Using Google Posts for Local SEO

Last year, I wrote about the new-at-the-time Google Posts feature, which gave businesses a way to add “social media-like” content to their Google My Business (GMB) listing. The feature is now available to all GMB accounts, and it can be a great way to give your local SEO a boost.

What are Google Posts, Again?

Posts are included in your GMB listing, and they generally take on the format of social media content (they’re also now visible on Google Maps). You can add information about an upcoming sale, a webinar, blog post, or general announcements like this one:

Businesses can use Google Posts to notify customers about important events.

You can also include a link to your website, which may help you drive more traffic. I recommend adding an image to your Posts, as it helps your content stand out.

How Do Posts Help Local SEO?

When you add Posts from your GMB account, you give search users a reason to click for more information. Every time a user clicks, it sends a signal to Google that your Post is interesting and/or relevant to searchers. Because your Post is affiliated with your GMB listing, it can help you improve your rankings in local search.

A few things to note about Posts: they “go dark” after seven days, so you will need to update at least once a week if you want to stay on top of them. You can also set the times and dates for your Posts, if they need to start or end at a certain point. The Google My Business API now allows you to schedule Posts.

Google Posts are a small way to boost your local SEO, and they take relatively little time and effort. Will you use Posts in 2018?