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GBP Posts: What you need to know to get started

Author: Claire Carlile

A graphic with search-related iconography, including a calendar, chart, Google logo, and globe. There's an image of author Claire Carlile on the left-hand side

You’ve claimed your Google Business Profile, you’ve made sure your name, address, and phone number are correct, you’ve selected the best primary and secondary business categories, you’ve added some great photos, and you’ve started asking for and replying to reviews.


Great stuff, well done! What’s next? Google Posts can help increase your business’s visibility in the search engine results page (SERP) and drive more customers to take business critical actions, such as booking an appointment, attending an event, signing up for a newsletter, and ordering online.


In this article, you’ll learn how to best use Google Posts to move potential customers closer to conversion, including:



What are Google Posts?


A bit like posts within social media channels (like a Facebook post or Tweet on Twitter, for example), Google Posts allow you to add an image, some copy, and a call to action to share with potential audiences.


A screenshot of the “What’s new from Baylee Thai Cuisine” section of the mobile search results for a thai restaurant. The section contains a carousel of Google Posts, including one with an image of Khao Piek with crispy pork, and another announcing the availability of online ordering and a CTA that says “Order online”
A carousel of Google Posts in the mobile search results.

But, that’s where the likeness to most social media posts ends. Social media posts generally serve an audience that have already opted in to your content (i.e., they liked your Facebook page or they follow you on Twitter or Instagram, for example).


Google Posts are different. Viewers of your Google Posts haven’t opted in. They are typically further up the marketing funnel and see your Posts because they’re shown in your business profile on search or on Google Maps.


Posts are your opportunity to catch that potential customer's eye and nudge them towards clicking through to your website or taking another important action (such as calling your business).

Where do Google Posts appear?

Over the years, Google Posts have moved around the business profile on desktop search, on mobile search, in the local finder, and on Google Maps, so it’s not a surprise that many businesses fail to use them effectively to drive website traffic and customer conversions.


In the local knowledge panel on mobile, you’ll find Update and Event Posts (more on these post types below) in the “Updates” tab (shown below).


A screenshot of a mobile search result for the brand name search for “Folly Farm Adventure Park and Zoo”. The page includes a photo of a big wheel fairground ride and the business name at the top of the page, the ‘updates’ tab is highlighted and the screen shows a photo of a staff member holding a small tree.

You’ll find Offer Posts (again, more on this post type below) in their own separate “Deals” tab.


A screenshot of a mobile search result for the brand name search for “Folly Farm Adventure Park and Zoo”. The page includes a photo of a big wheel fairground ride and the business name at the top of the page, the ‘deals’ tab is highlighted and the screen shows two offers - one for a FREE TREE and the other to encourage money saving by visiting twice or more in a year.

On a desktop, Posts look like this:


A screenshot of a section of a  desktop search result for the brand name search for “Folly Farm Adventure Park and Zoo”. The section includes the business description content above, and then below there are two Google posts - one showing a photo of a wildcat and the other showing Father Christmas handing a stocking to a child.

And, sometimes on desktop Offer Posts can appear separately like this:


A screenshot of a section of a desktop search result for the brand name search for “Folly Farm Adventure Park and Zoo”. The section includes the questions and answers section at the top, and then underneath it shows an ‘offer post’ with a photo of a young child and her mother and the words ‘save money when you visit more than twice a year’.

Your posts will look like this in Google Maps:


A screenshot of a section of a desktop search on Google Maps.  The left hand side shows two business names with photos, and on the right hand side there is a Google Post showing a photo of a wildcat, with CTA that reads ‘learn more’.

Your Posts can also get pulled in by Google when a searcher asks a question in your business profile’s Q&A section:


A screenshot of the ‘questions and answers’ section of a desktop search where the searcher is asking the question “Can I visit Santa?”.  The right hand side of the image shows Google pulling in a Google Post from the business in an attempt to answer the searcher question.

As you can see, there are numerous places where your Posts could show up, and while Google has been known to change up these placements, the opportunity afforded by Google Posts for businesses is very real. However, before you can put them to work for your business, you’ll need to get familiar with Google’s guidelines for Posts.


Google’s guidelines for Posts


Be aware that Google Posts aren’t available to all business types—they’re currently not available to those selling regulated goods (including liquor, cannabis, and guns). Up until 2021, Posts weren’t available for lodging type categories, but these businesses now have access to both “What’s new” and “Event” posts.


If your business has access to Google Posts, you’ll see them available in the “In search editing” interface on Google (shown below):


A screenshot of a section of a desktop search result showing the in search editing options for a Google Business Profile.  The ‘add update’ option is highlighted.

Google provides a content policy for Posts—make sure to read through it before you start planning out your Posts in order to have the best chance of getting published (Google may reject posts, more on this below).


In a nutshell you’ll need to adhere to the following:


  • Avoid off-topic or irrelevant content (including general political commentary, social commentary, or personal rants).

  • Avoid spam (including misspellings, poor quality images or videos, and duplicate photos, posts, videos, and logos).

  • Make sure your content is appropriate (i.e., it doesn’t harass or bully, it isn’t disparaging, obscene, violent, or sexually suggestive).

  • Respectful of privacy (i.e., it doesn’t include photos from no-photo zones, or personally identifiable images or videos of people where they may object to the use of their image).

  • Avoid videos or photos in which regulated goods (for example, alcohol) is anything but purely incidental to the content.


Phew! Just keep those in mind when you produce your content and, if your Post gets rejected, reference the guidelines for potential reasons why.


If your Posts are being rejected and it’s not due to a violation of one of the guidelines listed above, it’s quite likely that one or more or your images are being viewed as suspect by Google’s systems. You can run a free check of your images here to see your images the way Google sees them.


If Google’s systems are identifying elements of your images as “Racy” or “Adult,” it’s likely this is why your post was rejected. See the example below from a holistic massage practitioner:


A screenshot of a Google Post that is marked ‘not approved’ by Google.  The photo shows a right buttock being massaged by two hands.
Google might easily misinterpret (and therefore, reject) this photo of a person getting a massage.

A screenshot of a photo that has been run through Google’s Vision AI tool.  The image shows two hands massaging a buttock.  Google’s Vision AI tool is rating the image as being ‘very likely’ ‘adult’ and ‘racy’ content.
Google’s Vision AI tool found that the image is very likely to be racy and/or adult.

To avoid this, think carefully about how Google might interpret images when you plan your photo shoots or start gathering safe images to use specifically for your Google Posts.


It’s possible that Google might interpret your images very differently to how you interpret them, so check with the free Vision AI tool before you spend your time and budget on photos that you might not be able to make much use of.


The types of Google Posts


There are three types of Google Posts that are available to most businesses. These are:


  • Update Posts

  • Event Posts

  • Offer Posts


Update Posts

An Update Post allows you to add photos and/or a video, up to 1500 characters of text, and a call to action (CTA). This type of Post stays live and visible in your business profile for six months.


A screenshot showing the ‘add update’ interface when viewed on a desktop.  There is a field for ‘add a description’, a photo can be added and it is optional to add a button CTA.

The “Add a button” dropdown menu gives you the following CTA choices:


A screenshot showing a drop down menu for the microcopy available when you add a CTA button to a Google Post.

It’s a good idea to include a call to action with each of your Posts to encourage potential customers to take the next step. If you’re including a link to your website, remember to add UTM tags to the URL so that you’ll be able to track traffic from Google Posts back to your website (more on this below).


Update Post example

This Update Post uses enticing language, suggests a personal touch (“sneak peak!”), and links to details and photos of the business’s new product (a luxury accommodation offering):


A screenshot of a mobile device showing Google Posts for Folly Farm Adventure Park and Zoo.  The image shows a comfy looking bed with white sheets and pillow and some neatly folded towels on the bed.  There is a CTA text that reads ‘learn more’.

The emojis catch the eye and the addition of the date adds an element of urgency.


Event Posts

With an Event Post, you can add the event title, the start and end date (with optional time), photos, plus the event details (up to 1500 characters).


A screenshot of the ‘add event’ interface on a desktop.  There are fields for the event title, the start and end date, the event details, a potion where you can upload photos and the option to add a CTA button to the event post

Add a link pointing to the relevant event content on your website with a CTA button to encourage searchers to take the next steps towards conversion (e.g., make a booking or buy a ticket).


Event Post example

A screenshot of an event Google Post on a desktop device.  The image includes a photo of two children hugging each other, and the copy encourages the searcher to ‘book now’.  The post includes a ‘book’ CTA.

The text (“BOOK NOW - limited availability”) adds a sense of urgency, and a range of images show all of the photo opportunities on offer at the event so parents and childcare providers can imagine their own children in that spot (and thus creating that memory).


WARNING: Event Posts are not what populates this section in the business profile:


A screenshot of a portion of the business profile on a desktop.  An ‘event post’ is highlighted, the date and time and title of the event are included in the result.

If you are seeing events listed in your local knowledge panel, then it’s likely that Google is pulling this information from sources other than your business profile (and usually other than your own website).


This information can often be inaccurate as Google will just scrape events from any old page with event schema that mentions your business name as the location. So, make sure to create an “Events” page on your own site and mark it up with event schema for the best chance of your own pages populating this section.


Offer Posts

An offer post requires an offer title (shorter than 58 characters) and a start/end date. You’ll also want to add relevant images, too.