Google Business Profile Posts are one of the most under-used free marketing tools available to Australian tradies. They’re free. They take 5 minutes to create. They boost your local rankings. And roughly 80% of tradies never post a single one.
Here’s the 10-minute monthly workflow that makes them work.
What are GBP Posts?
Short pieces of content that appear on your Google Business Profile, visible to anyone who searches for your business or finds you in the map pack. They can be:
- Updates: General announcements or news (“We’re now servicing the Inner West”)
- Offers: Time-limited promotions (“Free smoke alarm install with any electrical job this month”)
- Events: Things happening at a specific time (“Home improvement expo, 14 May”)
- Products: Specific services with photos and prices (“Bathroom renovations from $12,000”)
Updates and Offers are by far the most useful for tradies. Events are rare. Products are decent but more work.
Why they actually matter
Three real benefits:
- They boost your map pack ranking. Google’s local algorithm factors in “business freshness”. A profile with a post from last week looks more active than one with no recent activity.
- They take up screen real estate. Your post shows directly in the search result when someone Googles your business name — your ad for free.
- They create search snippets. A well-worded post with good keywords sometimes appears directly in search results, driving click-throughs.
Active GBP posters typically see 20-35% more profile views than non-posters, controlling for other factors.
The 10-minute monthly workflow
Do this on the same day every month (first Monday works). Takes 10 minutes.
- Think of one thing happening in your business this month. New service, seasonal offer, recent job completed, milestone reached. Anything.
- Take or find one good photo (iPhone photos are fine). 1200×900 is the ideal size.
- Write 75-150 words. Short enough to read quickly, long enough to include a keyword or two naturally.
- Pick a CTA button: “Call Now”, “Learn More” (linking to a page on your site), or “Book” (linking to your booking form).
- Publish. Done.
What to actually post
A 12-month post calendar that works for most tradies:
- Jan: “New Year, new jobs” — what you’re available for
- Feb: Completed job showcase (photos of a recent project)
- Mar: Autumn maintenance reminder (gutter clean, HVAC service, etc.)
- Apr: Pre-winter prep (hot water check, heating service)
- May: EOFY offer or planning reminder
- Jun: Winter urgent work availability (burst pipes, heating repair)
- Jul: Mid-winter “we’re still here when you need us”
- Aug: Completed job showcase
- Sep: Spring maintenance reminder
- Oct: Pre-Christmas booking reminder (“book now to finish before Christmas”)
- Nov: Summer prep (AC service, pool work)
- Dec: Holiday availability + Christmas wishes
This is a calendar, not a script. Adapt the exact wording to your trade and region. The point is to have something to post every month without having to invent it fresh.
What makes a post effective
1. A keyword in the first sentence
“Emergency hot water repairs across Sydney’s northern beaches — we’re booking 48-hour turnaround this week.” The keyword is early and natural.
2. A specific number
“Our 87 Google reviews averaging 4.9 stars” or “Completed 142 bathroom renovations across Melbourne” or “Saved customers $340 on average vs big-chain pricing”. Specific numbers build credibility.
3. A CTA that matches the post
Update posts → “Learn More” → link to relevant page.
Offer posts → “Call Now”.
Event posts → “Book”.
Match the button to the intent or the click-through rate tanks.
4. One good photo
Real photos of your work or team beat stock photos. Before/after shots if you’re in a visual trade. Team shots if you’re not.
What doesn’t work
- Generic “Happy Friday” posts — engagement tanks, no benefit
- Re-posting the same content every month — Google notices and de-prioritises
- Long posts (300+ words) — posts are limited to 1500 characters but get truncated at ~100 words in the preview
- Stock photos with other people’s branded gear — looks fake, hurts trust
- Posts with just links, no context — bad click-through rate
The compound effect
12 posts per year — 2 hours of your time total. Over 3 years, that’s 36 pieces of content living on your GBP, each one a signal of ongoing business activity.
The tradies who rank consistently at the top of local search are almost always the ones posting monthly. The ones who rank sporadically post maybe once a quarter. The ones who don’t rank never post at all.
10 minutes a month. That’s it.
If monthly GBP posts feel like one thing too many, it’s one of the tasks included in our monthly SEO package ($390/mo), alongside content and reviews. Or start fresh with a new site that’s set up properly from day 1 — $199.