You are walking to work, drinking a cup of coffee, when all of a sudden, you have a great business-related idea. The following question would be: How do I share this great idea with my customers? GBP posts and profiles are one of the most important aspects of local SEO.
Posting to Google Business Profile, previously known as Google My Business. Google Business Profile posts are one of the simplest and most straightforward ways to communicate with your customers, both from desktop and mobile.
What is a GBP (Former Google My Business) profile and why is it important?
A GBP is a free service that helps businesses show up in Google Search, Maps, and other Google products. It’s a tool to help businesses manage their online presence and make it easy for customers to find them.
Businesses can claim their Google profile and add information about their business, including contact information, opening hours, photos of the business location, and more.
What is the difference between Google My Business and Google Business Profile?
Google My Business has recently been renamed Google Business Profile, having had a plethora of name and rebrands before that. Users won’t be able to download the Google My Business app since July 2022. You can now maintain your personal Google Business Profile on Google Maps and Google Search, as it was announced in April 2022. Organisational accounts can keep using Google Business Profile Manager to manage their bulk account profiles.
By bringing Google Search, Google Maps, and their respective apps directly from Google My Business apps, small businesses will be able to better manage their profile and connect with customers.
Other than the name of the application, there are some differences between Google My Business and GBP.
Following the name change, Google My Business listings will be referred to officially as Google Business Profile. If you own a small business, you can now manage your listing straightforwardly in Google Search or Google Maps rather than using the old Google My Business app or web interface.
You can now customise your listing by searching for your business name in Google Search, but you must be logged in to do so. You can find your business on Google Maps and then edit the details.
After logging in, search for your business name in Google Search or simply type “your business name” to edit your listing.
With your email address or phone number, you can now claim or verify your Google listing straight in Google Search or Google Maps.
Google Search can be used to send messages and respond to customer reviews.
Message read receipts can be managed in Google Search and Google Maps.
Types of updates on Google Business Profile – Offer, Event, Update
These are the types of posts you can create on a Google Business Profile:
Offer for a specific product or service
A post to advertise an event such as conference or reunion
An update such as news, announcements, etc.
Below you can also watch an instructional video showing how to easily navigate the GBP’s interface and the post types.
What should you post to GBP?
Through posts on your business profile on Google Search and Maps, you can interact with both current and future users. Direct communication with your customers is possible when you generate and distribute news, discounts, new or popular stock items, or event information.
This way, customers, have more access to your company’s information and updates, and they can use this to their advantage as they search. This enables you to engage with your local customers through videos and photographs, boost customer satisfaction by providing timely information, and advertise discounts, promotions, events, news, and offers.
Google Business Profile Instructions and best practices to follow when posting on it
- Login and setup: Log in to your Google My Business dashboard and navigate to Posts to see the available options. Another quick way to get to GBP is to type “my business” into the Google search bar.
- Decide your post type: Before you begin writing, decide on the type of your post as already discussed above in the “Types of updates on Google Business Profile” paragraph.
- Write your post: Keep your post brief. You have a character limit of 1,500, but there is no need to exceed it. Customers use Google for quick answers or information, not for long articles. Include an image. Limit yourself to photos or videos of your location or products.
- Make your CTA button unique: In each Google My Business post, you can include a link to a landing page, a coupon code, your website, or a product page. The CTA button will say “Learn more” by default, but you can change it to “Sign up,” “Order now,” “Book,” and other options.
- Publish: Once the CTA button is customised and a relevant image is added click Post, and it will be live! GMB posts are visible for seven days. They are then automatically removed from your profile. Following that, it goes without saying that engaging with your customers and responding to their questions is highly recommended in order to maximise the outcome.
Google Business Profile post ideas
Business Profile’s posts feature allows to share instant updates on Google Search and Maps. You can create unique announcements, deals, new or popular products in stock, or event information – it’s a great way to stay in touch with current and potential customers. If you are new to posting it can be a bit of a challenging task that is why, h ere, are ten post ideas to consider:
Announce an upcoming event, such a pop up event at your restaurant or shop.
Update your clients about a special deal, such as a discount or voucher deal. After all, when looking for a business online, 50% of customers look for promotions or discounts.
- Post a great feedback to showcase your value to other potential customers.
- Highlight a product or service.
- Celebrate a business milestone, such as being open for business for 10 years.
- Thank your customers for their business to show your appreciation.
- Promote a new good or service, such as a new summer menu.
- Celebrate a holiday, even if it’s a fictitious one like Pancake Day.
- Inform customers about your company. Inform them about a new store location or a new employee on your team.
Best size for GBP image
When it comes to adding visuals to your Google My Business posts, be sure to follow the guidelines shown below:
- Minimum: 400 wide x 300 pixels tall, 10kb
- Maximum: 10,000 x 10,000 pixels, 25 MB
- Video size: file sizes (AVI, MP4, MOV, etc.) can be a maximum of 100MB
When is the best time to post on Google Business Profile?
The best times to post on social media, across all industries and platforms, according to the most recent marketing research, are 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. and 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. Weekends, specially Saturdays, are usually the best days to post.
Take a bit of time, however, to consider your audience’s behaviour patterns, different time zones, commuting schedules, and so on. This applies to both online and offline behaviours. For example, if you own a restaurant that has consistent weekend rushes, post about your special offers before people start looking for you, perhaps during the week.
