What you should know about Google Posts
Google Posts is a Google My Business feature that allows businesses to share relevant, engaging content directly on their knowledge panel, which is the box that appears in Google search results and under your profile in Google Maps.
Google enabled small businesses using third-party platforms to create posts on Oct. 11, 2017. Since then, Practice Growth rolled out this Google capability to Practice Growth customers and posts content to their Google My Business listings. Practice Growth was the first healthcare technology provider to bring Google Posts to its customers, giving practices that use Practice Growth a competitive advantage over those that don’t.
How do Google Posts affect my practice?
Google Posts can benefit your practice in a number of ways, such as:
- Creating new ways for potential patients to interact with your practice, including booking an appointment without even visiting your website.
- Taking up valuable screen real estate in search results, meaning patients will likely have to scroll to find competitors.
- Delivering more relevancy signals to Google, which enhances your search engine optimization (SEO).
What does a Google Post look like?
Posts can contain text, an image, an event, a call-to-action (CTA), or any combination of the four. Practice Growth
includes text, an image, and a CTA in all of your practice’s posts. See below for specific limitations.
- Text: 1500 characters, with only the first 75-100 characters appearing above the fold
- Image: Square-cropped (750 x 750 pixels preferred)
- Event: Start and end time and date with an event title
- CTA: The following CTAs are available as links or buttons:
- Learn more
- Reserve (desktop app only)
- Book (mobile app only)
- Sign up
- Buy
- Get offer (desktop app only)
Can Practice Growth post on my behalf?
Yes, Practice Growth can post on your practice’s behalf as long as we have ownership to your listings/locations in Google My Business via the patientpopgmb@gmail.com email address. Practice Growth began posting content to customer Google My Business listings as of Oct. 12, 2017.
If you would like to take advantage of Google Posts, contact our customer support team.
How often does Practice Growth post?
Once per week.
What content does Practice Growth post?
Practice Growth has created 15 healthcare practice posts, roughly half of which include your practice name, location, and Google My Business category. In addition, Practice Growth has created eight images that encourage online appointment bookings and reservations.
Can I request custom Google Posts?
At this time, Practice Growth is only posting the content referenced above. Practice Growth might offer custom posts in the future, so stay tuned for updates.
How long do posts last?
Posts can be seen in search results for seven days. If there is an event attached to the post, it will appear until the event end time. You can see the post after the seven days if you link to it or share it via social media or email, but it will not be visible in search results.
Can I update the Practice Growth posts or add my own posts?
Yes. You can sign in to your Google My Business account and post from your desktop or mobile app, add new posts or make updates to the posts Practice Growth has added. See the links below under ‘External Resources’ for additional help.
Can I review or edit Practice Growth posts before they are published?
No. Practice Growth will post on your behalf without prior review. You can edit posts after they have been published. If you prefer full control of your practice’s Google Posts, you can opt out of the program by contacting our customer support team.
How many posts can be seen in the knowledge panel at once?
Approximately eight posts can be seen at once. If there is more than one post per week, the posts will appear in a carousel on the knowledge panel.
Practice Growth posts on your behalf once per week, and posts last for seven days. Therefore, you will only see one post from Practice Growth at any given time.
Can I share a Google Post?
Yes. You can link to a post, and there are share buttons for Twitter, Facebook, and email.
What if I already use Google Posts? Will Practice Growth posts replace my posts?
If you already use Google Posts, our posts will not replace any you create. Rather, they will appear alongside your posts in a carousel, and web users will have more opportunities to convert on your CTAs.
What if I don’t want you to post for me?
If you don’t want Practice Growth to post on your behalf, you can opt out of the program by contacting our customer support team.
Why isn’t Practice Growth posting on my behalf?
Practice Growth can only populate Google Posts if we have ownership access to your Google My Business. To take advantage of Google Posts, contact our customer support team.