For many small businesses, getting their company to stand out during online searches is essential to attracting new business. One of the easiest ways to increase a businesses local search exposure is to have an up-to-date Google My Business listing. Besides launching a new Google My Business agency dashboard, Google has announced several new features that can help small business owners make the most of the Google My Business platform.
Most businesses are familiar with using Google My Business to get listed on Google Maps, add photos to their listing, curate reviews, showcase office hours, etc. Using the Google Post feature, which was originally used in 2016 as Candidate Cards during the election), people and businesses are able to create content directly on Google which appears highly ranked in Google search results for their names.
Posts are visible to users on the Posts tab of the business listing on mobile and on Google My Business websites. Posts may also be shown on Maps, Search, and the Overview tab of business listings based on various signals. Posts can include text, photos, or videos to promote business listings. This latest announcement marks the launch of several new post types.
In a Tweet on the official Google My Business Twitter account (remember when Google would announce things on Google+?) the company wrote, “Google My Business is excited to announce that we’ve added 2 new post types: product and offer posts! Product and offer posts allow you to post your product and promotional details to your customers.”
According to Google, here are the Posts types that are currently available to Google My Business users. Each post type provides your audience with specific details and allows you to add a call to action (CTA) button to your post.
- What’s new posts: Posts that provide general information about your business. You can include a photo/video, link, CTA button, and other information. For example, a restaurant could make a post to promote a new menu item.
- Event posts: Posts that promote an event your business is involved with or supports. Event posts require a title, start/end dates and time, and may include a photo/video, CTA button, and other information. For example, a bookstore may advertise a local author’s book signing or a book club meeting.
- Offer posts: Posts that provide promotional sales or offers from your business. Offer posts require a title and start/end dates and times. A “View offer” CTA button is automatically added to the post. You can also include a photo/video, coupon code, link, and terms and conditions with the post. For example, a pizza parlor may advertise a 20% off large pizzas for a week.
- Product posts: Posts that emphasize a specific product your business sells. Product posts require a title and photo or video. You can also include a CTA button and other information. For example, an electronics store may promote a new phone for sale.
Business owners can use these posts in a variety of ways to improve their relations with current and potential customers. As Google suggests, Posts can be used to “facilitate direct communication from you to your local customers, improve customer experience by providing timely information, promote your sales, specials, events, news, and offers, and appeal to your customers with engaging videos and photos.”
Business owners and marketers should seriously consider using Google Posts to increase exposure to their newest latest content and to get more from their Google My Business listing. You can learn more about using Posts from Google.
And for more recent news about updates and changes at Google, read this article on some overlay testing Google is doing on Google Maps.