Leverage Google Posts for Greater Online Exposure

Google Posts are a feature of Google My Business. Google Posts are a way for businesses to share messages with their customers, as the posts show up on the local panel of a Google search and on Google Maps. Google Posts are a feature where businesses can post content directly into the search engine results pages.

Google Posts can be up to 300 characters, can include an image or a link, and have the ability to mark Posts as an “event” and enter in the date and time of the event.

Nearly all Google Posts expire and are removed from view after seven days. According to Google, this helps keep the content fresh and relevant.

Benefits of Google Posts

Google Posts are a great way to promote events, sales, specials, emergency updates, and more. Google Posts are great for location-based businesses. Google Posts also influence local search signals and increase map ranking.

More than 5 percent of views on a Google My Business page result in a conversion. This may not seem like a lot, but if you factor in that the average business is found in over 1,000 searches, this could equal roughly 51 conversions each month, just from one listing.

• 78 percent of smartphone users visit a business within one day of discovery through a local search.
• Mobile searches center around “near me” and “where to buy” keywords; this increased 200 percent in the past two years.
• 86 percent of people look at the location of a business through Google Maps.

Get “Discovered”

There are over 3.5 billion searches per day. The average business is found in a direct search 157 times each month and 852 discovery searches, totaling 1,009 searches per month.

Local businesses are seen in more than 34 percent of 1,000 discovery searches per month.

To maximize the chance of being found in a search, businesses should aim to reach the top position by keeping their Google My Business page optimized and updated frequently.

Google Post Content Suggestions

Google posts are a great way to communicate:

• Current hours of operation and service interruptions due to COVID.
• Special offers or sales.
• Event invitations or updates.
• General business announcements.
• Business photos—the average Google My Business listing has 11 photos.
• Obtain and showcase customer reviews/testimonials.

How To Post on Google My Business

1. Go to your Google My Business
2. Click on “Create Post”
3. Click through each field and add the content you want to post
4. Add a call-to-action button if it fits the post information
5. Click “Publish”
6. Done!

Downside of Google Posts

The only issue with posting a Google Post is that they are not linked to your Google Analytics. You will not be able to view clickthrough rates or conversions. However, you can see the number of views the post had, and you can use coupon codes to track engagement.

Overall, there is value to using Google Posts to get information and announcements out; plus, Google Posts add potential additional information to the search engine results page.