One of the most important tools for marketing your construction or real estate business is to claim and optimize your Google Business Profile. This is a free online marketing tool and an excellent way to build out your online marketing campaign.
Claiming your Google Business Profile and filling out basic details like your contact information will help grow your online presence. This is the first step to getting your company to appear in Google searches. From here, you can get more benefits by adding posts regularly to your Google Business Profile. Keep reading to learn more about what this free feature can do for your business.
Important Details to Include in Your Construction or Real Estate Business Profile
Your Google Business Profile as a real estate or construction company should have the following details:
- Business address
- Phone number
- Hours of operation
- Link for virtual applications
- Link for scheduling appointments
- Top-notch photos of services, open houses, and products
- Contact details
What Does It Mean to Make Google Business Profile Post?
As a real estate business or construction company, your Google Business Profile Posts should have interesting media content and other forms. You can only use a maximum of 1,500 characters in your text posts, but that is plenty to get your details across.
Your posts can include any of the following:
- Events such as an open house or new build site
- Photos of a new construction or new listings
- Reviews
- FAQ
- Surveys
- Special offers
- News clips
Reasons Construction and Real Estate Companies Should Add Google Business Profile Posts
Companies that don’t regularly upload Google Business Profiles posts are falling behind because of the substantial weight internet marketing carries. More than keeping ahead of the competition, your construction company can get several benefits from uploading Google Business Profile posts. Consider some of the following pros:
- Shareable: Google Business Profile posts are easy to share on other media platforms, such as Facebook and Twitter. This makes it simple to get your point across multiple channels, therefore reaching a larger audience.
- Visibility: With better SEO on your posts, you will become more visible in searches. This will help potential listings come up when searched. It will make your company pop up in local searches easier.
- Include Photos: It is easy to add photos of recently listed homes or new constructions with your posts. This is a great way to show some of your best homes on the market or your proud projects.
- Boost SEO: There are many factors to Google’s algorithms to create your search engine rankings. Claiming and filling out your Google Business Profile and posting is one of the SEO factors that will help.
- Incorporate your CTA: With Google, you can easily incorporate CTAs with your posts that are relevant to your construction company, including signing up for specials or “Get Offer.”
- Free: Like the rest of the main Google Business Profile functions, you can post completely free. You won’t have to create a budget for this part of your marketing.
How to Add Google Business Profile Posts
When you want to add posts to your Google Business Profile, these are the next steps:
- Select your post type based on your goal. Perhaps it is a new listing announcement, or you want to announce new building materials. Maybe you want to share details about an open house.
- Create content that is appealing but keep it under 1,500 characters.
- Add a video or an image to the post.
- Click Publish. Your post will appear as “pending” as Google reviews it before publishing the post. It will be marked “live” when published. If you see a “Not approved,” hit the question mark. The policy you violated will pop up. Make the adjustment and re-post.
- Posts are visible for one week.
Kinds of Content Your Google Business Profile Page Will Benefit From
There are many ways to post to your Google Business Profile, but many companies aren’t sure where to begin.
Here are a few things you can share that will help your business:
Updates
Use your Google Business Profile page to share what is going on with your business. Are you going to extend your hours? Have you hired a new team member that everyone should know about? Did you participate in some continued education that you would like to brag about? New products you have, new services you offer, or something being discontinued – all these can be shared with a post.
Product Promotions
In addition to a casual update, you should make an easy-to-skim announcement of new services and products you offer. Do a post that shows how to use the product or the benefits of a new service. Add a high-quality photo or video and then share it across your social media platforms.
Active Offers Regularly
You should have an active offer displayed regularly. This may be something as simple as a student discount, military discount, or senior discount. If they expire, make sure to announce a new one. Keeping an offer readily available with a link to take advantage of it is a great way to build brand awareness.
Store Showcase
For a company that has a physical location, sharing a series of posts and pictures of your business will grow traffic. This is particularly important with retail stores to show clients what types of products you have. The more pictures and the higher quality they are, the better conversion rate you will see.
Featured Events
When your business has an event, announce it on your Google Business Profile page. This will get the details out to your client base and grow the attendance at the event. When possible, add a picture as well.
You Posted; Now What?
Your work isn’t done after publishing your post. Next, you need to respond to any customer interaction. If there is a question asked or a review left, respond quickly. Many companies make the mistake of putting a post out there and not checking it. You want to make sure your customers know if they comment, you will respond. The post will only stay up for a week, so it isn’t that long to be responsive to feedback.
Why Photos Are Important
Sharing photos with your Google Business Profile posts significantly increases the traffic you get to your site – as much as 35%. Businesses that use videos and photos to add to their Google Business Profile page see as much as 42% more requests for directions to their business from Google Maps.
In 2020, DigitalMaas confirmed that businesses with photos attached to their profile see the following increases:
- 24% increase in overall views
- 45% increase in requests for directions
- 48% increase in visits to the website from the listing
- 76% increase in overall searches
Photos will add trust to your brand and draw the attention of potential clients. If your business won an award, it is hard for your customers to believe it if you don’t have a photo available. But with the addition of a photo or another proof, you easily gained their trust.
With Photos-Size Matters
You can upload any photo regardless of size. But the best size is a 4:3 ratio, or keep the subject in the center. This will keep your photo from being cropped and ruining a video or image. You need to stick with PNGs and JPGs when sharing as well. The recommended size is 1,000 pixels by 900 pixels, with the minimum being 480 pixels by 270 pixels. Each photo can be as large as 5 MB. When working with a video, the resolution should be 720 pixels at a minimum and can be up to 30 seconds long and 75 MB.
Skip Photo Filters
When you add a photo to your Google Business Profile post, don’t use the filters. Instead, choose photos that are accurate, clear, and defined. You don’t need them to be taken by a professional, but you do need high-quality.
When your business adds photos to your Google Business Profile page regularly, you will see an improvement in your search results and the number of clicks you get. Photos help to build trust with your clients, raise brand awareness, and increase client interaction.
Tips for Adding Google Business Profile Posts
Now that you have the basics down, there are a few practices that will improve your Google Business Profile posts. Your posts only last about a week, so you will want to be thoughtful in creating the content you share. Consider the following helpful tips for creating a quality Google Business Profile post:
Keep It Short
The best Google Business Profile posts are to the point. You don’t need to use every one of the 1,500 characters when you post. A shorter, more interesting answer will do better with your clients.
Be Grateful
When sharing for your company, keep the perspective of being thankful. Companies grateful for their staff who worked hard during the pandemic see better interaction. People gravitate toward gratefulness and away from negativity.
Get Some Keywords In
One of the goals of posting to GMB is to get more SEO work for your site. You don’t need a bunch, but adding one or two near the start will make a difference.
Make Good Use of Your CTA
We talked about using a CTA above, but remember to take full advantage of it. You can link the CTA to any page on your site. This means it can link to your award page, a coupon, a landing page, or your homepage.
Skip the Hashtags
When creating the posts, you may want to use hashtags as you do with other social media platforms. Steer clear from this. With your Google Business Profile post, you want it to be short and to the point. This means adding hashtags will just add clutter.
Be Responsive to Your Clients
It is your hope that customers will respond to your posts. When they do so, respond to this quickly. Whether the comment is positive or negative, you need to be professional in your response. Doing this regularly will build your brand and your trust.
Regular Posts
You need to maintain a regular posting schedule. This helps to let your audience know you are there and your business is active. A quality online presence has a mix of informative text, photos, and videos to keep its audience involved.
A Word About Google’s Content Policies
There are a few things that will not be shared in Google Business Profile Posts because of the guidelines. If there is something you want to post that doesn’t fit these guidelines, put it on your blog or another platform. Google content guidelines won’t allow the following:
- Spammy content
- Content that doesn’t respect privacy
- Content that is irrelevant or off-topic
- Hateful content that harasses or promotes bullying
- Content promoting graphic photos or violence.
- Sexually explicit or suggestive content
- Content that is offensive, profane, or suggestive
If your post gets denied, check the policies and correct the problem. If you still want to share the information but it won’t pass Google content guidelines, then consider sharing on a different social media platform.
Conclusion
The more posts you add to your Google Business Profile page, the more engagement you’ll get from your target market. Staying on top of customer comments and being professional in your responses will go a long way to building trust in your brand. Your company will also be at the top of search results in Google Maps and Google Search.
When it comes to your marketing strategy, it doesn’t get better than starting here. This free online marketing tool is critical to creating and sustaining an online presence. Take the above tips and start creating Google Business Profile posts with rich content right away.
