Google Business Profile is a powerful platform every business should take advantage of. Along with increased online visibility, it also allows for ease of communication between business owner and their customers.
If you’re a local business owner dreaming of gaining more traction, this is a vital tool you can benefit from. Google Business Profile posts, in particular, are an avenue to improve local SEO, better local engagement, and higher brand awareness.
What is a Google Business Profile?
Before we jump into what a Google Business Profile post is, let’s further discuss the platform itself. Google Business Profile (or GBP) is a listing platform aimed at helping potential customers get to know a given business at a glance. Your listing will include information such as your address, website, and contact information.
You can create a GBP listing free of charge. After you verify your account, you can connect with potential customers on Google Search and Google Maps with ease.
Why You Should Post on Google Business Profile
When you search for a specific business on Google, you might notice what’s called a knowledge panel on the top of a mobile SERP (search engine results page) and to the right of a desktop SERP.
It’s an at-a-glance outline that users can use to get the information they need on a given business quickly and conveniently.
This is where a GBP account can benefit business owners.
Although some large, established businesses can get away with securing a business knowledge panel without a GBP, small to medium-sized businesses need an account in order to have one propagate. However, Google will sometimes automatically create a listing without your consent to “help the user experience”. You can still claim your listing if Google creates it.
Once you have one established, you can quickly connect with potential customers with GBP posts. Not only will you gain a line of communication with your clientele, but this is also key in climbing the ranks of local SEO as posts show engagement.
Your GBP post will display directly on your knowledge panel. This gives you an avenue to showcase your unique brand’s personality.
When potential customers search for you or your services/products they’ll get a bite-sized taste of who you are and how your product or service can benefit them.
On top of all this, customers who want to keep up to date with your business’s information on GBP have the option to follow GBP post updates! As a follower, this will bring them back to your page each time they get an email ping from Google about your recent post update.
What Should You Post on Google Business Profile
When you first dabble with GBP posts you may notice their similarities with social media. But there are some key differences to be mindful of; such as hashtags will do you no good. These posts aren’t visually permanent as Google archives them once they’ve run their course.
This isn’t the place to post evergreen content. GBP posts are meant to provide the customer with a real-time update on what’s currently happening with your business. These are NOT blog posts either, so be mindful of your messaging as you’ll have limitations.
When you craft a post, the first few words are the most valuable. Only the first 100 characters or so are displayed before someone clicks the post. Be sure to capture their attention so they feel compelled to learn more.
The content itself is largely visual. All the post types give you the option to display a photo along with your text. Overall, these posts are meant to be captivating.
Use this to catch your audience’s gaze. Don’t feel the need to get too wordy and never use hashtags. Those aren’t useful on GBP as GBP is related to search queries, not social media platforms.
GBP posts are quite intuitive once you get down to it. Each post type guides the content seamlessly. Here are the different GBP posts you have to choose from:
Types of GBP Posts
There are a variety of posts you can publish in GBP. Think of each as a sort of mini advertisement for your business, except, you don’t have to pay. Depending on what you want to display, you might choose a different type of GBP post. You have four different options to choose from, each with its own advantage:
What's New
Just as the name suggests, this is a post option to inform your customers about business updates. Use What’s New to showcase all the good stuff that makes your business stand out from the rest. This is a channel to connect with your clientele and show them the personality behind the business. Keep in mind these posts will expire in 7 days from your business knowledge panel and will be kept in the archived section until you decide to delete them.
Event
This type of post allows you to promote upcoming events to your audience. You can display the happenings at your business conveniently on the knowledge panel to pique the interest of a potential searcher. You can set the duration of an event post to a day, weeks, or longer. This post type permits a heading, so make it captivating!
Offer
If you want to share a limited-time deal or promotion you can use this post type to advertise it. The Offer post allows you to add an image, create a title (heading), and set a start and end date for your promo. You can also include additional information such as coupon codes and other terms and conditions.
Our recommendation is to delete this post once it’s run its course since you don’t want customers going through your archived posts to find a deal that is no longer valid.
Product
This post type gives you a great opportunity to display what products or services you have to offer. Show off some stunning images and let the customer get a better understanding of what you sell. Similarly to the What’s New post, this will automatically expire in 7 days.
New Post Type: COVID-19 Update
With COVID at the forefront of all our minds, Google created a temporary post type to update your customers on any virus-related updates. You can inform searchers about any changes to your business due to COVID-19 including new hours of operation, protocols you’re following, and more. This post will be active until you take it down or change it.
Calls to Action
Each post type gives you the option to include a button. This allows you to direct the audience back to your website with a relevant link, redirect them to a booking platform, or click to call. Here are all the call-to-action buttons in 2020 you can select when crafting your GBP post:
- Book
- Order Online
- Buy
- Learn More
- Sign Up
- Get Offer
- Call Now
Post Specifications
There are some additional limitations you should be aware of when crafting your GBP post.
For one, you cannot use stock photos in your update.
You must provide either an original 540 width x 405 height pixel photo or a 720p resolution video. Your video can be up to 30 seconds long and can’t go over 100 MB.
If your post doesn’t follow the guidelines, it may get taken down with the dreaded “Rejected” stamp. Here are some reasons Google might take your post down:
- You aren’t following SEO best practices. Keyword spamming –or overusing a keyword– can get your post flagged.
- Inappropriate or irrelevant landing pages.
- Incorrect image or video file size or format.
- Irrelevant or overcomplicated text.
- Putting a phone number in your offer post.
- You have violated the other Google Business Profile policies and standards.
Let Beyond Blue Media Take Your GBP to the Next Level
Is your head swimming with the pressure of running your business and also keeping up with GBP posts? Our full-service digital marketing team is poised to help you with all things GBP and beyond!
We know what it’s like to be a business navigating the digital world. Get in touch with us today to learn how we can help your local business flourish!
