How to use Google Business Profile posts to stay visible and active

What GBP posts are and why they matter

Google Business Profile posts are short updates that appear on your GBP listing in Google Search and Google Maps. Think of them as a mini social feed that appears directly in local search results — visible to anyone who finds your listing. They can include text, a photo, a link to your website, and a call-to-action button.

From a pure SEO standpoint, the direct ranking impact of posts is modest. What they do well is signal activity: a listing that posts regularly looks like an active, engaged business. A listing with no updates, stale photos, and an out-of-date "last updated" date looks abandoned — and Google may treat it that way in ranking decisions.

Posts also serve a direct conversion purpose: someone looking at your listing sees your latest promotion, recent work, or seasonal update and gets a reason to click through or call right now.

Types of GBP posts

Google currently offers several post types:

• Updates: General updates about your business — news, announcements, "we're now booking spring appointments." These are the most versatile and should form the bulk of your posting.
• Offers: Time-limited promotions with a start and end date. If you run a spring cleaning special or a summer maintenance discount, use an Offer post. The offer badge is visually distinct in search results and can increase click-throughs.
• Events: Useful for businesses hosting workshops, open houses, or community events. A Nanaimo yoga studio running a weekend workshop, a Duncan garden centre hosting a planting day — these are worth posting as Events.

What to post about as a Vancouver Island business

The biggest obstacle for small business owners is figuring out what to say. Here are content angles that work well and require almost no creative effort:

• Seasonal service reminders: "Spring is the right time to service your heat pump before summer" — relevant to Nanaimo and Cowichan Valley HVAC businesses
• Recent completed work: "Just finished a cedar deck installation in Mill Bay — here's a photo" — real content, real credibility
• Staff or business news: "We've taken on a new apprentice and have extra capacity this autumn"
• Community involvement: "We sponsored the Chemainus summer market this weekend — thanks for stopping by"
• Answers to common questions: "We get asked a lot whether we service X — yes, we do, and here's what that involves"
• Blog posts: If you write blog content, post a summary with a link back to the full article

How often to post

Aim for at least one post per month, and ideally one every one to two weeks. You don't need to post daily — that's social media behaviour and it's not what GBP posts are for. Consistent, substantive posts every couple of weeks are more valuable than daily fluff.

The easiest approach: set a calendar reminder for the first of each month to write two posts for that month. Schedule 20 minutes. Write one update about something happening in your business and one about a service or seasonal topic. Done.

Photo and image requirements

Posts with photos significantly outperform text-only posts for engagement. Google recommends images at least 400 x 300 pixels, but in practice you should aim higher — 1200 x 900 or similar, well-compressed. Real photos of your work, your team, or your location perform better than stock images. A Comox Valley landscaper posting a photo of a garden they actually planted is far more compelling than a generic "green lawn" stock photo.

See the GBP photos article for more on image quality and what works best.

Call-to-action buttons

Most post types let you add a CTA button: "Learn more," "Book," "Call," "Order online," or "Sign up." Always add one. Even if most people don't click it, it frames the post as an action opportunity rather than just information. For service businesses, "Call now" or "Book" are almost always the right choice.

Tracking whether posts are doing anything

Google Business Profile Insights shows you how many views your posts receive. Don't expect huge numbers — post views are typically modest for local businesses. What you're looking for over time is whether your overall listing views and website click-throughs trend upward as you post more consistently. The measuring local SEO results article covers how to track this in context.