Proper use of Google Posts

[Larry Linson]

I have a lawyer client who is losing out in the SERP page results to sites that to me seem inferior. I have noticed, however, that several of these sites have lots of google posts. They are being used however basically like a twitter post - a teaser for and link to a blog post. Click on "learn more" takes you to the blog post on the attorney's website. Doesn't seem like the way google wants posts used, so I am wondering if I might not want to lead my client down this path.

 

[Joey Abna]

GMB posts aren't a ranking factor. They can be a conversion factor though.

 

[JeffClevelandTN]

I have a lawyer client who is losing out in the SERP page results to sites that to me seem inferior. I have noticed, however, that several of these sites have lots of google posts. They are being used however basically like a twitter post - a teaser for and link to a blog post. Click on "learn more" takes you to the blog post on the attorney's website. Doesn't seem like the way google wants posts used, so I am wondering if I might not want to lead my client down this path.

Hi Larry, lately it seems our agency's newer clients are either in highly competitive industries and/or more competive markets. As a result we've been really digging into GMB and Maps optimization to get even the slightest edge (or advantage) on our competition. Fortunately, this forum has great members willing to share along with LocalU Faculty members that have done case studies about GMB posts, such as @BenFisher and @JoyHawkins.

I'd highly recommend reading this case study from 2019 about GMB Posts on Moz.com that was authored by @BenFisher: Do Businesses Really Use Google My Business Posts? A Case Study

Although it is close to 3 years old, it still is the most thorough study that I've been able to find. I was about to actually create a separate forum post asking Ben if he's done any follow up to the study since then or if he or Joy were aware of anything newer. When I saw your post, I thought maybe I could help you out and also get their expert opinion. Two birds one stone

In any case, when you read the study, I'd highly recommend to also read all the comments at the bottom of the article. The comments were equally as helpful as the article itself because it gave insight from other people's real world practical GMB Posting experiences. Yes, the short answer is that GMB Posts don't directly influence organic ranking in Local Pack or SERP, but the longer answer isn't that simple. It can be a significant indirect ranking factor. In my experience I've found that effective indirect factors can provide much better ROI than many direct ranking factors. Also, as Ben points out, personal injury attorneys post most frequently and you mentioned your client is an attorney.

In regards to the competitor creating GMB posts that go to a blog article/post on the website, that is a totally acceptable practice. Unless the post title is misleading, there is nothing wrong with it. For our clients that have active Blogs, more often than not, most of their clicks to the blog article are a result of the click-thru from the GMB Post about the blog article.

If your lawyer client is actively posting on FB, you may find it easiest just to copy and paste the FB posts image, text, and link to a GMB Post.

I hope the above info is helpful.

Lastly, I'd highly recommend attending the next LocalU webinar in November: LocalU Advanced November 30, 2021 - Local University

It is only $99. I went to the last one and had two questions answered during Q&A that were well worth the price of admission. By far the best value I've spent on SEO in years!

Who knows, one of the sessions may be "The value of GMB Posts in 2022".

 

[JeffClevelandTN]

Hey Larry, I actually just read these two recent posts from @JoyHawkins. Great info and advice about GMB posts to supplement the older case study mentioned above.

Do Google Posts Impact Ranking? - Sterling Sky Inc

One of the most frequent questions I get asked related to Google posts is if they impact where a business ranks in the local pack. To answer this question,

www.sterlingsky.ca

Google Posts: What We Learned From Analyzing Over 1,000 Google Posts

Wondering how to make your Google posts perform better? Did you ever have a Google My Business post rejected? In this case study, we wanted to find out what

www.sterlingsky.ca

 

[cfazio]

I have a lawyer client who is losing out in the SERP page results to sites that to me seem inferior. I have noticed, however, that several of these sites have lots of google posts. They are being used however basically like a twitter post - a teaser for and link to a blog post. Click on "learn more" takes you to the blog post on the attorney's website. Doesn't seem like the way google wants posts used, so I am wondering if I might not want to lead my client down this path.

Another way to get the indirect ranking benefits of GMB posts is to share the GMB post URL to social media such as facebook or twitter. Use a hook and the learn more button in the post to get users from social to click through to the post / article / service page whatever it may be. This increases the engagement with your GMB profile, which is a strong ranking signal.

 

[GMBapi.com]

We usually do A/B tests to find out what the impact is of posts. Sometimes it is 4-5% of discovery search impression growth - but usually it is is a lot higher. 17% on average in the week that you post. We have developed a simple methodology for designing those test, a datastudio report to monitor them, and we have the posting API unlocked to do the posts at scale. Anyone keen to test this for a chain feel free to reach out.