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Business Info Displayed in Google Search Results

Published on 30 Apr 2014 at 9:42 pm.
Filed under Google,Informative,Marketing,Mobile,Search Engine Optimization.

Want to add your business info like phone numbers and hours of operation to Google Search Results?

Business Info: Business Phone Numbers

Recently Google revealed a simple process to add your business phone numbers to Google’s Knowledge Panel. The Knowledge Panel is the panel in Google search that sometimes displays business info about a company. On desktops Google displays this business info off to the right. On mobile Google condenses this to the most useful info for a particular search.

Business Info: Brand Builder Websites' Phone Number in Google Search Results.

For larger companies Google now lets you use structured markup to add more phone numbers. You can add phone numbers for the following situations:

  • Customer Support.
  • Technical Support.
  • Billing Support.
  • Bill Payment.

For each of those phone numbers you may specify more info. You may include the following:

  • Is this number country specific?
  • Is this a toll-free number?
  • Is this number designed for the hearing-impaired?

Google recommends using JSON-LD to add this business info to your contact page. This business info must already exist within the page. Microdata defined from schema.org of type ContactPoint is also supported as an alternative. I would personally recommend the JSON-LD notation because it is simple and does not impose any design restrictions. You can use Google’s Corporate Contacts Markup Tester tool to check the accuracy of the markup.

Please be aware that not all companies or searches will display the Knowledge Panel. Additionally it will take up to a week before this business info appears in the Knowledge Panel.

Business Info: Hours of Operation

Google now looks to your contact page and other location pages to learn your hours of operation. Google will then add these hours to your business info they display in the Knowledge Panel. Having Google display your hours of operation makes it easier for users to make decisions and helps improve your Local SEO. It’s the same logic to having your store hours posted on the entrance. Informed customers are more satisfied customers.

Google has a few tips for how to structure location pages.

  • Use schema.org markup that most specifically targets your business.
  • Only display one location per page. Create separate pages for multiple-branch locations. While you may ignore this point. If you do then you must correctly use schema markup or errors may occur.
  • Add AM/PM to your hours or use 24-hour notation.
  • Be specific and do not use terms like “sun up” or “dusk”.
  • Avoid ‘except’ or any other type of negation to describe your hours:
    • Use “9am-12pm and 1pm-6pm” instead of “9am-6pm except for lunch from 12pm-1pm”.
    • Use “Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday: 2pm-7pm and Wednesday: 12pm-8pm” instead of “Monday through Saturday 2pm-7pm except Wedneday is 12pm-8pm”.
  • Use two or more characters when abbreviating days. Use “Mon-Fri” instead of “M-F”.

Displaying your company phone numbers and hours of operation in the Google Knowledge Panel helps your company stand out. Businesses that stand out from the competition are more likely to attract new business. As always, feel free to contact us for assistance in improving your local SEO or your online marketing.

Thank you and keep building your brand.

This post was originally published as Business Info Displayed in Google Search Results for Brand Builder Websites.

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