Google is now letting users create customized short URLs for Google My Business listings.
Google is calling these custom URLs “short names” and it appears only some businesses have access to them at the moment.
However, it’s definitely more than just a test feature because a help center article already exists for it.
Ben Fisher shared an example on Twitter. You can see at the bottom right corner of his screenshot where he set his short name to ‘SteadyDemand.’
New: Shortnames for GMB Profiles – Think of this as more than vanity URL's, this is an easy way to share your profile and much better than a string of digits. Also, you can solicit reviews with a /review/. A shortname is between 5-32 characters. #localseo @rustybrick pic.twitter.com/drqL8z1OlZ
— Ben Fisher (@TheSocialDude) April 16, 2019
After creating a short name, a GMB profile can be accessed directly by going to “g.page/[yourcustomname]”.
You can also solicit reviews by appending ‘/review/’ at the end of the URL, which would look like “g.page/[yourcustomname]/review/”
This makes it exceptionally easy to promote the URL, and easy for customers to type into a browser’s address bar. It would also look good in marketing pieces.
Google’s help center article states that short names are only available to verified businesses. Again, even most verified businesses do not have access yet.
If and when you do receive access, you can create a short URL by following the steps below:
- Sign in to Google My Business.
- Open the location you want to create a short name for.
- From the menu, click Info > Add profile short name.
- Enter your short name. You can enter up to 32 characters.
- Click Apply. Your short name will show as pending, and when it’s ready, it’ll show on your Business Profile.
If you find you’re not happy with your short name you can always change it, but it can only be changed 3 times per year so be careful.
It’s nice to see Google offering this kind of feature, especially after shutting down its own ‘Goo.gl’ URL shortener last year.
