A Quick Guide to Google My Business Posts
Google My Business is hands down the most important online business profile you can have in 2022. We have discussed the importance of creating, optimizing, and maintaining a complete Google My Business profile in previous posts. However, something we have not talked about much are Google My Business Posts, or Google Posts for short.
Google Posts were made available to all businesses in June of 2017 so they are a fairly new Google feature. They have become quite impactful for local businesses looking to improve their local SEO and client engagement.
So, what exactly are Google My Business Posts? Google Posts are essentially a micro-blogging feature accessible through your Google My Business profile. These posts allow you to share important information with individuals searching for your business. You are able to create micro-blog style posts, share product information, post COVID-19 updates, and much more. These posts are visible in your Google My Business profile when your business is viewed in a Google search result.
Types of Google My Business Posts
There are five types of Google Posts you can currently create. These are:
- COVID-19 Update
- Offer
- What’s New
- Event
- Product
Let’s take a closer look at each of the five types of Google Posts.
COVID-19 Update
COVID-19 Updates are self-explanatory. These posts are to alert your audience of any changes to your business that are a result of COVID-19. This could be that you are requiring masks in your store, you are shifting business hours temporarily, or that you are closed due to an in-office outbreak. Any news that you have to share related to COVID-19 can be included in these posts.
Offer
Offer posts allow you to promote upcoming sales, special discounts that are available, and more. You are able to set a start and end date for each offer you want to post so that they are visible only when you want them to be. You also have the ability to add coupon codes, or direct links to redeem an offer, allowing you to track how each particular post is doing. Terms and conditions for any promotions can be added as well. Offer posts are a great way to entice your audience to visit your site versus a competitor when they see your business in a Google search result.
What’s New
What’s New posts are the most generalized. Any news you want to share with clients can be posted here. This can be a change in business hours, a mini-blog post or preview of a full blog post you have created, a great review you recently received from a customer, or a photo of a recent charity event you did. If you feel there is something that your clients should know about your business, that doesn’t fit directly into one of the other four categories, you can likely create a What’s New post for it.
Event
Event posts allow you to share the details of upcoming events that your business may be hosting or that you may be attending. Much like Offer posts, Event posts allow you to create a start and end date, as well as start and end time for each event. You can provide a brief description of the event along with a button that you can direct to a page with full details of the event.
Product
Lastly, we have Product posts. Product posts allow you to list an individual product along with a price, or price range, a product description, and a link back to the direct product page on your website. This is a great way to advertise your products directly from your Google My Business profile in search results. Prospective clients are often searching for something specific and if they see that you offer that product or service directly from a search result, it can encourage them to visit your site directly.
Creating Effective Google My Business Posts
Google My Business posts are very easy to create. Simply log in to your Google My Business account and you will see posts on the menu to the left. While they are easy to create, there are few keys to making successful posts.
Post Frequency
Google archives posts that are more than one week old that do not have a set date range, so it is important that you post often. You want to ensure you have some type of post visible to your audience to encourage interaction with your profile.
Proper Post Type
First and foremost, always be sure you are choosing the correct type of post. Google can often suspend or remove posts that are incorrectly categorized. Post types are self-explanatory and you should have no issue selecting the correct one.
Post Length
You are allowed 1500 characters for each post, but you do not want to create lengthy Google My Business Posts. You have limited space in your profile that appears in search results. A preview of roughly 100 characters is available but your audience has the ability to view the full post. A lengthy post will push other information off the page and it is unlikely a viewer will remain on the page to read the entire post. Keep posts to roughly 150-300 characters to provide enough information without being overwhelming.
Call to Action Buttons
Most post types allow you to add a button with a link to a webpage. Always use these when available. It not only encourages clients to seek out more information about your post, but it will also boost direct website traffic. Google has a preset list of CTA buttons so be sure to choose what is most appropriate.
Images
High-quality images are highly recommended by Google to make your posts stand out. Ensure they are at least 400 pixels wide by 300 pixels tall to meet their minimum requirements. Videos are acceptable as well. Posts that include high quality images perform better than posts that do not include them. They attract your audiences’ eyes and encourage interaction with those posts.
Google My Business Posts are often underutilized by many local businesses, but they are a great addition to your online marketing and advertising efforts. They can directly increase sales, website traffic, brand awareness, and more and they could not be any easier to create. Be sure you are taking advantage of this free feature each and every week.