Using Google Posts To Get More Traffic to Your Practice

When a practice begins a marketing campaign involving SEO or PPC, oftentimes, one of the first goals they mention is ranking well on the Google search results page. It’s no secret that a businesses ranking well on a search engine results page can have significant impacts on conversions, and traffic to their website, but what if I told you there was an entire area of Google real estate that practices could be utilizing that grabs attention and puts out branded messages directly on that search results page? Well, the good news is this feature is now available in the form of Google posts!

What are Google Posts?

Google posts are small, eye-catching posts that use images and a link to a page on your site that appear in your Google My Business knowledge panel. Google posts are great for announcing if your practice is taking new patients, any new patient specials, or new services being offered at the practice.

Before recommending Google posts to your practice, our team first wanted to thoroughly test this new feature. Through a 2018 GDW case study, our team discovered that creating Google posts for your business does, in fact, lead to an increase in site visits and conversions! Out of 50 total posts tested over 13 dental practices, an average of 70 visits to the sites was generated from Google posts that resulted in 24 conversions, or contact from a potential patient. It’s clear that using Google posts work to generate traffic for your site, so why not use them?

How You Can Create a Google Post that Gets Attention

The best thing about using Google posts for your practice is that it’s a simple process that only takes a few minutes! Here are some of the tips that will easily get your message or special promotion onto Google:

1. Choose which type of post you would like to create. Do you have a patient special running or an event happening at your practice? You can create a post about almost anything.
2. Studies have shown that using an image that appears as a button is more effective than using a photo. Some guidelines for creating a simple post that looks like a button:
   1. Create a solid color background
   2. Use 42 point size font
   3. 750×750 pixel size image
   4. Crop well so that your text is in the center of the post, and preview before posting
3. Post! You can create several posts at a time, but after seven days they will stop showing on your knowledge panel, so keep posting!

Types of Posts That Work Best

After testing several different styles of posts, the most success came from posts that pertained to the practice’s availability for new patients (see below). There are endless possibilities for post ideas, however, so be creative and get your message out onto the Google search engine results page. Remember, it’s free real estate!

Need Help With Google Posts?

For any questions or help with using Google posts for your dental practice, feel free to contact us. You can also get more in-depth information on creating Google posts here. If you have SEO services with us, you can also reach out to your Account Manager and let them know what kind of posts you would like to see. We would be happy to help!