There’s little that compares to the sensation of walking into an area and being immediately comfortable—your shoulders loosen, your breathing slows, you physically relax, knowing you’ll be yourself. Finding those spaces has often been hard for the LGBTQ+ community. Google would like to assist celebrate those spaces of belonging and make it easier to seek out.
One way to try to do this is often with small businesses, which are a crucial part of any community. Business owners can mark their businesses as “LGBTQ-friendly” and as a “Transgender Safe Space” on their Google listing to let customers know they’re always welcome. These attributes appear on a business’ Google listing on Maps and Search. for instance, Corey Miller, the owner of Corey’s Bakery & Catering in Palm Harbor, FL, has added the LGBTQ-friendly attribute to his listing on Google to “let it’s known that each one is welcome with none questions.” He explains, “People feel welcome without a requirement to second-guess being treated equally.”
Your business can join the quite 190,000 businesses globally that have already enabled the “LGBTQ-friendly” and “Transgender Safe Space” attribute. Follow these simple steps to assist your potential customers to know they’re welcome:
1. Log in to your Google My Business account. On your Google My Business dashboard, access the Info tab.
2. Click on the Attributes section of the listing editor.
3. Search for attributes such as “Transgender Safe Space” and/or “LGBTQ-friendly,” click on the relevant tag below, and then click “APPLY.”
4. Your business should now be listed with the relevant attributes.
Please note that edits could also be reviewed for quality and may take up to 3 days to be published.
For additional questions on attributes and editing your business information on your Google listing, please visit the Google My Business Help Center.
