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What are Google My Business Posts?

If you’re a local business, you most likely have a Google My Business listing.
(if not, STOP and read this first)

Google My Business Posts are a feature within Google My Business that allows business owners to share content, events, sales, or other promotions right within their knowledge panel on the search results page.

Need help managing your Google My Business listing? Learn more about our Marketing Packages for Small Businesses. 

Why Should You Use Google My Business Posts

We’ve been experimenting and testing Google My Business Posts since they were released. And honestly, we’ve seen less than stellar results as far as interactions within the post and clicks back to websites, however, I’m still going to make a case as to why your business should be using them.

  • It’s still relatively new
    Posts didn’t roll out to all GMB accounts until June of 2017, which means that many businesses still aren’t using them, or even fully aware of them. Using Posts can be a great way to stand out from your competition.  And while we haven’t seen Posts drive a significant amount of traffic to websites yet, we could see Google choosing to give Posts different placement or testing different ways to give them more attention.  For example, some searches have shown posts appearing in the Local Pack on the search results page.
    Again, in the grand scheme of things, this feature is pretty new. Don’t give up on it yet, we don’t know yet how Google may be highlighting Posts in the future.
  • Google likes it when you use their stuff
    We don’t think that using posts alone will boost your local search rankings, but we like to send as many “Hey Google, we’re using your tools!” signals as we can when it comes to local search. Especially as the local marketplace becomes increasingly more competitive, using Posts will help fill out the information that Google receives about your business, increasing its trust of your GMB listing and business.
  • Get your content noticed
    While GMB Posts aren’t a social platform, they are a great opportunity to specifically answer the questions people are searching for when they are looking for the services or products you offer. Just like a blog post or a well-keyworded product page, having a relevant post about just what your ideal customer is searching for could be a huge value add and bring people to your business.

How to Use Google My Business Posts

Let’s break down all the different types of posts there are and some examples of how you can use them for your business. Remember to always follow Google’s guideline’s anytime you are representing your business. For a refresher, you can view their guidelines here.

What’s New
The very first tab that Google will default to will be the “What’s New” tab.
This is great for short updates about your business or links to recent blog posts. These posts will only be live for 7 days from when you publish them, so they’re great for short updates or linking to new content on your website.
What’s New Posts allow you to add a title and over 1,000 characters. If you are sharing a blog post, I would recommend only adding the first paragraph or a teaser about the content you are linking to. Then be sure to add the “Learn More” so you can add a link back to your post. (more on buttons below)

google my business posts
Events
Events can be anything from a sale to an open house to a party!  Anything with a specific start and end date are perfect for Event Posts.
What’s great about Event Posts is that unlike the What’s New tab, they won’t expire in 7 days. Events will be live until the event day and time has lapsed. If you have a monthly calendar of events or know what your upcoming quarter of sales looks like, you can add them all now and they’ll stay active until the event has ended.

Google My Business events
Offers
The Offers option is just as it sounds, a place to post about an offer your business has. Like Event Posts, you can add a start and end date and the Post won’t expire until that day has passed.
Unlike the Events Post type, Offers allows you to add a coupon code, link to redeem offer, and terms and conditions if you have any.

google my business offers
Products
If you sell physical products, the Products Post type is a great one to use to highlight any item you want to get more attention to or promote. Product Posts allow you to add a price (or even a range if there are several price options for a product) and product description.

google my business products
Calls to Action

On all Post types, you can select a call to action or button.
At the time of this post, those options are:

• Book
• Order Online
• Buy
• Learn More
• Sign Up
• Call Now

Depending on which you choose, you will then be able to add a link to a blog post, sign up page, or designated phone number.

When creating your GMB Posts, a good question to answer is, What do you want someone to do when they find your post? Click a link? Pick up the phone? Make a purchase?

google my business button types
Choosing an image

You only have a limited amount of space and time to grab someone’s attention. Make sure your post stands out and is descriptive enough for a searcher to stop and interact with your Post.

Image or Video (yes, Video!) sizes for Google My Business Posts:

All uploaded media must meet the following size requirements: 

  • Minimum: 400×300 pixels and 10 KB size limit.
  • Maximum: 10000×10000 pixels and 25 MB size limit.

Some suggestions to get some attention:

• Use video
Even if it’s shot and edited on your phone, very few businesses are taking advantage of the video option, so yours would be sure to stand out!

Test adding text or a button
Using a free program like Canva,  you can easily add a text overlay or even a call to action button on your image of choice. Try a post with it and the next week without it. See if it encouraged more engagement or clicks.

Go bold
Add bright contrasting colors. There isn’t much color on the desktop search results page, so play with some bold colors.

When you’ve uploaded your image, make sure to preview your post before you publish it. You can crop it if needed so it doesn’t get cut off and it appears how you’d like.

More questions? Drop us a line and one of our amazing Digital Marketing Consultants will be happy to chat and see how we can help boost your business! Every business is different, you may need SEO Services, Social Media Management for Small Business, or even a Website Designer. Let us know! We’d love to work with you.

Have you used Google My Business Posts before? Tell us about your experience and results below!
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