Google My Business ( Google Business Profiles) (now re-branded as Google Business Profile) is essentially a business listing on Google.
Think of it as modern-day Yellow Pages!
Only now, the presence of a business is online as opposed to on paper, the customer reach of the business is unlimited, and Google Business Profiles offers multiple features that business owners can use to manage their presence on Google. In today’s blog post, we are not only going to talk about Google Business Profiles and Google Business Profiles posts, but also shed some light on how long do Google Business Profiles posts last.
What Is A Google Business Profile (Google My Business)?
Google My Business ( Google Business Profiles) has evolved radically over the past few years. It is nothing short of a boon, especially for small and medium-sized businesses. Google Business Profiles has successfully allowed these businesses to have visibility on Google searches and Google maps and has given them a chance to stand head-to-head with large businesses.
Right from choosing where the posts would be placed, to updating relevant offers and services, and describing their businesses and services up to a limit of 1500 characters, business owners have a variety of features at their disposal to attract the right customers.
And that’s not it!
Business owners can include photos, videos, text, and a direct URL leading customers to their website. Not only that, Google has introduced an amazing feature of embedding Google Business Profiles posts with a ‘Call’ button – which is by far one of the best features. By tapping the ‘Call’ button, the customer can directly call the business on their registered number, without having to go to the website, search for the ‘contact us’ page, note/ copy the phone number, go back to the dial pad, and dial the number – which was a routine task just a few years ago.
In short, Google Business Profiles has gone way beyond the convention of how business listings were done and has introduced dynamism to the listings, which further helps in Search Engine Optimization (SEO).
Why Is A Google Business Profile Important For Lawyers?
Remember the Yellow Pages? For instance, to find a plumber, you had to go to the page that had all professions starting with ‘L’. Then, you had to look for professions with “LA” and finally come to a section for “Lawyers”.
You would see a list of lawyers with one corresponding phone number for each listing. That was pretty much about the business – the name and the phone number. No reviews, no further details, not even an alternate phone number.
Customers tended to start with the first person on the list. The first person was called, and if the customer was convinced by what the first person had to offer, that was pretty much it.
This seems a bit unfair to the last guy on the list, doesn’t it?
This, and problems like these, have well been taken care of by Google Business Profiles. The following is a list of (not all, but the ones that matter most) uses of Google Business Profiles posts that we have prepared:
More Exposure
New businesses can get a listing on Google easily through Google Business Profiles. This means that customers can view, access, and contact a business through the post, and thus, everybody who is listed stands a chance, literally.
Direct listing on SERP
The game-changer is that businesses can be listed directly on the Search Engine Results Page (SERP). This means that there is no other website or application that one needs to go to in order to have their business listed. A simple Google search by a customer would generate a list of similar businesses right there.
Information and Marketing
Business owners such as lawyers can include as much information as they want to, in order to make their posts appealing to customers, including hours of operation. They can add a description of their business (which has now been upgraded to 300 words, whereas earlier it was limited to a mere 100 words) and virtually add unlimited photos and videos. Furthermore, business owners can also link their websites to the posts. This gives their customers one-click access to their websites and does not require one to remember the website URL at all!
Manage Several Locations
No separate account is required to manage all of your different locations! You heard it right. Business owners can now manage their Google Business Profiles locations simply by submitting their business information and managing them in their gmail account.
Offers, Bookings, and Reservations
If you thought Google Business Profiles couldn’t get any cooler, we cannot wait to add more to the list! Google has added yet another amazing feature to Google Business Profiles. Businesses can now add current offers, list all their services, accept bookings and receive appointment requests from customers directly through their Google Business Profiles. Not only that, but these updates are dynamic in nature, meaning that one could change, edit, delete, and add anything at any time!
Ratings and Reviews
Google Business Profiles also include a feature whereby customers can give a rating (out of 5 stars, 5 being the highest) and write a review about their experience with the business. This is some serious business motivation resource.
Moreover, the reviews and ratings are public and can be viewed by everybody viewing the Google Business Profiles post. This means that if customer reviews are higher, then businesses have better chances of getting more customers based on those reviews.
Google Business Profile Posts
Last but not the least, you can post updates about your business by using the post function on your Google Business Profile. These posts are clickable to take users from your Google Business Profile to your website.
How Long Do Google Business Profiles Posts Last?
Google Business Profile posts expire in seven days. Despite all the convenience and awesome things Google Business Profiles offers, the seven-day expiry of Google Business Profiles posts can be inconvenient, especially if you have an offer you want to show all the time.
We recommend using a tool such as: oneupapp.io to schedule your Google Business Profile Posts so that you do not need to always log in and manually make your posts.
We hope that this blog post on ‘how long do Google My Business posts last’ was insightful and knowledgeable for all our readers. In case you have any queries/ suggestions/ inputs, please do not hesitate to reach out to the experts at LawTurbo.