Your Google Business Profile is often one of the last places a local customer looks before calling, booking, ordering, or visiting. Google Posts give you a free way to place timely updates, offers, and events in front of these high-intent customers across Google Search and Maps.While publishing Google Posts won’t directly improve your local rankings, it can make your Business Profile more useful, keep customers informed, and turn the visibility you already have into meaningful action.
In this blog post, Eric Solomon, Associate Director of SEO, will show you how to post on Google, choose the right post type, schedule or repeat posts, publish across multiple locations, and measure performance. He’ll also explain where Posts appear, how long they remain visible, and the policy issues, such as including a phone number in your post copy, that can cause Google to reject them.
Whether you manage one location or an entire network, the goal is the same: publish concise, relevant Posts with strong visuals, accurate information, and a clear next step for the customer.
What You’ll Learn:
- Why Google Posts Are Important for Local SEO
- What to Post on Google
- How to Create a Google Post
- Track Your Google Business Profile Posts
- 6 Benefits of Google Posts
- Common Mistakes to Avoid With Google Posts
- FAQs: Google Posts for Google Business Profile
Key Takeaways
- Google Business Profile supports three primary Post types: Updates, Offers, and Events.
- Posts generally archive after six months unless a date range is set.
- Businesses can schedule, repeat, and publish Posts across multiple profiles.
- Google Posts can encourage calls, bookings, visits, and website clicks, but they are not a direct local-ranking shortcut.
- Business Profile Performance provides profile-level metrics; UTM links provide more granular website attribution.
- Never include a phone number in the Post description. Use the Call button instead.
- Posting and featured-placement availability can vary by business category, location, device, and account eligibility.
What Are Google Business Profile Posts?
Google Posts are updates that appear on Google Business Profiles in both Google Search and Maps. They’re great for refreshing your profile with updates about your business, information about upcoming events, and limited-time offers that could appeal to your customers.
Depending on the type of device people use to access Google, the placement of these posts could change.
On mobile versions of Google Search and Maps, users will be able to see posts on Google within the “By owner” tab of Business Profiles, while desktop users will see a “From the owner” section in the knowledge panel.
Additionally, there’s a limited featured-post placement that prominently features some posts on profiles for a short period to maximize visibility.
We’ll get more into these placements below.
Expert Opinion on Google Posts
I have found that the best Google Posts answer a customer’s immediate question and make the next step clear. Businesses should use Update posts for new services, location news, seasonal changes, or important announcements. Offer posts work best for limited promotions, while Event posts can help drive interest in workshops, grand openings, community activities, or in person experiences.
For multi location brands, I recommend keeping the main campaign message consistent while tailoring the image, offer, and landing page for each location. This makes every post feel more useful and relevant to the local customer.
We’ve helped our clients at Ignite Visibility develop highly optimized Google Business Profiles to get real results, with one consumer healthcare client implementing GBP optimizations to help achieve a 75% increase in appointment bookings. Another client, a multi-location home services franchise, saw a 24% year-over-year growth in organic sessions thanks in part to GBP optimizations. Google Posts are one key element in many of these strategies.
Why Google Posts Are Important for Local SEO
Google Posts are specific types of posts that appear on Google for businesses with a Google Business Profile. They essentially act as social media posts appearing in a business’s Knowledge Panel alongside relevant business details.
When you click on these posts, you can see them in their entirety within a new window, including all text and images.
They’re great for giving updates and ultimately boosting your Business Profile’s visibility on Google. They’re also entirely free to post, giving you a perfectly affordable solution to connect with audiences.
Is Google Business Profile the Same as Google My Business?
In short, yes!
Google My Business was rebranded to Google Business Profile in November 2021. The platform still serves the same purpose, allowing business owners to share images, videos, offers, and other content to audiences, where they’ll show up on Google.
The key difference is the updated name, and a few improvements to how businesses can manage their profiles, making it easier to manage Google Search and Maps.
6 Benefits of Google Posts
Trying to decide whether to use Google Posts? The following are some of the main advantages of regularly posting on Google:
1. Improved Local Visibility
One of the primary benefits of Google Posts is the ability to increase visibility among local audiences. People searching for your offerings and services will be more likely to find you in Google Search and Google Maps than competitors neglecting this channel.
This benefit is particularly crucial as 41% to 60% of searches are local-specific, and one in five consumers conducts local searches right within Maps.
2. Engagement With Customers
Google Posts also help you connect with customers on a regular basis to keep them informed, encourage more sales, and showcase your business over less active competitors. You can also use Google Posts to answer people’s questions about your business.
3. Promotion of Special Offers and Events
If your business is promoting any offers or events, use descriptive and visual Google Posts to attract more sales and/or attendees. Your posts could use eye-popping images to connect with prospects, while descriptions and CTAs compel people to take action.
4. Effective Audience Targeting
Knowing how to post on Google effectively will also help you target your audiences. Specifically, using targeted keywords in your posts can help them appear in search results for those terms, reaching people interested in a particular topic.
5. A Cost-Effective Marketing Solution
Similar to other SEO efforts, Google Posts are entirely free to post. As such, if you want to make the most of your available marketing budget, you don’t have to worry about Google Posts taking from it. They’ll also supplement your other SEO and PPC efforts.
6. Generate More Clicks
Google Posts will ultimately drive more clicks when done right, with 4% to 7% of all Google Business Profile views turning into clicks. . High-quality CTAs in your posts can subsequently help with conversion rate optimization (CRO).
What Types of Google Posts Can You Create?
Depending on the kind of content you want to post, there are four main types of Google Posts you can use to engage audiences:
Update Posts
If your business sees any changes, post about them using updates with a summary and image. For instance, a local restaurant might post about opening a new location or adding a new item to their menu.
Offer PostsHave any special discounts, deals, or limited-time promotions? Use offer posts to promote them up front on Google.
Event Posts
If you plan on holding or attending any event, event posts will notify audiences of them. Potentially invite them with a CTA.
Let’s compare the three Google Post types in more depth:
| Feature | Update | Offer | Event |
| Purpose | Shares more general business news, announcements, or highlights | Promotes special discounts, sales, coupons, or promotional deals | Announces and details specific upcoming events |
| Required Fields | Text description | Offer title, start date, and end date | Event title, start date, and end date |
| Optional Fields | Photo, video, and CTA button | Photo and video, description, coupon code, redeem link, and terms | Photo and video, description, start and end times, and CTA button |
| CTA Behavior | Direct link to a corresponding URL | Automatically links to the offer details or external redemption URL | Links to event pages |
| Duration | Generally archived once they are more than six months old unless a date range is set. | Active for the exact date range as indicated in the promotion | Active until the event date and time ends |
Keep in mind that products are managed separately from the current Posts menu.
Where Do Posts Appear and How Long Do They Last?
A Google Post can appear in multiple placements, depending on factors like device, business category, and Google experimentation.
The current placements include:
Mobile
Mobile users will see posts in the “By owner” tab of Google Business Profiles.
Desktop
For desktop users, Posts will appear in the knowledge panel alongside organic search results.
Maps
It’s also possible to see Google Posts in Maps within profiles beside the map visual, under the “From the owner” tab.
Featured Posts
More recent posts will benefit from prominent placement for a limited time, with update posts retaining this placement for about seven days, while event and offer posts could stay in place for as long as the start and end dates/times indicate.
Six-Month Archiving
After six months, unless a specific date range is in place, Google automatically archives posts and hides them from public view. So, if you want to keep your posts visible, you’ll need to designate the window.
What Should You Post on Google?
There’s no shortage of things you can post on Google. Here are just some ideas to help you get started with this platform based on search intent:
Visit
- Company updates, such as changes to your offerings, the opening of a new location, or partnerships
- Event posts promoting an in-store event
- Discounts or coupons that customers need to present in person
Call
- Updates about phone consultations or urgent services
- Requests for customers to call for a quick quote or another
Book
- Popular service posts with a direct link to a corresponding service or contact page
- Limited-time offers for customers or clients who “book now”
Order
- New product or service launches
- Photos of top products
- Compelling promotions and deals with direct links
Attend
- Event posts with a specific date and time
- Seasonally relevant content
Evaluate
- Customer testimonials and reviews
- Relevant user-generated content
- Company accolades and achievements
- Before and after posts showing real work
Learn
- New blog posts
- Brief tips or tricks
- Links to pages for customers to learn more about the company or offerings
How to Create a Google Post
Once you’ve verified your Google Business Profile, it’s time to create your first Google Post.
Here are some steps to take to show you how to post on Google Business Profiles:
1. Open Your Business Profile
The very first step to take is to open your Google Business Profile.
2. Select “Posts” and Add a Post
Once you’re in the Profile, choose “Posts” and “Add post,” at which point the following windows will guide you on how to post something on Google.
3. Choose the Post Type
Now, you can choose the type of post you want to make, whether it’s an update, event, or offer post.
4. Complete the Relevant Fields
Once you’ve selected your post type, fill in the corresponding fields.
Here’s how the fields will look for each type:
Updates
Events
Offers
Choose Your Visual
People are very visual creatures, so including a well-lit and enticing photo or video will help capture your reader’s attention. High-quality images can highlight specific offerings, behind-the-scenes footage of your team, promotional graphics, and more.
Be mindful of Google’s minimum and maximum requirements for photos and videos. If a photo is too large, Google will crop it, which could impact your post’s vibe.
Photo Guidelines:
- Format: JPG or PNG
- Size: 10KB to 5MB
- Recommended Resolution: 720 px tall x 720 px wide
- Quality: Google Posts should have images that are clear and devoid of filters, with pictures of your business reflecting reality
- Types: You can use logos, cover photos, and business photos on your Business Profile
Video Guidelines:
- Duration: 30 seconds long max
- Size: Up to 75 MB
- Resolution: 720px or higher
5. Select Scheduling or Recurrence if Needed
If you want to delay posting, you can schedule a post for a specific date, or you can plan a recurring post to keep it fresh.
6. Preview and Check Details
Before publishing, preview how the post will look and make sure all details are accurate and devoid of typos.
7. Publish Your Post
Once you’re sure the post is how you want it, publish it.
Here’s some additional guidance on how to post your business on Google the right way:
Establish Your Goal
When crafting your first post, start by establishing the goal. What do you want this post to accomplish? Do you want to establish brand awareness? Promote an event? Drive traffic to your site? Whatever it is, you have 300 words to make it clear!
- Optimizing your posts with relevant keywords, ideally long-tail keywords of three or more words that fit naturally into your text content.
- Keeping your posts short and succinct, encouraging people to learn more by clicking through to your website so the engagement doesn’t stop on Google.
- Always include CTAs in your posts to bring more people to your website, further ensuring that the customer journey continues beyond Google.
Consider Using UTM Parameters
This one isn’t a requirement, but if you want to go above and beyond, consider adding UTM parameters to your links.
Doing so will allow you to track who’s coming to your site from your Google Posts, which will be invaluable in helping you evaluate how effective your Posts are.
You can set up UTM tracking for Google Posts using tools like Google Analytics 4 (GA4). Specifically, you can use Google’s Campaign URL Builder to enter your URLs and campaign details, including Campaign IDs, Campaign Sources, and Campaign Mediums. For instance, you can use “utm_id” to identify your GMB post referrals, along with “utm_source” to identify Google as a source.
How to Schedule, Repeat, or Publish Across Locations
In some cases, you may not want to publish a post immediately, scheduling it for later. You may also want to repeat posts or publish multiple posts for multi-location marketing.
Here’s how to do each of these:
Native Post Scheduling
When creating a new update, offer, or event post in the GBP dashboard, you can choose “Schedule this post” instead of publishing immediately.
This option will allow you to choose a specific calendar date and time to publish your post up to months in advance.
Weekly, Monthly, and Custom Recurrence
You may also choose to make posts recurring every week, month, or a specific repeating date and time.
The “Repeats” dropdown will only appear for offer and event posts.
In the dashboard, you can then choose daily, weekly, or monthly posting rhythms, or you can map your posting to a custom schedule with an expiration date.
For example, a restaurant might post every week to promote happy hours, while an educational institution might post about monthly workshops.
Multi-Profile Selection
If you have a universal update or announcement you would like to post across multiple locations, you can choose “Multi-Location Publishing” in the GBP dashboard.
In the checkboxes that appear, you can select all profiles associated with your GBP account where you would like your post to appear.
Just remember that not all posts will be universally applicable. Depending on your locations, each location’s inventory, and local audiences, you’ll want to incorporate the following:
- Location-specific details
- Localized offers
- Unique images, like exterior and interior photos of each location
- Location-specific destination URLs, e.g., links to geo pages or unique subdomains
- Legal and regulatory terms that vary for each location
Can Gemini Create Google Business Profile Posts?
Google Gemini now makes it easy to manage your GBP in one place, with the ability to create posts and much more.
By connecting your Google Business Profile to the Gemini web app, you can conversationally manage your profile and generate, schedule, and publish posts, in an experience that’s as convenient as chatting with AI Mode.
In addition to using prompts to create and manage posts, you can do the following with Gemini:
- Update your Business Profile
- Engage with your customers with replies to reviews
- Conduct sentiment analysis by summarizing and analyzing Google reviews
- Access insights, including search terms and performance metrics
Google Post Best Practices
To guide you further on how to post on your Google business page, here are some dos and don’ts:
Do
- Keep your GMB posts timely. Some Google My Business posts examples could include event posts that let audiences know about an event in time to help attendees prepare or offer posts disclosing a sale well before it ends.
- Post frequently. By posting on a regular basis, you can keep audiences consistently engaged and contribute to your SEO rankings.
- Integrate authentic visuals. Use images and videos to display everything from pictures of your business and teams to graphics showcasing offerings and sales. Figure out how to post an image on Google that’s authentic, showing your business location, inventory, and team when appropriate.
- Create a custom CTA. Don’t go with a generic “Learn more” CTA when there are other more compelling options available, such as “Buy Now” or “Sign Up Here.”
- Keep your messages clear. Make sure audiences know exactly what your post is about based on the first sentence and visuals, which will drive engagement and action.
- Maintain current information. Every post and each location should include up-to-date information, including the latest business hours, physical location, and inventory.
- Choose the appropriate post type. Based on your goals and the type of content you want to publish, select Update, Event, or Offer for proper posting.
- Link to useful landing pages. The landing pages you direct audiences to should encourage them to continue the customer journey, ultimately leading them to convert.
- Regularly measure performance. Google will provide you with clear insight into performance to help you determine which posts are getting the results you want, which can help with future optimization.
Don’t
- Violate Google’s policies and guidelines. Do your best to ensure that your Google Posts adhere to Google’s policies to keep your Business Profile in good standing.
- Implement hashtags. While other platforms might encourage the use of hashtags to help people find your posts, they won’t do you any good on Google.
How to Track Your Google Business Profile Posts
Just like any other marketing tool, you’ll want to check in to see what is working for your business and what isn’t.
Google makes it easy for you to track your analytics. Performance data is updated periodically, so that you can see how your posts are performing at any given time.
The Business Profile Performance allows you to see the following key metrics:
- Profile Views: Unique users who visit your profile on Search or Maps over a 24-hour period.
- Customer Actions: High-intent engagement actions, such as website clicks, direction requests, phone calls, bookings, and messages.
- Search Impressions: The total number of times a profile appears in local Search or Maps results.
After tracking this information for a while, look at your data and analyze what is working. Capitalize on high-performing terms or visuals and ditch the undervalued ones.
At this time, Google’s current Performance documentation includes an Offers metric for views and clicks where applicable. However, granular results for each individual post remain limited, making it necessary to implement proper UTM tagging to track performance. Google has also eliminated API-based local-post insights in favor of the more recent Business Profile Performance API macro location metrics.
So, if you want to go beyond profile-wide measurement, you’ll need to use custom campaign tracking URLs to provide you with post-specific metrics.
Managing Google Posts Across Locations
If you want to know how to post something on Google across multiple locations, here are some additional tips for optimization:
- Create a centralized campaign calendar. Managers at all locations should have access to the same campaign calendar for universal and location-specific posts.
- Develop and distribute approved templates. To maintain franchise brand consistency, including a distinctive brand voice and imagery, create and give access to approved posting templates.
- Use location-editable fields. For posts with interchangeable text across several locations, make it easy to simply swap out the location when completing fields.
- Implement UTM/location identifiers. As mentioned, UTM tags will help measure the performance of posts, including posts for each location.
- Establish publishing permissions. Give the right personnel at each location publishing permissions for location-specific posts, while corporate might have exclusive posting privileges for universal updates, offers, and announcements.
- Perform compliance reviews. Make sure all locations comply with corporate policies and location-specific laws or regulations with every post.
Google Post Policies and Rejections
In learning how to post to Google, you may experience rejections if you inadvertently violate Google’s Posts policy or improperly format your posts.
Here are some guidelines to help ensure your posts go through:
- Phone Number Restrictions: Users can’t put raw phone numbers in post text; they must use an official call button instead.
- Regulated-Goods Rule: Businesses in regulated industries may use Posts, but can’t promote any controlled substances or products like alcohol, tobacco, firearms, gambling, or medical devices, and they can’t display deals or prices for these items.
- Family-Safe Media: Images and text must be devoid of hateful, explicit, violent, or sexually suggestive content.
- Hotel Restrictions: Hotels are unable to create “Offer” posts or publish any content mentioning specific discounts, deals, or promotional prices.
You may also see your post fall under the following categories after publishing:
- Live: The post has passed review and is publicly visible.
- Pending: Google’s automated filters are currently reviewing the post.
- Not Approved: Google rejected the post for violating content guidelines.
If you suspect that Google has rejected your post, here are some symptoms you may experience and their corresponding causes and fixes:
| Symptom | Cause | Fix |
| Not approved instantly | Phone number written in text description | Remove the number from the text and add a call button |
| Not approved after publishing | Promotional pricing or discount text used for regulated goods or hotels | Delete any coupons, price mentions, or offer language |
| Not approved with image upload | Post uses a blurry image, a stock photo, or a graphic with heavy text | Upload clean, original, and authentic photos of your business, offerings, and team |
| Not approved with external link | Link might point to a domain outside of your verified website, or you’re using a link shortener or redirect | Ensure the link points directly to your verified domain |
| Stuck in Pending status | Delayed automated moderation or spam flag for duplicate text | Keep all text unique, remove emojis and symbols, and wait for approval or recreate the post |
Common Mistakes to Avoid With Google Posts
With a better idea of how to post on Google, it’s also important to know about the potential mistakes that might impact your posts.
Try to avoid these two key issues in your Google Posts:
Overloading Your Posts With Information
Don’t overwhelm your audiences. Instead, try to keep your posts short and to the point. Remember, you want to entice your audiences and get them to click on your CTA, so don’t give everything away in your posts.
Neglecting Regular Updates
Frequently posting on Google can help you maintain your SEO rankings and engage followers. Conversely, failing to keep a regular posting schedule could cause rankings to drop gradually and audiences to lose interest.
Not Using Relevant CTAs
Your CTAs should reflect the offer and the desired course of action. Simply using “Learn more” might not be sufficient when you want people to make a purchase, attend an event, or take another type of direct action. Get creative and engaging with your CTAs.
Poor Image Quality
Using low-quality images can make your business look bad online. People will ultimately find you more credible if you use high-quality images that clearly present your business and offerings.
Using the Wrong Post Type
You may select the wrong post type, such as using an offer post to make a company-wide announcement. Think about what content you want to include in your post to help you make the right choice.
Unsupported Ranking Expectations
Marketers may look at posts primarily as a means of boosting their SEO, potentially stuffing posts with keywords in the process. Remember, posts alone don’t directly boost organic rankings or map positions; think of them as a means of encouraging customers to take action and engage with your brand.
Using Outdated Offer Details
Companies may also leave promotional offer posts active after discounts or coupons expire, which can compromise the user experience, cause friction during checkout, and culminate in negative reviews from dissatisfied customers.
Including an Untracked Link
Neglecting to use UTM tracking will give you an analytical blind spot when measuring the performance of your posts. Give each post a unique UTM tag to help you attribute it to traffic, phone calls, leads, and revenue.
Committing a Policy Violation
Violating any of Google’s Posts policy will prevent your posts from getting published. In addition, multiple violations could ultimately lead to profile suspensions.
Duplicating Generic Content Across Every Location
While it’s okay to submit universal posts across locations, be careful not to flag Google’s spam filters with too much generalized duplicate content. Try to give each location a unique touch to their posts while maintaining compliance with local and corporate rules and policies.
FAQs: Google Posts for Google Business Profile
1. Do Google Posts improve local rankings?
No, posts don’t have a direct impact on local Search or Map positions in Google. However, they can improve visibility by sending fresh activity signals to Google and lead audiences to take action, including visiting your website, calling your business, visiting your locations, or booking appointments.
2. How often should a business post?
Generally, businesses benefit from posting around one to three times a week, but it’s best to post whenever you have a new update, offer, or event worth promoting through your Google Business Profile. Posting frequency may also vary from location to location.
3. Can Google Posts be scheduled or repeated?
If you want to publish a post later, you can choose “Schedule this post” for Update, Offer, and Event posts. You may also make Offer and Event posts recurring on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis, or within a custom timeframe.
4. Can one Google Post be published across multiple locations?
Yes, you can select up to 20 physical locations to publish a post across, making it easy to make company-wide announcements or provide universal updates. However, you should make sure posts are unique when promoting location-specific offers, events, or updates.
5. Why was a Google Post rejected or left pending?
There are multiple reasons why Google might reject your post, such as a violation of its content guidelines, the inclusion of a phone number in the text, or a link to a site that isn’t your verified domain. Pending posts might result from review delays or spam flags as Google concludes the approval process.
6. What image and video sizes should be used?
Use the following media specifications for images and videos in Google Posts:
Images: 1200 x 900 pixels, with a minimum of 250 x 250 and a max file size of 5 MB
Videos: Minimum 720p resolution, a file size under 75 MB, and a max duration of 30 seconds.
7. How should Google Post traffic be tracked?
Use UTM tags on destination links in your posts to help track performance, enabling you to attribute your posts to website traffic and other forms of engagement and conversion. Otherwise, you will be unable to see granular metrics in the native Google Business Insights dashboard.
8. Can Gemini create and publish Google Posts?
When you link your Google Business Profile to the Gemini web app, you’ll be able to create and publish posts using conversational prompts. This process makes it easier to manage, draft, and schedule posts, especially for multiple locations.
9. What is the difference between product listings and Product Posts?
Google displays product listings in profiles’ “Products” tab, with a list of available products that people can buy on an ecommerce website. Meanwhile, Product Posts are a formerly available type of post on Google that businesses could use to highlight specific items.
Develop the Perfect Google Post Strategy With Ignite Visibility
Want to succeed with Google Posts? Ignite Visibility’s marketing team knows how to develop a Google posting strategy in addition to SEO, PPC, and other digital marketing campaigns.
With our solutions backing you, you can:
- Develop high-quality content for compelling Google Posts
- Use hyper-targeted messaging to reach the right people and boost rankings
- Drive conversions with clicks using effective CTAs with every post
And more!
To experience these and other benefits for your business using Google Posts and other content, learn about our national to local marketing services.
