Last week we told you Google has added a description field to Google My Business. This week it has added another new field to its local listings – services.
Google announced:
Back in January we launched a new Menu editor for the food service industry. This month, we are excited to announce that we have expanded our menu editor to now include additional services.
Businesses in health & beauty, and service businesses, such as plumbers and florists, now have the ability to add their menu of services directly to their listing through their Google My Business account.
Church Services?
While Google’s announcement didn’t specifically mention churches, this feature is useful to churches.
Google My Business listings already have a place for organizations to indicate the hours they are open, but this has left many churches wondering, “Do we use the ‘hours’ setting for worship service times or office hours?”
While people looking at a churches GMB listing are more likely to want to know service times than office hours, the format of the “hours” setting only allows for one set of hours per day. This is problematic for churches that have multiple worship services.
Churches can now use the new “services” setting to list their worship services. But it’s not limited to just to worship services. Churches can use the “services” feature to
- List other recurring events like Sunday school, youth group, support groups and bible studies.
- List non-event services provided like counseling
- List rooms available for the public to rent for weddings and meetings
I would not recommend adding every event to the services. It’s not intended to be an all-encompassing calendar, and you probably don’t want to have to update it every week. Limit it to regularly occurring services you provide.
How to Add Services to Your Google My Business Listing
- Go to google.com/business
- Login to the Google account you used to create/claim your listing
- On the left side of the page, click the “Info” menu option
- Scroll down and click “Services”
You can then add your services to this pop-up. Note that it does give you the ability to group services into different “sections.” There is also an “item price” field, but it is optional.
If we at OurChurch.Com provide a local SEO service for your organization, email us the name and description of the services you’d like on your Google My Business listing and we’ll add them for you.
If all of this seems a little complicated or you just don’t have the time for it, consider letting us help you with your church SEO, school SEO or local businessSEO. Just fill out a consultation request form and so we can schedule a time to talk.
What do you think of the new services field in Google My Business? Have you added your services yet?
2 Comments
Thank you for the information. However, I do not see the services option for the church listing we are managing. I know this was written over a year ago but why has the services option been removed?
Thanks
Hi Cesar, I still see it. When you’re logged into GMB click the “Info” menu option and you should see it. Here’s a screenshot – https://www.screencast.com/t/Kntm0Cgai