How to Create a Black-Owned Google Label for Your Business
If you’re a Black business owner, Google wants to make sure you stand out in search results. Just in time for the start of Black History Month, Google’s Black-owned business label has been revealed as an extension of the Black-owned attributes introduced last year. Both of these services are a response to the growing popularity of Black-owned businesses (and people’s desire for supporting them) in recent years.
According to a blog post announcing the Google Shopping addition, “in the past 12 months, Google search interest for ‘Black-owned businesses’ has skyrocketed 600% based on Google Trends data comparing January-December 2019 to January-December 2020.” Google also points out the devastating impact of the pandemic on Black business owners, noting that “41% of Black-owned businesses — about 440,000 businesses — have been shuttered due to COVID-19.”
Though Google has set up multiple funds and grant programs to meet the financial needs of struggling businesses, these features provide more accessibility to all Black entrepreneurs who want to take more immediate action in promoting their work. So what does it look like? As shared in the GIF below, search results within the Google Shopping tab will have the same “Identifies as Black-owned” label as those in local search results.
Though it will take a couple months for the feature to be visible to all shoppers and available to all U.S. Google Merchants, you can still sign up for the “Black-owned attribute” right now. Here are the step-by-step instructions, by way of Google Merchant’s Help Center:
Sign in to your Merchant Center account.
Click the Tools and settings menu at the top right corner of Merchant Center.
Navigate to the “Business information” page.
On the “About your business” tab, scroll down to the “Business identity attributes” section.
Click the toggle button next to “Identifies as Black-owned” to turn it on or off.
In addition, check the box next to “Include my business in promotions for Black-owned businesses” if you would like for your business and products to potentially appear on pages featuring Black-owned businesses.
Of course, you also need an SEO strategy that ensures you show up in search results, period. This includes how you label product images, the type of content you create, and keyword research you do beforehand.
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