Each autumn, Hispanic Heritage Month celebrates Hispanic Americans who’ve inspired others to achieve success. This year, Google took extra steps to support the Latino community with free tools, skills training, and hands-on coaching, as well as the launch of a Latino-owned attribute on Google My Business (GMB).
The assistance comes at a crucial time for the Latino business community, as 32% of Latino-owned businesses were forced to close during COVID-19. It’s not all bad news, though. Research from the Stanford Latino Entrepreneurship Initiative shows that the number of Latino business owners has grown by 34% over the last 10 years, compared to just 1% for all other businesses.
Now, there are new ways you can highlight your business, build your presence, and tap into resources designed specifically for this resilient, inspiring business community owned by Latinx people.
Latino-Owned: The Newest Identity Attribute in GMB
Latino-owned joins the list of identity attributes that help to personalize a company’s GMB profile and appeal to customers looking to support specific businesses in their community. The initiative is a partnership between Google and the United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.
Image credit: The Keyword, Google
On September 28, 2021, Ramiro Cavazos, President and Chief Executive Officer of the United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, announced on Google’s Keyword Blog:
“Hoy, nos asociamos con Google para anunciar un atributo de propietarios latinos que estará disponible en la Búsqueda, Maps y Shopping en las próximas semanas, para que las empresas puedan identificarse fácilmente como propietarios latinos en Google. Esta actualización se basa en los atributos de negocios Black-owned, Veteran-owned y Women-owned; y es otra manera la gente puede apoyar a diversas empresas a través de productos y plataformas de Google.”
Translated in English:
“Today, we are partnering with Google to unveil a Latino-owned attribute that will be available on Search, Maps, and Shopping, in the coming weeks, so businesses can easily identify as Latino-owned on Google. This update builds on the Black-owned, Veteran-owned and Women-owned business attributes, and is another way people can support diverse businesses across Google’s products and platforms.”
When you add the Latino-owned attribute to your GMB profile, searchers will see an icon signifying that your business identifies as such on your listings in Search and Maps. It may also appear in product descriptions in the shopping tab if you are eligible to show enhanced listings. Customers can filter to see only those businesses with the attributes they seek in the Map Pack listings.
Language Assistance Attributes Now Available for Some GMB Categories
If your business offers service in Spanish, American Sign Language, Korean, or another of the languages offered as attributes to some business categories, you can highlight this on your GMB profile.
These attributes help people see at a glance whether a specific location can meet their needs, or search and filter only to those who can.
‘Grow with Google’ Digital Coaches Help Black and Latinx SMBs
With its digital coaching program, Google aims to help small businesses owned by Black and Latinx entrepreneurs to grow their online presence and reach new customers. The format includes both online workshops and hands-on coaching in 20 cities to help businesses develop their local and digital marketing skills.
From the Digital Coaches page, you can find a coach in your city and click on their name to navigate to the landing page and events listings for that coach; as seen in the following example:
More Helpful Google Resources for Latino/Latinx Businesses
Google para Empresas Pequeñas is the Spanish version of Google for Small Business, where you can get personalized recommendations about which Google products can help your business meet its goals.
Grow with Google En Español offers a collection of on-demand workshops in Spanish to help improve your skills and strategy with Google Ads, YouTube Ads, Google Search, Google Trends, and more.
Google Primer App gives you access to bite-sized digital marketing lessons of about 5-minutes in length, right on your mobile device. Lessons are available in Spanish, English, or Portuguese.
The Latino Community Foundation’s Entrepreneurship Fund connects Latino-led businesses across California with funding to help build their online presence with websites and social media accounts designed and managed by youth.
Managing listings at scale and need help enabling the Latino-owned attribute or other attributes available for your business category? Rio SEO is here to help.