Google It: Another Reason to Use Toll Free Vanity Numbers

Through the years, Google has provided small business owners with several online communication tools to level the playing field against larger competitors that possess more resources to devote towards marketing strategies. For example, Google Local allowed small businesses to achieve high rankings in Google’s vaunted search engine. Now, Google has added another tool that helps small businesses increase their online presence.

Google’s Customer Service Phone Schema

The search engine giant recently announced that it now supports improved schema markup and rich snippets for small business location pages. Integral to Google’s new schema is the display of small business phone numbers devoted to customer service, including bill payments, bill support, and technical information. Every phone number marked up by a small business specifies if the number is toll-free, accessible for the hearing impaired, and the geographic location of phone coverage. Small businesses can also specify additional categories, but Google only presents the three primary bits of contact information within each rich snippet.

More Information

On your small business website contact page, you can include other markups that include the small business address, primary phone number, operating hours, or any other information you want your customers to know about your small business. If you operate several departments, such as departments within a grocery store, you can assign separate columns within each rich snippet.

Google lays out the information clearly for your loyal and potential customers to read. It also provides you with detailed technical information on how to create the marked up snippets, as well as code examples that help small business owners promote their products, such as restaurant menus and florist flower lists.

What This Means for You

Google’s inclusion of toll-free numbers within the rich snippet means small business owners should consider converting their standard phone numbers to toll free vanity numbers. The benefits of acquiring toll free vanity numbers include greater customer recognition, improved brand awareness, and a higher return on your marketing investment. With the addition of Google’s new schema, you can further leverage your toll free vanity numbers to garner more market share.

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