Appointment URLs in more business types

[Nikos]

Hello,

Woke up this morning and GMB Info page has the option to include an Appointment URL for all listings I manage. It extends from marketing agencies, to real estate agencies and even law firms.

Have you seen this too? What type of URL should we point when there is not a schedule page but just a contact page?

 

[James Watt]

Wow, this is new new. Mike hasn't even written about it yet. I'll ask Google and let you know what I hear back. My guess, is it relates to the ordering/appointment link, in which case I think Google's expecting a 3rd party link. You wouldn't believe how many complaints we see on the Google forum from (mostly restaurants) complaining about those 3rd party booking sites skimming leads that should rightfully be going straight to the business. It's kind of nuts, hopefully this is Google putting a little more control back in the business owner's hand for those relevant businesses. My person guess is if you aren't sure what page to put in that URL, you should leave it blank, but I'll let you know what I hear back.

 

[Scott Rawlins]

Mike Blumenthal also mentions it today.

GOOGLE MY BUSINESS EXPANDS OPTIONAL URLS FOR APPOINTMENTS, RESERVATIONS & ORDERING AHEAD

 

[Nikos]

Well I was the first to report it and I did not read it in Blumenthals

James, can you please tell me if it is ok to use the contact page for this? Please, write if you learn more.

As contact page I mean a classic /contact/ URL, with NAP details, embedded map and a contact form.

Thanks.

 

[James Watt]

I heard back, looks like it's exactly what I thought it was. I'm asking specifically about the contact page being used there, but I suspect the answer is no. My guess is you should leave it blank unless you have a proper only appointment system in place. I'll let you know what I hear back though.

 

[Bruce Bird]

I have an 'appointment only' children's playgroup client that I currently have to show as 24 hours with a post added requesting people call to make a booking in order not to show misleading hours. This is really naff but the best I can think of in the circumstances.

Do you think there is any way of requesting this specific option for a particular client?

 

[James Watt]

Hi Nikos,

Do not use your contact page in the appointment URL field. As I thought, that's really not what it's for. It won't count against you to leave that field blank.

Bruce - I'm asking if there's a way to request that form for a particular business, I'll let you know when I hear back.

 

[Tim Sweeney]

In case you haven't seen it yet, here is a post by Phil Rozek concerning this topic.

 

[Nikos]

Hey James according to Phil Rozek:

"You can add a URL to your contact page, or to whatever page you like."

I think the full URL is annoying. Visitors should be able to see that the page links to a scheduling feature. By displaying just the homepage users will be discouraged to click because they will think that they should land on the homepage.

Also, Appointment URLs are not available in US only. I'm based in Europe and I spotted them on Wednesday.

 

[James Watt]

Thanks for pointing that out, I just let Phil know. He's right that the system doesn't automatically prevent you from using the contact page, and it's likely there's no looming penalty for choosing a contact page. The direct word from Google though is 'don't do it, that's not what this feature is for'. Use that info as you will.

 

[James Watt]

Hey Bruce -

Sorry I'm late getting back to your question about requesting the appointment URL in your dashboard. I'm a little surprised at the answer I heard back, but it looks like the appointment URL option appears purely by category. I was told to suggest temporarily choosing a category that gets the appointment URL, setting the URL to the relevant page, and then removing the category.

Google doesn't have a great system for appointment only businesses, but rather than showing 24/7, I've seen not selecting hours at all as the best practice in this case. Then you can display your address, but much more clearly imply people need to contact you for more details before just showing up.