Consider Google Business posts your ally in the game of SEO

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. What Google Business brings to the table.
2. How can interacting through Google Business Profile give your SEO a boost?
3.  What are the weaknesses of Google Business? 
4. What are Google Posts? That’s all you need to know.
5. Creating Posts- first steps.
6. Post smart, not hard. How to create powerful posts.
7. How to plan posts according to popular searches and your competitors nearby?
8. How to create engaging posts?
9. Image types – technical details.
10. Content ideas for different types of businesses.

Focus on highly effective but often overlooked feature boosting visibility in local search.

While Facebook and Instagram are great for building long-term brand awareness, they are not meant to help your clients find you when they are looking for products or services they need today. However, there is only one place we all go to when we are in desperate need.That would be Google.

Since there are 8.3 billion searches conducted in the US every day, overlooking its potential to reach your clients means that you will most likely sabotage your business. Therefore, if you want to increase foot traffic to your business by appearing high in local search results, you should familiarize yourself with Google Business Profile. There are two indisputable reasons to start with: creating a profile costs nothing and it’s madly effective in winning your game of SEO. 

If you need more reasons, keep reading.

1.What Google Business brings to the table

It allows your customers to see you and reach you when they urgently need certain products or services in their area (that you happen to provide) or even when they are just browsing to decide later. 

It is a great way for you to introduce the clients to your brand and your location’s vibe (offers, posts, photos, etc. ) and strengthen your local SEO.

Your customers can see how rich your offer is by looking at photos of your products and stores. Using Google Business Profile for posting is still considered a niche, so it is an opportunity to stay ahead of your competitors nearby, who probably don’t pay much attention to it yet (but if they do, then you need to look into it even more).

Maintaining an updated and active profile can enhance your local SEO, as it aligns with algorithms.

2.Here’s how interacting through Google Business Profile can give your SEO a boost (EXPLAINED EASILY)

• It gets added to your Google Business Profile whenever you post in Google. By posting regularly and using the right keywords, you can climb the ranks in local search results and make it easier for people to find your business.
• The posts are visible to anyone who visits your Business Profile and can also appear in search results and on Google Maps. By posting often, you can increase your business’s visibility and attract more potential customers.
• Google Business allows customers to leave reviews of your business, which can improve your ranking in local search results if the keywords used in the review match the keywords you want to be found for. Positive reviews can also build trust with potential customers and improve your reputation. 
• Google Business lets you add structured data to your locations, which can improve your ranking in search results. Structured data is a standardized format for presenting information in a way that search engines can easily understand and index. By adding structured data to your Business Profile, you can help search engines better understand the content of your posts and improve your ranking.

3.What are the weaknesses of Google Business? 

1. Let’s say you become comfortable with posting in Google. You’ve begun to notice that putting one post at a time is tedious, and you could do it much faster. Now, you wish to simultaneously add the same post (or a different one) for all of your locations and boost foot traffic at your brick-and-mortar stores. Bulk posting is not possible in Google Business. However, it is doable and even advisable when you are managing more than one location with our hyperlocal marketing tool, Center.ai, which is synchronized with your Google Business content (see picture below).

2. Google Business only allows you to respond to one review at a time, making it difficult to promptly manage all reviews for your stores if you want to stay responsive. Answering positive and negative reviews quickly is crucial for an outstanding customer experience. Being sluggish might mean losing a potential customer. Center.ai, which is also a local customer experience management tool, allows you to stay notified about new reviews and bulk manage them in one place, along with creating response templates.

3. You can find out how many people have viewed your store’s location, but this information is only available for a single store in Google Business Profile, not all stores or a selection of stores. However, Center.ai allows access to such data (and much more) which maximizes your marketing efforts for specific locations.

4.What are Google Posts- all you need to know.

When users search for a product, they will see the main search result and some shops where those products might be available. When you click on the map, the locations nearby will appear along with the details. 
The more you post, the more likely your posts will be visible in search results. Google posts are not the first thing you see when posted occasionally, but they still do a significant amount of background work, being one of the main reasons you see some of the shops in the top search results.

In the picture above you can see a Google posts section managed by a beauty company, SEPHORA. The posts can include various types of content, such as text (with a maximum of 1,500 characters), photos, videos, offers (such as links to promoted products) and more. They will appear alongside all the other information and reviews on a business’s profile in Google search results and maps. 

There are a few types of content you can make use of:
1. offers
2. posts 
3. events

You can also add photos to every content type. Posting with Google is great to have your knowledge panel packed with keywords that lift you higher in search results. The posts and offers might match what the customers are looking for at a given moment and increase the probability of ending up in your store. So make sure you use keywords you want your customers to find you for!  Here is an example of a short offer: 

5.Creating Posts- first steps:

Whether the feedback is positive or negative, thank your customers for writing a comment. After all, negative reviews can be a great opportunity to make significant changes in your company. When you respond to a positive comment, you prove to your customers that you are grateful to them for leaving it. After all, it is through their comments that your online reputation is built. You can address the issues that were raised in the comment in your response to personalize your message. 

• To create a Google post, decide on the type of post (offer, post, or event) you want to create and consider its purpose and place in your social content strategy. 
• Write your post, including any relevant information or images, and add a call-to-action (learn more, sign up, book a table, book a meeting), if desired. 
• Set the post’s expiration date if it’s an offer, and then publish it. 

In the picture above, you can see the first step of creating a post—writing some content. It is important to keep your posts relevant and timely. You might ask how often and when it is best to post. No specific number of posts is considered the best, but you definitely should consider the quality of your posts and their relevance to your audience. It’s better to have a few high-quality, relevant posts each week rather than many low-quality or irrelevant posts.

Ultimately, the best frequency for your business will depend on your industry, audience, and goals. Keep experimenting and see what works best for you.

By following these guidelines, you can effectively use Google posts to drive traffic to your business and attract new customers.
Also, to save time, you can share the same post on your other social media platforms, except when posting in Google, forget about hashtags. They don’t contribute to your higher ranking and will unnecessarily clog your post. 
Each location can show up to 10 recent posts in a scrolling carousel. 
If a customer clicks “show more,” all existing posts will be displayed and, according to recent updates, remain visible for up to 6 months. This feature may, however, change along with Google updates. 

6.Post smart, not hard. How to create powerful posts.

With 154 million people using Google Maps globally each month, competing for clients’ attention and ranking high can be challenging. But you not only compete for humans’ attention. You need to be seen by algorithms as well and arrange your content in a way that is both reader-friendly and SEO-friendly. 
To rank and stay higher in the search, paying closer attention to the details and understanding how Google’s algorithms work may be necessary. Although it may take some time to familiarize yourself with these algorithms’ full spectrum of potential, the time invested will pay off in the long run. Alternatively,  you can save time and make use of a shortcut we are providing you with:

• To determine which keywords to focus on, list 10 to 20 keywords and narrow it down to those your customers commonly use during the current season. By doing this, you can ensure that you are targeting the right keywords for your business.
• Apart from engaging and informing your customers about your seasonal offerings and promotions, it is essential to also include content that is more versatile. For instance, if you run a clothing brand around Christmas time and want to rank high in Google searches for phrases like “woolen sweaters” or “leather boots,” consider posting content that is not solely sales-oriented. 

Here are some examples of reader-friendly and SEO-friendly content.

• Write a short post about wool clothing maintenance and pack it with popular keywords to feed Google’s algorithms. 
• Write a longer article about a topic of interest to your customers, such as “How to make your winter boots waterproof for a rainy season,” and include a link to the shorter article in your Google Business Profile.

By creating useful content, you are coming across as customer-oriented, providing valuable information, and establishing yourself as an expert in your field. This can help increase customer loyalty and improve your chances of ranking higher in search results.

To summarize, it is crucial to post not only about your products or services, but also about relevant topics within your area of expertise. You can do this through a Google post alone or by including a link to a longer post on your blog or website providing educational value. Remember that even after 7 days, it will remain in your Google Profile and can still contribute to your ranking.

7.How to plan posts according to popular searches and your competitors nearby?

As with any long-term beneficial endeavor, it is essential to consider your posting strategy carefully. Here are some brainstorming ideas for you and your team to consider:

• Determine the types of questions that your ideal customer would ask by considering their buyer’s persona.
• Ask your sales team about customers’ questions and pain points, and consider creating content that could help the team make more sales.
• Monitor feedback from customer reviews and customer support to identify common themes, as well as social mentions.
• Analyze your competition’s content to see what resonates with your target audience and identify gaps in their strategy.

Your strategy has to be carefully planned due to the complexity of the local market. Considering your competition when planning your local marketing is also a key indicator of your success. Center.ai – our local SEO and customer experience tool can:

• give valuable insights into your local SEO  effectiveness
• allow you better-planning thanks to valuable insights 
• compare your efforts with the competition (as seen in the picture below, where you can see the location’s average position compared with selected competitors).
• save time
• make you rank higher in search results and
• drive more in-store traffic 

Get in touch with us to learn more about which of our features can meet your needs best.

8. How to create engaging posts.

It all depends on your business and your target audience. There are, however, some universal tips for creating compelling Google Business posts:

• Keep it relevant. Make sure the content you share is relevant to your business and customers. It will also feed the algorithm and keep you high in the search results. 
• Be timely. Share updates and accurate promotions for current events or seasons.
• Use visuals. Include images in your posts to make them more engaging and visually appealing.
• Offer value. Share content that provides value to your customers, such as tips, promotions, or behind-the-scenes looks at your business.
• Use calls-to-action. Include a call-to-action in your posts to encourage customers to take action, such as visiting your store or booking an appointment. These buttons also serve as a measurement of how many people have seen your posts. This information could help you assess the effectiveness of your marketing efforts and influence better future planning. Having a broad knowledge about all your premises might be cost- and time-saving.
• Keep it concise, brief and to the point, but you can add a link to a longer article or a blog post.

Overall, it’s essential to experiment with different types of content to see what works best for your business and your customers and see what brings the best results, which is in-store traffic. You can track the number of views your posts receive and measure the effectiveness of your efforts with our local marketing tool (reference).

Consider including customer reviews or popular FAQs on your profile to attract potential customers. For example, you might want to answer questions such as “Are dogs allowed?” or “Do you accept American Express?” Of course, these attributes should be included in your listing, but highlighting them in posts can make them stand out and influence immediate decision-making.

9. Image types- technical details

Using the correct image sizes to look nice and polished is important. To maintain consistency for your brand, decide on the fonts and coloring and stick to it. Google can accommodate any size or aspect ratio you upload, but it’s best to follow these tips: 

• Use photos or videos with a 4:3 aspect ratio, or keep your main subject centered to minimize cropping. 
• Try not to upload photos larger than 1200px wide, as Google may compress them, resulting in blurry images. 
• The recommended format for images is JPG or PNG.
• The recommended size is 1200px x 900px (with a minimum of 480px x 270px).
• The minimum resolution for videos is 720p, and they should be no longer than 30 seconds and no larger than 75 MB.

By following these tips, you can ensure that the images you use in your Google Business Profile posts are high-quality, relevant, and visually appealing, which can help increase engagement and drive more traffic to your business.

10. Content ideas for different types of businesses.

CLOTHING SHOP IDEAS 
By sharing updates, style inspiration, promotions, events, and customer reviews in your Google Business posts, you can help boost your local SEO and attract more customers to your clothing shop. By tailoring these ideas to fit your specific business, you can effectively use Google Business Profile to attract more customers to your coffee shop and boost your local visibility. 
Below you can find a few post ideas for a clothing shop that will boost your local SEO and attract more customers:

• Post updates about new arrivals. Include photos or videos of the items and a call to action encouraging customers to come in and check them out.
• Share style inspiration. Share photos of customers wearing your clothing or create collages featuring different outfits that can be put together using items from your store. This can inspire customers and give them ideas for new looks.
• Inform about promotions and discounts on specific items or your entire store. This can help encourage customers to visit your store and make a purchase.
• Highlight events. If you host events at your store, share details about the event. Include information about the date, time, and location of the event, as well as any special promotions or discounts that will be offered.
• Share best customer reviews. This can build trust and credibility with potential customers and encourage them to visit your store.

COFFEE SHOP IDEAS:
As a coffee shop owner, you can use Google Business posts to attract more customers and boost your local SEO. Here are some ideas for compelling posts:

• Post updates about new menu items. Tell your customers about new drinks or food items you’ve added to your menu. Include delicious photos or videos and encourage customers to come and dig in.
• Share customer reviews. This can help build trust and credibility and encourage newcomers to visit your coffee shop.
• Share details about events. Host interesting events at your coffee shops, such as live music or poetry readings, and don’t forget to share the details in a Google Business post. Make sure to include information on the date, time, and location of the event, as well as any promotions or discounts that will be available. This will help attract more attendees and create local buzz around your business.
• Offer behind-the-scenes insights. Share glimpses into the inner world of your coffee shop, such as photos or videos of your baristas preparing drinks or details of your roasting process. This can help customers feel more connected to your business and encourage them to visit.
• Share promotions and discounts on specific menu items or your entire menu. It could encourage customers to visit your coffee shop, make a purchase, and share their positive opinions.

By tailoring these ideas to fit your specific business, you can effectively use Google Business Profile to attract more customers to your coffee shop and boost your local SEO.
Source of Google Images: 
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Owned by : SEPHORA