has released a training PowerPoint that includes the changes that began in 2022 (dropping the mobile app, only multi-location businesses can use the Dashboard are two examples). You can download the PowerPoint. Note: those who have already claimed and verified can begin at slide 28.
Help for Google Business Profile can obtained from Google’s official website.