Do Google posts have an impact on ranking? To find out, we recently conducted a test on some inactive Google My Business listings. The results showed that adding Google posts to GMB listings had no measurable effect on local package rankings. Google does not differentiate between blog posts and web pages when it comes to indexing and ranking content. According to Google, “a publication can rank as well as a page”.
The fact that the content is labeled as a “post” or a page is simply an identifier in the backend of a website's CMS. It helps site owners keep their content organized, but it is not something that Google can recognize. We wouldn't say it's a blog post, or it's a page, or it's an informative article. In essence, we would say that it is an HTML page and that there is this content here and it is interconnected within your website in this specific way.
The name used in your Google My Business listing is the most important ranking factor in Google Maps. However, since you need to use the official name of your company in this field, you can't just put in the keywords you want to rank better. If you have a duplicate ad in the same address, this will affect the viewability of any of those ads at any given time. Google may change its algorithm at any time to include the text of these fields in its ranking calculations.
Recently, Google added the feature to create and update posts through the Google My Business API, giving people the opportunity to use Google publications more often. A GMB publication is an opportunity to reach potential customers through their Google My Business profile and listing. The more information you provide to Google, the more information it can provide to its search engines and the more likely it will rank you higher in its results. A few months ago, I partnered with Ben Fisher of Steady Demand to test if Google posts have any influence on ranking in local results (the “3-pack”).
You can't do this directly through the Google My Business dashboard; however, you must use a third-party tool that has been connected to the Google API where you can schedule posts in advance. With GMB Crush, you can find out how often your competitors post and track local rankings on Google. Many of the tasks listed here to help your Google My Business listing rank better are not one-time offers and will require ongoing effort. Make sure you consider the topic of your publication, your industry, and the terms related to your business when deciding which SEO phrases to add to your post. Improving your GMB profile and connecting all these social media outlets increases your authority in your area.
In short, a GMB profile is a free list that your company can create on the world's most popular search engine, Google. Google uses a combination of these factors to provide search results that better match the queries entered by users. As much as Google is trying to get between the prospect and you, by providing information through the Knowledge Panel, the ranking algorithm still needs to use your website to collect data.
