Google Business Profile posts: what to post

Google Business Profile posts, once called Google My Business posts, are short updates, offers and events that you publish on your free Business Profile. Google shows them on Search and Maps: in the Updates or Overview tab on a phone, and under "From the owner" on a computer. A post takes a few minutes to write and costs nothing.

This guide covers the three kinds of post, how to publish one, what to write, the rules that get posts taken down, and whether posts help you rank. Posts won't move you up the map on their own, so if you'd like to see where you show today first, the free local rank checker checks one search from 25 spots around your business, with no account needed. If your profile isn't finished yet, start with Google Business Profile optimisation and come back to posts once the basics are right.

The three kinds of Google Business Profile post

Google offers three kinds of post: an update, an offer and an event. Its help page on creating and managing posts describes them in a line each, and the difference that matters is what Google adds to each one.

Two exceptions are worth knowing. Hotels can't post offers at all: Google's posts content policy says "Hotels can't create 'offer' posts". And single-location food and drink businesses in the UK may see featured posts, which Google can show "in place of reviews" on mobile.

Do Google Business Profile posts help your ranking?

Google doesn't say they do. Its page on how local ranking works says local results are "mainly based on relevance, distance, and prominence", and its tips cover verifying the business, keeping details up to date, replying to reviews and adding photos. Posts aren't on that list.

So write posts for the person who has already found your profile and is deciding whether to call you or the business next to you on the map. That is where a clear, recent post earns its place. If you want to move up the map itself, the category, your services and reviews do more, and our guide to ranking higher on Google Maps goes through them. The free check linked at the top of this page shows at how many of its 25 spots you're in the Google 3-pack for your search.

How to post on your Google Business Profile

Google gives these steps on its help page:

1. Go to your Business Profile at business.google.com, signed in with the account that manages it.
2. Open Posts, then choose Add post.
3. Pick the kind: Update, Offer or Event.
4. Add a button or a coupon code if you want one.
5. Write the post and add a photo if you have one. You can set a time to publish it, or a repeat schedule.
6. Select Post. If you manage several profiles, you can select them first to share the same post; otherwise choose Skip.

Once it's sent, the post shows one of three statuses:

• Live: it's public and shows on Search and Maps.
• Pending: it's still processing, or the profile isn't verified yet. If it's the second, verify your Google Business Profile first.
• Not approved: it broke a content rule, and a question mark beside it shows which one.

What to post: ideas that work for a local business

The best posts answer a question a customer has this week. A few that suit most local businesses:

• A seasonal job. Boilers in autumn, gutters after a storm, gift vouchers before Christmas.
• Recent work. A finished kitchen, a new menu dish, before and after where it suits the trade.
• Changed hours. Bank holidays, a closure, late opening.
• A real offer with an end, set up as an Offer so Google adds the View offer button.
• An event with a date and time, set up as an Event.

Put the useful part in the first line, name the area you cover, and finish with what the reader should do next. Here is an example for a made-up plumber in Southsea, written in a post editor with the Call now button chosen:

Dashboard · PostsExample

The post: "Boiler making odd noises now the heating is back on? We repair and service gas boilers across Southsea and Portsmouth, and we'll tell you the price before we start. Tap Call now to book a visit."

It opens with the customer's problem rather than the business name, says where the business works, and leaves the phone number to the button. That last choice is deliberate, as the next section explains.

Replies to reviews are another place customers read what you write. Our guide to responding to Google reviews has wording to adapt.

The rules that get posts removed

Most removed posts break one of a handful of rules in Google's posts content policy and its posts help page:

• Contact details in the text. Google says: "To avoid fraud or abuse, we may remove posts with unverified contact information." That covers phone numbers, email addresses and social media handles. Use the Call now button, which uses the verified phone number on your profile.
• Offers from hotels. Not allowed, as above.
• Regulated industries. Businesses selling alcohol, gambling, pharmaceuticals, financial services and similar can post, but product content isn't allowed.
• Tone and links. Posts should be professional, respectful and family-friendly, and link only to sites people can trust.

A post also doesn't stay up for ever. Google's words: "Posts older than six months are archived unless a date range is set." So an update about something that lasts, such as your opening hours, needs replacing now and then.

A post that wasn't approved is a different problem from a profile that has vanished. If the whole listing has gone, see Google Business Profile suspended.

How often to post, and how to tell if it's working

One post every week or two is plenty for most local businesses. Google lets you schedule posts and set a repeat schedule, so you can write a month of them in one sitting.

To see whether posts are doing anything, look at your profile's performance report, which shows calls, website clicks and direction requests for a date range you choose. Compare a month with regular posts against a month without, and ask new customers how they found you. Don't expect a post to move your position on the map; a Google Maps heatmap is the way to watch that, from spots across your area rather than your own phone.

If you'd rather not write posts from a blank page, Kerbrank checks where you show on Google Maps every week and, on the Pro plan and above, drafts posts from your latest reading once your profile is linked. You read and change each draft, and nothing goes to Google until you press Publish or schedule it. You can start a 14-day free trial and see your first map once the first reading is done.

For where posts fit among everything else, local SEO for small businesses sets out the order to do things in.

Common questions