Customers Can Book Appointments With You Directly On Google

Have Clients Directly Book Appointments on Google

Imagine having a client directly book appointments on Google with you simply from finding your business from a Google search.

How great would it be to have people book you without having to do anything?

With the ability to add a URL to your Google Business page that directs clients to an appointment page, you are now able to do that.

Google first began rolling out appointment links for Google Business pages back in 2015 and has since expanded who is able to add this feature to their page. With a simple calendar integration, you can have clients book consultations with you directly from the Google search results.

Google, as well as the other major search engines, are rapidly investing in making it easier for local customers to connect with local businesses. With the appointment booking feature, clients don’t even have to visit your website in order to schedule a meeting with you. This is because Google is including more and more about your business directly in its search results.

With a simple click of your Google Business page, customers can view photos of your business, hours of operation, request directions to your location and even see when the busiest time of day to visit you is. This is just the beginning of Google’s efforts to connect local people with local businesses and ranking on Google Maps is crucial if you want to capture these searchers.

The appointment URL was initially rolled out to fitness studios but has been recently seen being used by salons and barber shops. Lately, however, we are now seeing the option to add an appointment URL to several other industries, including mortgage companies. Restaurants are able to do something similar by allowing customers to reserve tables, placing orders and viewing menus straight from their Google Business page.

Here are 3 examples of what the appointment URL looks like on businesses pages who are using the feature. Each example uses a different path to book an appointment.

1. Third-Party Booking

In the screenshot above, you can see the appointment link directs the customer to getsquire.com. This a third-party booking application for Barbers where a business can create its own page to direct to.

When you click on the appointment URL for this specific Barber page, it redirects you to the barber shop’s own page on GetSquire. Here, the company can list their barbers, when they are next available and the option to book them.

So, if you don’t have your own booking calendar or don’t want to use Google’s right now, don’t worry. There are several third-party booking applications that you can use.

2. Directly On Website

The next example is a spa in New York, as seen in the above screenshot. This spa sends the client directly to a booking page on their own website.

From their website, the business details some guidelines for booking and includes an additional link to book your appointment. As a result, this leads to an on-site booking application.

3. Directly On Google

Finally, another option is to have customers directly book appointments on Google with you. This option will say “Reserve with Google” and take you to an appointment page without even leaving Google.

Businesses who use this option can show available time slots, dates, prices, and what type of appointment they wish to book. Businesses that allow you to book on Google and as a result let you “Reserve with Google” are powered by third-party booking applications that the search engine has partnered with.

Some of the applications they are currently partnered with include MINDBODY, TimeTrade, FrontDesk, MyTime, and GenBook in addition to more, and Google is already planning to grow their partner list.

Here is an example of a reservation on Google that uses MINDBODY:

How To Add An Appointment URL

If adding an appointment URL and having clients book appointments on Google is something you want to do, it can easily be set up through your Google Business page.

First, sign into your Google account that is associated with your Business page. Second, once signed in, click “Manage location” for the location you want to add the URL to. Next, on the menu on the left side, click “Info”.  Under your “Website URL”, click on “Appointment URL” to add your link.

For more information on local URL’s to your Google page, check out this article from Google themselves.

If you want to have us review your website and give you a free 30-minute consultation where we show you how to generate more local customers from your website, click here.