The weekly special, in two lines.
Name the special, the price, and the window it runs. One photo, an action button to your booking or menu page. This is the post that turns a search into a visit the same week.
Blog · Google Business Profile
Google Business Profile Posts: How to Use Them
A Google Business Profile post is not an Instagram post. Nobody follows your listing for the look of it; they land there from a search, already needing what you sell. This is a plain guide to what a Google Business Profile post is, the kinds you can publish, and the posts worth making.
The rules are different here because the reader is different. On Instagram you are earning attention from people who did not ask. On a Business Profile you are answering someone who searched, and the post's only job is to be the useful, current thing they find when the listing opens.
The payoff is specific, and it is not likes. A well-kept listing with current posts shows up in the search that matters, and it tells the person who just looked you up that the business is alive and answering. That is the whole point of the channel.
What a Google Business Profile post is
A Google Business Profile post is a short update that sits on your business listing in Google Search and Maps. Someone looks up your business, the listing opens, and the posts are part of what they see, usually near the bottom. They are not a feed anyone subscribes to; they are the current, dated things a customer finds when they are already deciding.
The text of a post is a single field Google calls the summary, and it is capped at 1500 characters. That is the hard ceiling the posting pipeline enforces, and it is far more room than a good post needs. A useful post is two or three sentences, because the reader is mid-search and wants the answer, not an essay.
A post can carry one photo. The posting API accepts a PHOTO media format from an https URL, and video is not a local-post media format, so a clip is dropped rather than posted. Square-ish images work best: JPG or PNG, between 10KB and 5MB, recommended 720 by 720 pixels, minimum 250 by 250. And leave hashtags out entirely; they are not a documented feature of GBP posts.
The three post types
There are three kinds to know. An Update is the standard, everyday post: a special, a new service, changed hours. An Event is for a specific happening, like an open house or a class. An Offer is for a promotion, and it adds a coupon code field on top of the link.
Updates and Events can carry an action button with a link, so the post points the reader somewhere. Offers can carry that same link plus a coupon code. The link is what makes a post do work: a reader who found your listing through search can click straight through to book, order, or read more.
Pick the type that fits the message and let it do the work. A special that never expires is an Update, not an Offer, because an Offer sets the expectation of a coupon. A dated class is an Event. Using the right type keeps the listing honest, and an honest listing is the one a customer trusts.
Posts worth making on a Business Profile
These are the updates that earn their spot on a listing. Each one is short, dated, and useful to the person who just searched.
Changed hours, posted the day they change.
A holiday closure or a new opening time goes up the moment you know it. The reader who drove across town and found the door locked is the reader who leaves a bad review; the post that tells them first is the one that prevents it.
The new service, announced.
Say what you now offer, when it starts, and who it is for. Keep it to two sentences and a photo of the actual service. This is the post that tells your existing customers what else you do.
The event, with a date and a link.
Name the event, the date, and the time, and put the action button to the signup or the calendar. An Event post exists for the person who searched and wants to know if they can come.
The answer to the question everyone calls about.
Take the question the front desk answers every week and answer it in two sentences as an Update. Do you take walk-ins, do you deliver, is parking free. The listing becomes the answer, and the answer becomes the call.
The before and after, with a caption.
A photo of real work, before and after, with one line on what changed. It does not need to sell; it needs to show the work. This is the post a customer shows to their spouse.
Where SpeedRun Social fits in
Every idea on this page is something a person can make in an afternoon with a phone. The part a tool can take is the repetitive half: turning the week's jobs and the brand's own voice into drafted captions, images and a short video, on schedule, with you approving each one before it goes out.
A free account includes one campaign a week, every week, which comes to 12 posts, 4 videos and 4 cross-posts a month, plus 300 credits refilled monthly and no credit card.
Questions people ask about this
How long can a Google Business Profile post be?
The text, called the summary, is capped at 1500 characters. Most posts that work are well under that: two or three sentences is plenty, because the reader is searching, not browsing.
What kinds of posts can I make on Google Business Profile?
Updates, Events, and Offers. An Update is the everyday post for news and specials. An Event is for a dated happening. An Offer is for a promotion and adds a coupon code. All three can point the reader somewhere with a link.
Do hashtags work on Google Business Profile posts?
No. Hashtags are not a documented feature of Google Business Profile posts, so they do nothing on the listing and read as an Instagram habit pasted somewhere it does not belong. Write the sentence, not the tags.
Can I schedule Google Business Profile posts?
You can with a posting tool. SpeedRun Social drafts and schedules posts to your Google Business Profile, with a human review step before anything publishes. Its free plan covers one campaign a week: three image posts, one short video, and one cross-post, with 300 credits a month and no credit card.
Turn one week of jobs into one week of posts
One campaign a week is included free, forever, with 300 credits refilled monthly and no credit card. Approval stays on until you switch it off.