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Why Businesses Should Stop Overlooking Google Posts

As Google’s Ashley Nhien Do told us in our podcast episode with her, “Your GBP is a living, breathing online storefront that should be updated.” It’s your digital storefront — at a time when 91% of consumers find local businesses online.

Many businesses now make sure to showcase their hours, address, and phone number on their Google Business Profile — fewer ensure that their information across all locations is complete and up to date. And even fewer actually stand out in real time by creating personalized, engaging experiences when consumers find their business profile online.

The reality is that more than two billion monthly users worldwide use Google Maps. And almost nine in ten people use Google Maps to find local businesses.

Whether you’re managing a multi-location business or a single location, you absolutely can’t afford to overlook posting to your Google Business Profiles. You don’t have to get overly creative with Google Posts — regularly sharing simple, exciting updates from each location can still deliver impactful results.

What Are Google Posts?

Let’s get the mundane explanation out of the way.

Google Business Profile posts let you share fresh, relevant, and local content that attracts customers. These updates show up on both mobile and desktop — in organic and AI-driven search results, voice search, and Google Maps — ensuring more people discover your business with timely, engaging information. Posts can feature announcements, promotions, events, and other updates to draw in potential customers. They also create a running timeline of business information, helping you engage with people actively searching for what you offer.

Offers can include promotional sales or offers with a specified duration.
Updates provide general information about the business.
Events promote specific events at the business with start and end dates.
Q&As ensure users find valuable information about the business quicker.

Whatever the topic or purpose, these posts can (and should) feature photos, videos, descriptions, or action buttons to maximize brand engagement.

By utilizing Google Posts effectively, businesses can improve their visibility in organic and AI search results, increase user engagement in a natural way, and drive more traffic to their website or physical locations. But if you're already active on location-based social media like Facebook and Instagram, you might be wondering why Google Posts — and why now?

Google Posts Matter for Location Performance Optimization (LPO)

Posts offer you a chance to stand out from your local competitors and provide timely, relevant content to local buyers in a crowded market. But their real value becomes clear when you view them through a location performance optimization (LPO) perspective.

Google Posts strengthen four key LPO pillars:

Visibility: Every post adds structured content to your Business Profile, giving Google (and customers) more to surface when people search locally. Regular updates signal freshness and relevance — both crucial for ranking in local results and AI-generated content across generative engines, LLMs, and voice search.
Engagement: Compelling visuals, timely offers, and clickable CTAs give consumers a reason to interact with your business when they discover you. That interaction sends strong engagement signals back to Google.
Reputation: Posts help you shape your own narrative. Instead of letting reviews or third-party sources define your brand story, your posts let you highlight your voice, values, and differentiators — directly in search.
Conversions: A well-timed post can nudge a customer from interest to action — whether that’s booking an appointment, visiting a location, or trying a new product. And when updated consistently across all your locations, Google Posts help drive conversions at scale.

Even one thoughtful update per week or every other week can have a cumulative impact across hundreds of profiles. That’s why for multi-location brands, Google Business Profile posts aren’t just nice to have — they’re one of the most underused yet powerful local marketing activities.

Take our free Academy course to learn about how LPO measures real business impact from our in-house experts.

Are Google Posts Really Going to Bring Customers to Your Door?

We know that trust is what drives customers to visit locations. But beyond that, our latest Uberall Consumer Survey found that nearly 30% of consumers say they choose a business based on special events and promotions — and 47.5% say they’ll revisit that business if there’s a special promotion or discount. That’s exactly where this Google update shines.

Another thing to remember: Business profiles with fresh, relevant, and regular posts tend to perform better — not just in traditional search, but in AI search too. But it’s not just about algorithms. These updates give potential customers a preview of what your business offers — and show that you’re active, current, and worth visiting.

It’s similar to how social media works — you’re reaching people who are actively looking for something. The difference? This is a one-way interaction. You’re not expecting likes or comments — just giving searchers the right information at the right time. And when done well, that can be just as powerful.

While platforms like Facebook, Tiktok, and Instagram are designed for two-way engagement and community-building, Google Posts are there to meet high-intent local consumers right in the search moment — with content that’s timely, relevant, and designed to drive action.

Best Practices for Google Posts

Google does a pretty good job of explaining step-by-step how to post on Google, so we’ll cut to the chase and tell you what to post about, since businesses often struggle to find inspiration.

Straight from the experts, here are our top 10 tips for inspiring your Google Posts and creating content there for engagement and conversion, while adhering to Google’s guidelines:

1. Focus on Action

Craft posts that prompt users to take action, such as visiting your website or calling your business, to drive engagement and conversions. Use clear and concise language to deliver your message efficiently and effectively, ensuring that users can quickly understand the offer or information.

Limit posts to 300 words, sell your product within the first 100 characters, and decide carefully which website URL you want to link your post to. Homepages are not helpful in driving conversions; contact or product pages are.

“Focus on driving action. Using a clean and eye-catching post that encourages users to take action will really help to stand out in a hypercompetitive market. Don’t overcomplicate the message – instead, focus on simple messaging and develop an ongoing post calendar and cadence.” – Krystal, VP Solutions at Uberall

2. Provide Clear CTAs

Accompany your compelling post with a clear call-to-action (CTA) button that encourages users to take the desired action, whether it’s making a purchase or visiting your store. You don’t want to be too vague — “Learn more” is often less effective than “Browse our sale.” By including custom CTAs directly on your business listing, you can choose how to connect with your customers.

3. Include Relevant Keywords

Optimize your post by including relevant keywords related to your business or offer, helping to improve its visibility in search results. Aim to use keywords that customers themselves are using in your reviews, instead of just aiming for high search volume. Again, this enhances connection and trust between you and your potential customers.

Mention local neighborhoods, landmarks, or city names in your text

4. Highlight Unique Selling Points or Limited-Time Offers

Showcase what sets your business apart from competitors by highlighting unique features, promotions, or services in your post. Use this for general updates, announcements, or anything you want customers to know. And don’t forget to plug local events to further engage with the surrounding community and showcase your business’ engagement.

Enjoy these Google Post examples:

Highlight seasonal or limited menu items, such as “Pumpkin Spice Latte now available for Fall!” or “Special holiday-themed cookies for Easter only!”
Promote flash sales and short-term discounts like “Today only: 50% off all appetizers between 5-7 PM!”
Share an interesting fact about your business, like “Did you know our coffee beans are sourced from a family-owned farm in Colombia?”
Share hiring updates: Let locals know you're expanding and hiring across departments with posts like: “Now hiring cooks, cashiers, delivery drivers & managers. Great pay, flexible shifts & growth opportunities. Apply online or drop off your resume in-store today!”
Update your opening hours: This is critical for special occasions and to inform customers about special closures so they don’t show up to a locked door: “We’ve Expanded Our Hours! We’re now open from 8 AM to 11 PM on weekdays to serve you better. Whether you’re an early riser or a night owl, we’ve got your back. Stop by and say hello!”
Get customers excited about a new store opening: Let locals know when you’re opening a new location: “Now Open in East Baltimore! We’re excited to open our newest location in East Baltimore! Visit us at 123 Main Street and enjoy 15% off your first purchase this week only.”

5. Post Regularly and Tailor Your Posts

This is what we were talking about with the freshness of content. Maintain a consistent posting schedule to keep your audience engaged and informed, establishing your presence and trustworthiness on Google. Same with photos.

And don’t forget to plug local events or offerings to further engage with the surrounding community and showcase your business’ engagement. This could mean highlighting location-specific promotions, job openings, or community events. Customers want to know what’s happening at their local store — not just about a brand overall.

6. Cover FAQ Content

Use your profile to address questions your customers might be searching for or asking in-store — or at any stage of the customer journey. This will help overcome any doubt or hesitancy and will also boost trust, since you are demonstrating that you know and care about your customers’ needs.

To establish the most common FAQs, you might want to talk with your sales or in-store team, look into common online search queries about your industry/service/product, or read reviews to see what’s important to your customers.

7. Engage with Emojis

This is very similar to social media — use emojis strategically to add personality and emotion to your posts, helping to capture attention and convey your message more effectively. But ensure you keep your tone of voice consistent and true to your brand.

8. Showcase Testimonials or Reviews

Share positive reviews and glowing feedback from satisfied customers to build trust and credibility with potential customers. If they know you care, this will go a long way among new and existing customers.

For example, you could have a post reading: “Best Facial Ever!” Real feedback from real clients. Come see why we’re rated 4.9 stars on Maps.

9. Use Enticing Visuals

Images and videos make everything interesting and immersive and invite higher engagement. Incorporate high-resolution images or videos to make your post visually appealing and attract the attention of users as they scroll through search results. Our in-house expert Ehab also talks about the frequency of posting with images in his article on local SEO audits:

“It’s all about engagement recency. Update little and often. If you have 100 photos, upload (for example) 40 now and then two every week for a year. Start drip-feeding. This signals that your business is relevant and up-to-date. You can apply this to opening hours and other fields in your listing as well!” – Ehab Aboud, Principal Solutions Engineer at Uberall

Technically speaking, images for Google Posts should have a minimum resolution of 400 pixels wide by 300 pixels tall and be in either JPG or PNG format. Videos, on the other hand, can be a maximum size of 100 MB and should be in formats such as AVI, MP4, MOV, FLV, WMV, MPG, M4V, MKV, M2TS, or MTS.

10. Use UTM Links and Monitor Performance

Track the performance of your posts and analyze metrics such as views, clicks, and engagement to optimize future posts and strategies. We recommend businesses use UTM links to track the links that they use from their Google Posts.

Reflect on which posts worked well and which didn’t, and use these insights to refine future posting strategies and maximize effectiveness. By tracking these, businesses can gain valuable insights into the types of content that resonate most with their audience and drive the highest levels of engagement.

For example, if a particular post receives a high number of views but low engagement, it may indicate that the content is attracting attention but failing to compel users to take action. On the other hand, posts with high engagement rates suggest that the content is resonating well with the audience and prompting them to interact with the post.

Who Should Be Responsible for Your Google Posts?

Empower your local and regional managers to shape your Google Post strategy — after all, they know their customers best. At the same time, maintain oversight at headquarters with platforms that facilitate posting at scale, ensuring brand consistency while still enabling location-level flexibility.

With Uberall’s Local Social Media Management platform, teams can create, edit, and publish Google Posts to one location — or thousands — in just one click. They can also post to Instagram, Facebook, and other platforms simultaneously. For businesses and teams that need to post on the go, the Uberall mobile app makes it easy to schedule, publish, and reply to comments from anywhere.

For teams looking for inspiration amid their busy days, the built-in AI-Social Writer and AI-Tone Adjuster are designed to help them stay productive and connected with consumers by localizing posts and maintaining the brand’s tone of voice. Using the platform’s dynamic text fields, posts can be instantly tailored with location-specific data — making every post hyperlocal, engaging, and conversion-ready.

With Uberall’s Local Social management tool, teams can publish to one location — or thousands — in just a few clicks. The built-in AI-Social Writer and AI-Tone Adjuster are designed precisely for this, helping busy teams stay productive and connected with consumers. By using the tool’s dynamic text fields, posts can be instantly tailored with location-specific data — making every post hyperlocal, engaging, and conversion-ready.

Google Posts Are a Conversion Booster Tool

Most local businesses overlook Google Posts — don’t be one of them. Stay top-of-mind when customers search by showing up with fresh, relevant content in key places they’re already looking.

In fact, with recent Google algorithm updates, these posts are showing up more prominently across both traditional and AI-powered search experiences. They’re one of the simplest ways to increase your local reach, drive engagement, and boost real-world conversions — without spending more on ads.

By following best practices and posting consistently, your business won’t just be found — it’ll be chosen.