A Step-by-Step Guide with Screenshots on How To Create a Post Directly From Your Google My Business and Have Your Content Appear on Google Search and Maps.
Benefits of Posting from Google My Business
There must be benefits to doing something or why put the time into it? Before jumping into how to create a post from within your Google My Business, let’s first include some valid points on why you should.
- A way to promote your content
- Express your value to new potential customers, clients, and/or patients
- Showcase your product or service
- Stand out in your Google search and maps results
- And gain more Google search page real estate!
(These are just a few I came up with, I’m sure there are more. Please comment below if you think of others I may have missed!)
As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words. Below are 3 screenshots showing the real life search results from Google search, mobile, and Maps. These appeared immediately after publishing this post, which incidentally, is the post I take you through in this tutorial.
Step 1:
GMB Location Page
Log into your Google My Business Account.
Link: https://business.google.com (then sign in)
Once you are logged in, you will see your Google My Business dashboard. In our case, our dashboard shows our GMB page as well as the pages we manage for clients. If you have more than one location, or manage more than one account, first choose the correct location from the dropdown menu and then click MANAGE LOCATION.
Step 2:
Create post. This next screenshot shows the 2 options you have for creating a post from your Google My Business Dashboard. Both will work the same with the same results. One option is to click the Posts tab on the left sidebar, and the other is to click the CREATE POST button on the Posts block section. I chose the CREATE POST button on the Posts block section, but once again, either way will work the same.
Google My Business Dashboard
After selecting CREATE POST or Posts from the sidebar, the post design screen pops up.
The order doesn’t matter, but I like to start with my image.
Step 3:
To prepare for this step, select or create a square image that is at least 344 by 344 pixels. This is the minimum size required. I Haven’t found any documentation on this, it was learned by trial and error. If the first image you try to upload is smaller than 250 x 250 pixels, a message alerts you that the image must by 250 x 250 px. If you enlarge your image to at least 250 x 250 px, but it is still smaller than 344 x 344 px, and try to upload it again, the next alert message states that the image must be 344 x 344 pixels.
Another consideration is if you choose an image that is not square, it will still upload, but you will be required to crop it square with Google’s crop tool as you would when uploading a profile picture.
Google’s square crop area
Post image with text
Because of this restrictive crop feature, I redesigned the image to work better as a square.
Pro tip: If you want your image to include text that is readable on the search result page, be sure to center it the way I did here. Refer back to the Google Search Result Page Screenshots above to see how this strategy worked.
Step 4:
GMB post example
Add your description. According to Google, the post description should be 100 to 300 words. It is also important to note that on the search result page, only a snippet of your post description will be visible, so choose your first few sentences with that in mind. I assume that like a meta description if goes by character count. In my experiments, I saw around 20 to 25 words from the post description show on the search result page. The post is clickable from the search result, which is kind of neat, and it will open up in a floating window, at which time the entire image and post description can be seen.
Step 5:
Decide on, and select your post options. While creating your post, the available post options include “Make this post an event” and “Add a button.”
If you activate “Make this post an event”, your options are: add an Event Title, Start Date, Start Time, End Date, and End Time.
If you activate the Add a Button feature, you can choose between Learn More, Reserve, Sign-up, Buy, and Get Offer. Each of these link to the page, post, or other URL you enter.
Step 6:
After you fill out all the information, click the blue PREVIEW link in the upper right corner.
You will then be presented with your preview and the option to PUBLISH.
Step 7:
If everything meets your criteria, hit PUBLISH.
Step 8:
Search your business name in Google search on desktop, mobile, and maps to ensure your post is displaying as intended.
That’s it!
I hope you find this post helpful. Don’t hesitate to comment below if you have any questions or other ideas on how businesses could benefit from posting from their Google My Business account.
Also, if you have a business and want to learn more about how Phoenix Online Media can improve your local search rankings, Please call 480.539.2900 or complete this contact form to speak with an account manager about your project today!