If you’ve already set up your Google Business Profile, good for you. Having a GBP is a major step in your business being found on the internet. Now you can utilize one of the more simple and direct ways to connect with your customer: Google Business Profile Posts. In this article, we’re going to dive into all the features at your fingertips to help create Google posts that get results.
Your Google Business Profile
We’ve mentioned time and time again that having a Google Business Profile is essential in building your online presence. It helps your business show up in the search results, provides valuable information to customers about your business, and builds credibility with potential customers. Your Google Business Profile is designed for people who are looking for your type of business and provides them with helpful information.
Google is one of the first places customers go when they need to find out a business’s location, operating hours, reviews, and contact information. This is why it’s crucial that your Google Business Profile has the most up-to-date and accurate information about your business. Moreover, Google prioritizes quality data and rewards businesses that deliver accurate information with improved search rankings. If you’re unsure about the accuracy of your business profile, simply search your company name in Google. Does all information appear to be correct? Is there anything missing? If you haven’t set one up, head over to Google and register your business.
How to Create Google Business Profile Posts
Once you’ve optimized your GBP with all the latest details, it’s time to take advantage of Google My Business Posts. GMP posts (or Google Posts) are social feed-like updates that generally contain an image and text and/or link. They can be used to promote offers, upcoming events, provide updates, or educate customers about your products and services. It’s an effective way to communicate with customers and provide resourceful call-to-actions.
To post directly to GBP, you’ll need to sign in to your account. After logging in, go to the “Post” tab and click on the icon on the bottom right of the screen to create a post. Once you’ve clicked on it, select the type of post & start creating.
Types of Google My Business Posts
You can create any type of post, however, GBP offers 4 specific types of posts that work the best in achieving particular goals.
1. What’s New
As the name implies, this type of post is used to provide new updates about your business. It can serve as a powerful way to inform and educate your prospects about various elements of your business. It’s also useful in providing information on what separates your business from competitors.
These posts have a lifespan of about 7 days. Given this, it’s important to post consistently to keep your brand interesting to prospects no matter when they come in contact with your business. These posts should typically include an image, text and an action button with a URL dropped in.
Available CTA options include “Book,” “Order Online,” “Buy,” “Learn More,” “Sign Up,” “Get Offer,” and “Call Now.” UTM parameters can also be set for tracking CTA performance. The ideal text limit for What’s New posts is around 100 characters but can be as long as 1500.
2. Events
As the name implies, this post should be used to provide information about an upcoming or ongoing event your business is hosting. They are ideal to help promote your event in local searches and in Maps. These type of posts require a time frame to be established and is used to help attract people who may be searching for similar events.
Event Posts require an event title with a character limit of up to 58 characters. The event description can be as long as 1500 characters. Start and end dates are required. You can also add the same CTA buttons as What’s New posts along with UTM parameters for tracking.
3. Offers
Offer posts should be used for promotions or a particular offering a business wants to promote. It can be anything from a promo code or a limited-time deal that will be available live on your Google Profile. Just like events, offer posts require a time frame in which the post will expire.
Offer posts require a maximum 58 character limit and a description of up to 1500 characters. Available fields include a start and end date and time, coupon code, offer redemption link, and terms and conditions. You can also add the same CTA buttons as What’s New and Events posts along with UTM parameters for tracking.
4. Products
Product posts are ideal when wanting to promote specific products or services your business offers. These posts require specific details to be inputted such as an image, product description, and price range. These posts are a great way to showcase your line of products and services at the customers’ fingertips.
Product posts require a products name with a limit of 58 characters. It also requires a product price range and product description up to 1,500 characters. Just as the other post types, available CTA options include “book,” “Order Online,” “Buy,” “Learn More,” “Sign Up,” “Get Offer,” and “Call Now.” UTM parameters can also be set for tracking CTA performance.
Google Business Profile Posts Best Practices
GBP posts support both .jpg and png files and the ideal image ratio is 4:3. GBP also supports multiple video formats including AVI, MP4, MOV, and MPG to name a few, with a video size limit of 100MB and a maximum duration of 30 seconds.
This platform allows you to utilize multiple CTA buttons within your posts in order to direct your customers to take action. Optimize this feature as much as possible as it’s an effective tool to nudge your customers.
Finally, using UTM parameters is a helpful tool to keep track of website traffic and performance. You can set up UTM codes and track performance in Google Analytics.
Now that you are aware of all the great capabilities available in Google Business Profile posts it’s time to take action. GBP posts require some planning but are a great tool to optimize your marketing strategy. Contact our team to learn more about this effective tool or to develop a customized marketing plan for your business.