Have you ever heard of Google Live Posts? If you haven’t, you’re about to!

Google Live Posts are much like a Facebook or Instagram post. It’s an awesome new-ish feature that allows you to post photos, text, videos, and create buzz for your business.

How does it work?  

A Google Live Post is a feature on Google My Business, where businesses can promote their products and services to people who come across their brand on Google. It’s a section on your Google Maps profile that shares business-related messages with potential customers.

The posts have become a popular feature for those who are active on Google My Business (which if you’re not, you should be). You can display a maximum of ten posts in a “carousel format,” which makes it easy for viewers to access information without the inconvenience of switching platforms.

Before we get into the functionalities of a Google Live Post, let’s take a quick look at the brief history.

When did Google Posts launch?

Google Live Posts were first introduced in January 2016 and were only available to US presidential candidates. Within a span of three months, Google gradually expanded posts to a limited number of businesses. In March 2017, the feature was made available to more businesses, then officially launched in June 2017.

How can your business benefit from a Google Post?

Over a period of time, there has been a change in the way people use a search engine. Today, it’s all about local searches; hence, why a live post is the perfect way to display information related to your business. It’s a smart and easy way to attract new customers.

The post will vary depending on what kind of business you have. For example, a restaurant can promote its newly introduced menu, discounts, or even success stories about their business, such as anniversaries, happy customers, etc.

With every live post, you can attach a call-to-action (CTA) button to the bottom of the post. This will prompt visitors to instantly take action without having to go through the time-consuming process of browsing through the website or any other social media platforms.

This feature to Google My Business was created to reduce the gap between a business and its buyers with “real-time” information and easy connectivity. It serves as a perfect tool for promotions and could be used to not only attract customers to your store but also get traffic on your website, social media, or any other area where your business is mentioned online.  This, in turn, will successfully enhance your Google rankings.

What should you post?

Posting is the fun part, but first it’s important to understand the basic requirements of images, word count, CTAs, etc. before posting.

Photos

Google recommends having an image size of at least 344 X 344 pixels minimum. Google also has an auto-crop tool that gives you the option to drag and highlight the important elements of the image on the thumbnail.

Word Count

Initially, the word limit was 300 characters; now, Google allows up to 1,500 characters, which can be used for “micro-blogging.” However, if there’s a promotional message, it’s recommended to keep it short because you don’t want Google to chop your text off mid-way through the thumbnail.

Google Live Posts have evolved over the years. You can now post videos and GIFs as part of a post.

With Google Posts, it’s important to update them regularly.  The posts will “expire” from a live preview where you can see the full photo and caption, to a list that says, “View previous updates on Google.”

However, there is an exception if there’s an event approaching at a particular date or time. The post will last until the date specified then disappears. This feature is called an “Event-based Google Post.”

So to sum it all up, Google Posts are an important and a very effective tool to bring awareness to your business/brand and boost its profitability. We at Your Listing Expert understand its importance and the impact it can have on your business with not only local exposure for products/services but also with increasing your Local SEO ranking on Google.

Call us today and talk to our Local SEO experts to see which package suits your business the best!

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https://www.hallaminternet.com/google-posts/

https://searchengineland.com/12-things-know-succeed-google-posts-278051

https://searchengineland.com/google-posts-now-live-google-business-users-277710

https://whitespark.ca/blog/everything-you-need-to-know-about-google-my-business-posts/