Bookings & appointments

We’re talking about 2 separate pieces of functionality in the Google Business Profile here. Let’s explore them below.

Appointments link

The appointments link is exactly that. It’s a link that you can add in Google Business Profile that links through to the page on your website that would be the most relevant for this – you might have a dedicated appointments page, or you might have a ‘contact us’ which would be relevant, or you might have a page that details the procedure for making an appointment.

You control the destination – it can be any page you want, although we do recommend making it a URL on your website so you do you see that traffic (and what they do on your site) in GA4. Don’t forget to add UTM tags to your link – Claire Carlile has a handy template for that here.

The availability of an appointment link will depend on your business category – business that rely on patients or customers coming in for scheduled appointments, or businesses that sell time or consultations, are likely to have this functionality.

Booking Button

✍️ Note: The booking feature is not available for all business categories. Only businesses in the Dining, Activities, Beauty, Fitness, Shopping, Financial Services, and Local Services verticals have access to this feature.

This function is very different to the appointment link. This will rely on an official scheduling provider that has a third party integration with Google.  You can check which platforms are available for your location and type of business here.

This is how this can look in your Google Business Profile:

When a customer clicks the link, a scheduling window opens inside Google Maps or Search. The customer selects a time and books the appointment without ever visiting your website.

If you have the option to add a link to an integration you’ll see the following in the NMX when you click on the ‘booking’ option:

Click on ‘get started’ and you’ll see a list of potential integrations:

You can read what Google says about setting up booking through a provider here.

How users interact with the Booking feature

1. First, a searcher will click the Booking button on the Profile.
2. Next, the business’s service types will pop up (populated by services set up in the scheduling partner, not Services in Google Business Profile).
3. Then, the business’ schedule will show upcoming available dates and times. Once the searcher clicks Book, Google will pre-fill the form if they are logged in.
4. Finally, they’ll see a booking confirmation page containing quick links to call the business, or modify/cancel the booking.

In addition to any email notifications you set up with your chosen scheduling partner, Reserve with Google will send a 24 hour reminder email and modified/cancelled booking emails.

Bonus: Once the booking time has passed, Reserve with Google will send an email asking for a Google review! It also has a quick link to rebook your next appointment through Reserve with Google.

Once Bookings is enabled, your scheduling partner will sync information to your Google Business Profile Performance, you can see the metrics under the Bookings tab.

Benefits of third party integration

Bookings customers are new customers

A limited number of scheduling partners have shared that they estimate 50-75% of Bookings customers are new.

Bookings helps close deals after hours

One scheduling partner, MyTime, also estimated that 40% of bookings were made after hours as the option to self-schedule was now available.

Bookings converts searchers faster

Another partner, TimeTrade, said Bookings cut the steps to convert in half (but remember this simplified sign up may not get all the custom information you need).

Your customers also benefit

A simplified booking process with less steps means they don’t feel like they’re wasting time. When a customer can see all the available service types and availability, they have more choice.

A 2021 study by GetApp found that 59% of those surveyed find scheduling by phone frustrating and 95% said they were more likely to choose a new service provider if that provider offered online booking.

Benefits of the appointment link

It’s free!

You can add a link to a page on your website – you’re not paying for a third party platform to manage bookings.

Which option should I choose?

If you’re wondering which one you should choose for your listing – we’d recommend using the appointment link if you have a custom website flow you want customers to see, or if you use a booking system that doesn’t partner with Google, and use the Booking Button if you use a major scheduler (like Square, Mindbody, etc.) and you want to maximise the number of appointments you get by making it as easy as possible for customers.