This week, an email was sent to millions of Google+ users reminding us about the impending shutdown of Google+ when all G+profiles and pages will be deleted on April 2. If you’ve received such an email, not to worry, this won’t affect your local SEO.

There once was a time when Google My Business (formerly Google Places) was integrated heavily with Google+.  Over the last few years, Google has been slowly scraping away the ranking influence of Google+ in search engine results, by retiring features such as +1 buttons, ads integrations and G+ content in knowledge panels and search results.

Even though Google+ is going away, Google Posts are taking off.

What are Google Posts? Google Posts is a feature that appears at the bottom of your Google My Business listing. If a user searches for a business directly, Google Posts are displayed with your other business information, also known as the Knowledge Panel. If the user’s search is broader, Posts are visible when clicking on a certain business in Google Map results.

Win More Customers with Google My Business Posts

Posts can help local businesses connect with customers by publishing special offers, promoting events and showcasing products when they find your business listing in Google results. A Google My Business Post can include an image, text, a Call-To-Action (CTA) button linking to a landing page or your website.  

7 Steps to Make Your Google Posts Stand Out

1. Be concise and convey the key information in the first 80 words.  Each Google Post has a 300-word limit, but only the first 100 characters appear in the business’ Knowledge Panel before being truncated.
2. Write an actionable headline or intro text using language that is simple and powerful. If your headline isn’t compelling you might as well toss out the effort you spent on the rest.
3. Target one keyword phrase in the beginning of your Post.
4. Attract attention with the right image.  The recommended image size is 750 x 750, with the minimum accepted size of 400×300 pixels in JPG or PNG format. Center your image so that it will still look good if it gets cropped.   Keep in mind that text on images may get cut off when viewing on mobile devices. Video can also be used in Google Posts.  It’s always a good idea to preview Posts before publishing.
5. Select the relevant Post type for you content (What’s New, Event, Offer, or Product) and corresponding CTA Button. Different button choices are: • Book • Order Online • Buy • Learn More • Sign Up • Call Now
6. Take visitors to a landing page or website page that matches the content of the Post and make sure it meets visitor expectations.
7. Use Tracking URLS. Google provides the number of views and clicks in the Google My Business dashboard.  But it’s the URL use for your CTA button that provides deeper information in Google Analytics about user engagement with your content. Incorporating UTM codes in your links you can better tell the success of your post.

Since Posts only “live” for seven days remember to post often.  Event posts will stay “live” until the date listed. Up to 10 posts are visible in a carousel, but only the first 2.5 are seen on the search results without scrolling.

Your Google My Business listing is an important SEO strategy to improve your business in local search rankings.  Since Google Posts are still relatively new, now is a prime opportunity to leverage your Google My Business presence.