Google my business short name

In April 2019, Google introduced the short name or short URL feature for Google My Business listings. It is still being rolled out and so we don’t fully appreciate how it will be useful in the future yet. My advice is to choose one now before all the good ones are gone!

Basically this is a short URL. When you set it up, (I will show you how below) just type it into the browser top address bar and voila! …. it takes you directly to your Google My business Listing. 

The short URL will look like this “g.page/[yourcustomname]”, So my one would be g.page/WebsiteServicesSurrey. (I chose WebsiteServicesSurrey as my short URL – see image below). This short URL will take you directly to your Business Profile on Google My Business. Go on, click on it and you will see. Try to choose a short phrase (more memorable), and one that describes your business. It may have an impact on SEO in the future.

Google my business page screen shot

How do I get my short URL?

Obviously, you will first need to be the owner of a business and hopefully have a Google My Business account. If you don’t, you are missing out on local SEO, so sign up to Google My Business first.

  1. Sign into your Google My Business account.
  2. On the left side of the screen there will be lots of tabs and one is called INFO. (See screen shot above).
  3. Click on the pencil symbol (Beside @) and type in your short URL.
  4. If it is available you can have it. It may say pending until ready.
  5. Each business can have one short URL between 5 and 32 characters long and change it up to 3 times per year.

    Google also has a help page where they shows you how to create a short name.

What can I do with this short URL

It’s early days yet, so it may not have immediate uses but as time goes by, its uses will evolve as Google evolves. Right now it can be useful to put this short URL on your contact information, business cards, website and social media platforms (instagram, facebook and twitter and so on) to direct clients to your business.

One obvious use could be to encourage clients to leave reviews on your Google My Business listing. This is what I advise a lot of my clients to do. This short URL takes the visitor directly to your Google My Business page which is perfect for this. Take advantage of this new Short URL feature from Google. You never know how it will be used in the future! 

Use GMB Short URL to collect reviews from customers

This is assuming you have created the short URL first.

  • Log into Google My Business
  • On the homepage there is a panel on the right called ‘Get More Reviews. (see screen shot below)
  • In this panel you can see ‘Share Review Form’ – Click on it
  • Click on ‘Share via Email’ and an email tab will open.
  • Fill in the details of the customer you are asking the review from
  • They will receive the email and write the review.
  • The review goes automatically to your GMB listing.
google my business short url

When we set up your website, we also add your new website to Google My Business. If you would like us to, we can get a short name for you new website. You can use this as an easy way of directing your satisfied customers to your website to leave a review.

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