Google My Business is Gone, What Local Biz Need to Know

Get to Know the New Google Business Profile

It's the latest round of rebrands for the platform formerly known as Google My Business. Just when we finally got comfortable with the most recent updates, here we go again.  

WHAT HAS CHANGED

The first thing to know about this update is that Google My Business is now known as Google Business Profile.  And your Google Listing is now a Google Profile.  

Functionally all of the features from GMB remain intact - posts, photos, reviews, messages and much more.  But the biggest change for local businesses is how you access your business profile.

Logging in to Google My Business on a desktop or using the app on your phone is thing of the past.  Or at least it will be by 2022, according to Google.  

Now you can only edit your profile by searching for it within the Google search results. 

If you're logged in to Google and have claimed your business, your profile access will automatically be displayed.

The navigation menu now consists of three options:

➡️ Edit profile
➡️ Promote
➡️ Customers.  

Edit profile is what you use to update profile information like hours, products, or adding photos. 

The Promote tab is for creating updates, offers, managing paid Google ads or checking your analytics.

The Customers tab is used to reply to messages and to view and respond to reviews and questions.

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR YOUR BUSINESS?

Not that much, really.  Changes to user interfaces are always a bit annoying and having to access everything through search results is a bit cumbersome.  

But all the great functions that allow local businesses to create a robust profile, full of useful information are still available.  

Claiming and actively managing your Google Business Profile is one of the smartest moves you can make when it comes to online marketing.  Not only does it help you reach more of your target audience but it's a big factor in your search result rankings as well.  

So go check out the new interface, create an update for your business and continue to utilize this essential local marketing tool - whatever its current name may be.