Google Business Profile Posts are short updates that appear on your profile and expire after about a week. Most contractors never publish one, and the honest answer on whether that matters is: less than the people selling posting schedules suggest, but more than nothing.
What they mainly buy is a signal that the profile is actively managed, which feeds the prominence side of local placement rather than winning searches directly.
What is a Profile Post?
A short update: text, an image, an optional button, shown on your profile in search and maps. Most types roll off after roughly seven days unless they carry a specific date.
That expiry is the thing to understand before committing to them. Unlike a page on your website, a Post is not an asset that accumulates. It is closer to a signal than to content.
Do Posts affect where you rank?
Not directly, and be sceptical of anyone claiming otherwise. What they contribute to is prominence, the “does this business look active and established” component described in how Google decides which profiles show in the map pack.
An abandoned profile and a maintained one differ in ways that compound: photographs arriving, reviews being answered, hours kept current, Posts appearing. Posts are one input among those, not a lever on their own.
When are Posts actually worth the time?
Something genuinely time-bound
Seasonal availability, a service you have added, a schedule change around a holiday. The seven-day expiry suits this; it is the one case where transience is a feature.
Answering a question that keeps arriving
If your office fields the same question every week, a Post gets it in front of people before they call. Though the Q&A feature is usually the better home for that, see how to use Profile Q&A.
Genuine offers with real terms
A real seasonal offer with an actual expiry. Not a permanent “discount” that renews forever, which reads as noise to customers who see it every visit.
When are they busywork?
When they exist to fill a schedule. A weekly Post posted because a calendar says so, restating what the profile already contains, costs time and adds nothing a searcher wants.
The comparison worth making is against the alternatives: an hour spent on Posts versus an hour spent requesting reviews, uploading recent job photographs, or correcting your service area. For most contractor profiles the first hour is worth less than any of the other three.
What makes a Post work?
- A real photograph from a job, not stock. The image is what gets noticed.
- One specific thing, said plainly. A Post is not a newsletter.
- A button that goes somewhere useful: the relevant service page, not the homepage.
- Something true right now. An expired offer still showing is worse than no Post.
How often should you post?
When you have something to say. Weekly is the commonly cited cadence and it is a schedule rather than a strategy, a contractor with one genuine update a month is better served publishing once than manufacturing three fillers.
If the profile is otherwise well maintained, occasional Posts add to it. If reviews are stale and the photographs are two years old, Posts are the wrong place to start.
Frequently asked questions
Do Google Business Profile Posts help SEO?
Not directly. They contribute to how actively managed a profile appears, which feeds the prominence component of local placement. They do not target keywords or win searches on their own, and claims that posting weekly raises rankings should be treated sceptically.
How long do Profile Posts last?
Most types stay visible for about seven days before rolling off, unless they carry a specific event or offer date. That expiry is why Posts are a signal rather than an asset: unlike a page on your site, they do not accumulate.
How often should a contractor post?
When there is something genuinely time-bound to say: seasonal availability, a new service, a holiday schedule change. A monthly Post with real substance is worth more than a weekly one manufactured to fill a calendar.
What should I post about?
Real seasonal offers with actual expiry dates, service additions, schedule changes, and answers to questions your office fields repeatedly. Use a real job photograph rather than stock, and point the button at the relevant service page rather than the homepage.
Where to start
Before adding Posts to your routine, check whether the higher-value fields are current: services listed individually, hours right, recent photographs, reviews being answered. Posts are worth doing after those, not instead of them.
Real Time Marketing has worked with home service contractors since 2016: plumbing, HVAC, roofing, electrical and other trades, nationwide, from our office in Bradenton, Florida. Agreements are month-to-month. See our Google Business Profile management service or book a strategy call.
