Google Business Profile – GBP (previously Google My Business – GMB) posts are surprisingly effective – yet they’re also surprisingly underutilised and underrated.
Whilst most businesses claim their Google Business Profiles – that’s often where it ends. The real value lies in optimising your GBP profile, and part of this includes uploading regular GBP posts which will enhance the visibility of your business when it appears on Google Maps, especially when Google choose a snippet of text from your Google Post, and this appears within your Google Maps result, giving your business extra prominence.
Not taking advantage of your GBP is like ignoring a free cake that’s delivered to your door every week. And according to some research done by Moz, over 40% of businesses that they surveyed had NEVER created a post, despite the fact that these posts can enhance your listing on Google Maps!
So let’s look at how you can have your cake – and eat it.
GBP posts are a bit like social media posts on Instagram and Facebook. Quick and easy to do and very effective for local SEO optimisation.
When someone searches for your business, these posts feature prominently on the front page of Google and provide valuable information and exposure – without requiring the searcher to make the effort to visit your website! See the blue arrow below!
Virtually anything can be included in these posts from a special offer, new product launch, special event, call to action (eg bookings, online ordering, ‘learn more’ buttons) and business updates (like revised business hours) to customer reviews, photos and videos. You can even include links to blog posts or specific landing pages on your website. It’s all about grabbing the attention of an online searcher and engaging them with fresh, relevant and useful information.
Short and sweet
Another important thing to remember about GBP Posts is that they have a limited shelf life.
Seven days is all you have before Google sees the post as ‘old news’ and stops featuring it prominently on a desktop search. Ideally, you need to create new content every week and by doing so, you not only add value to searchers but you also demonstrate to Google that your business is authentic and your information is up-to-date and accurate which is a crucial requirement for local SEO.
GBP Posts are also an excellent vehicle for updating customers on how your business is operating in the Covid-19 world.
You could add a post on your new operating hours or how your customer interactions have been modified because of the restrictions etc. These particular posts feature prominently on a mobile device when someone is doing a brand search, so whilst there aren’t many good things coming out of the pandemic, regular Covid GBP posts is one way you can use the situation to your advantage.
Karen Dauncey has been working in SEO since 2003. She specialises in helping businesses get found online through Google using Search Engine Optimisation (SEO).
Karen's wealth of SEO knowledge and practical digital marketing experience comes from running her own SEO and Google Ads agency, Blue Cherry Online Marketing since 2008. Karen has optimised over 1000 websites, managed millions of dollars' worth of spend on Google Ads and has a solid understanding of the constantly shifting industry of digital marketing and SEO. This gives her a unique advantage when it comes to being able to recommend the right online marketing strategies for your business.
She is the founder and creator of The SEO School an online SEO Course to help teach business owners how to do their own SEO. She regularly delivers educational programs for both Local, State and Federal Government and was an advisor for the ASBAS Digital Solutions Program. Karen’s passion and commitment to help small business owners get found online is the driving force behind her online school, making SEO advice accessible to all with free resources and online courses.
Karen has attended search engine conferences in London, Stockholm, Adelaide and Sydney, and was also invited to attend a pilot Business Coaching Course at Google’s Head Office. She has a Diploma in Marketing from the Chartered Institute of Marketing in the UK.
She is also the co-owner of the Digital Experts Directory, an online directory for female serviced-based businesses to promote their business (with a great backlink for SEO).
To keep up to date with the latest in SEO, join her Facebook group The SEO School Community or follow her on Facebook
or LinkedIn.
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