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Using Google Posts: Offers, Events, and Updates That Work

Google Posts put your latest offer, event, or update right on your profile in Search and Maps. Here is which of the three post types to use when, how long each one stays visible, and a posting rhythm you can actually keep.

Your Google Business Profile is not a static listing. It has a small publishing tool built in — Google Posts — that puts a fresh offer, event, or piece of news directly on your profile in Search and Maps, right where a customer is deciding whether to call, book, or visit. Google describes it plainly: you can share announcements, offers, updates, and event details directly with your customers on Search and Maps.

The catch is that most owners either never touch it or post once and forget. Both waste the space. Here is how the three post types differ, how long each lasts, and a rhythm you can keep.

Know the three post types — they are not interchangeable

Google gives you three usable post types, and each one is built for a different job.

  • Update / What's New — the general-purpose post for news, a new service, a staff hire, a change in hours, or a useful tip. You can add a description, a photo or video, and an action button. This is the default, and it is fine for anything that is not a promotion or an event.
  • Offer — for promotions, discounts, and coupons. Google requires a title, dates, and time, and automatically adds a "View Offer" button. You can also include a coupon code, a link, and terms and conditions.
  • Event — for workshops, tastings, live music, or a grand opening. It needs a title plus start and end dates and times.

The distinction matters because of display. Updates are the plainest format, but Offer and Event posts unlock richer visuals — when you fill in start times, end times, and expiration dates, Google can build a better visual experience around your post instead of guessing. Picking the right type is the difference between a flat text card and something that stands out.

Understand how long each post actually lives

This is the part that trips people up, and the sources genuinely disagree, so it is worth being precise. Google's own help documentation says that posts older than 6 months are archived unless a date range is set. Offer and Event posts carry their own date range, so they stay live through the end date you gave them. A lot of older guides still repeat an early-days rule that older updates quietly drop off over time — but the more recent guidance lines up with Google: an Update post stays visible for up to six months, then moves behind a "view previous updates" link rather than disappearing.

Two things follow. First, an expired post does not vanish — it is archived and still discoverable, so a wrong phone number or a promotion you never closed can keep showing up long after it should. Clean those up. Second, newer posts push older ones down: BrightLocal notes that . Posting regularly is how your current offer stays near the top.

More on Google Business Profile

  • Google Suspended Your Business Profile: A Calm, Step-by-Step Reinstatement Guide
  • Adding Products and Services to Your Google Profile
  • How to Keep Your Google Business Profile Fresh Each Week
  • Why Your Google Business Profile Isn't Showing Up — and How to Fix It

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posts now show reverse-chronologically, so even an in-date Offer or Event gets displayed below a newer post

Post often enough to stay current, not so often it becomes a chore

Google does not publish a required posting frequency, so ignore anyone who quotes you an exact number as a rule. The practitioner consensus is simpler: post at least once a week to keep the profile looking active.

From there, match the pace to your business. Retail businesses and restaurants can comfortably manage two to three posts a week because they have a natural stream of specials, arrivals, and events. A professional or service business can hold to roughly one a week and be fine. Consistency matters more than the number — a steady weekly rhythm beats a burst of five posts followed by two silent months.

The simplest filter: if a post would not interest a customer — a seasonal offer, an event, a completed job, a new service — it is filler, and filler does not earn the space.

Write for the way people actually see the post

Most people read your post on a phone, and only the first line or two shows before it truncates. So lead with the value — put the offer, the date, or the point in the first sentence.

A few things that consistently help:

  • One strong image or video per post. Visuals stop the scroll before the words do.
  • Use the action button, not the body text, for the next step. Google supports buttons like Book, Order online, Learn more, Sign up, and Call — and it warns against putting phone numbers or weak calls to action in the description. Posts with a clear call to action and a strong image outperform text-only updates in every business category.
  • Give offers and events their full details — dates, coupon codes, and terms. Incomplete offers create friction when the customer is ready to act.
  • Keep it clean and policy-safe. Google reviews posts and can mark them not approved for misleading content or prohibited material.

Let each post type do the job it is best at

Once the mechanics are clear, the strategy is easy. Use Updates for the steady drumbeat of news that shows your business is active. Reach for Offers when you want immediate action — they tend to drive the highest immediate engagement and click-through of any type, and Google gives them visual priority. Use Events to pull people toward something date-specific and drive foot traffic from people who were not even searching for you by name.

The businesses that get the most out of Google Posts treat it like a small, repeatable channel — posting the offer, event, or news at the moment a customer is searching for what they provide. Not a megaphone, just a steady signal that you are open, current, and worth choosing.

Where Altyaa fits

Altyaa helps local businesses keep their Google Business Profile active — drafting updates, offers, and event posts in a human voice and publishing them to the profile without you living inside the dashboard. The owner picks what to say and stays in control; the tool handles the drafting and the posting rhythm.

Use it to keep a steady weekly cadence, match each message to the right post type, and make sure the offer or event a customer sees is the current one — not something that quietly expired months ago.

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