By Mark Goren
Let’s assume you know what an online local business directory is. And let’s even assume that you’ve claimed your restaurant’s listing on Google and perhaps some other directories. Have you thought about how you can optimize your listing? Have you considered trying Google Posts, a new feature that will allow your listings to get more views?
Last fall, Google issued an interesting update that you should consider trying to drive more traffic to your restaurant. It’s simply called Posts. It’s a feature that Google would like you to think of as a status update–and Posts is powerful.
As Google describes:
Posting through Google My Business lets you publish your events, products and services directly to Google Search and Maps. By creating Posts, you can place your timely content in front of customers when they find your business listing on Google.
Posts are meant to be timely and expire seven days after they go live, so when thinking about what to publish on your Google listing, consider promotions, events, holiday information such as changes to your hours or contest information. If you’re creative by nature, you can add pictures, short-form videos and GIFs. This makes Posts ideal for when you change your menu, add specials or tweak the decor of your restaurant.
When you log into your Google My Business account after after posting content to your listing, Google offers insights into your content, allowing you to see the number of views and button clicks generated for each post. Check in on your insights to learn what posts work best and what perform below average. Using this information, you can optimize your next batch of Posts, and refine the marketing recipe that works best for your business.
Google limits Post titles to 58 characters and allows a maximum of 1,500 characters for Post content (although Google says 300 to 500 is ideal). Also, don’t forget to add a real call to action that helps viewers engage with your post.
There’s another important reason to consider using this new feature: Early indications show that posting content to your listing has an impact on your location authority. That affects the ranking power in Google local search results, which impacts the position of your business on Google Maps. Put another way, the greater your location authority, the more likely your restaurant’s listing will be show up on Maps. This will result in not only more views of your listing, but also more calls to your establishment, more foot traffic via directions and mapping and more website visits as well.
So go ahead and give Google Posts a try. Add it into your social media calendar and cross-post appropriate content from your Instagram and Facebook feeds. Give it some time, watch your results and see the impact of these posts on your listing. You have everything to gain.
About the Author
Mark Goren is the President of 10|20 Marketing, a company that helps businesses big and small optimize their online presence through business listings, online review strategies and social media listening. You can also reach us online on Twitter and Facebook.
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