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Home Blog Older Google My Business Posts Are Resurfacing: The Pros and Cons

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We’ve had several reports that older Google My Business (GMB) Posts have been displaying for clients in recent months. These have been coming up for a while—at least since the beginning of 2020—and unless you delete existing Posts, there is a chance that they could be triggered and reappear in Search on your listing at any given point in time.

What does it mean for brands to have GMB Posts reappear after the period in which you expected them to display? And, is there any value in older GMB Posts displaying on your local listing?

Resurfacing Google My Business Posts: The Pros

Some SEO professionals see the benefit in Google Posts displaying longer than the initial display period.

Clark also notes that this appears to resurface photos added to GMB, as well. “When adding an image it would previously show up as a Post, then expire. Here’s an image showing from 6 months back on a pretty inactive GMB listing,” he tweeted.

And as Brian Barwig noted, “This is interesting, though not surprising. Google was going to use Posts at some point, and reward those who do.”

If you are featuring evergreen content in brand Posts, the additional visibility is certainly not going to hurt. However, our local search experts recommend using evergreen links as well to ensure searchers aren’t taken to a broken page.

Resurfacing Google My Business Posts: The Cons

Many brands don’t want old promotions resurfacing, though. Showing customers promotions they can no longer access is a poor user experience and can lead to complaints or negative reviews.

This can have more serious consequences, too, in industries where information accuracy is highly regulated. Displaying incorrect or outdated content could land a brand in hot water. Take banks, for example; when a deposit ad or other promotion is over, they can no longer show that content. These Posts must be deleted once the promotion is over. 

Even outside of industry regulations and requirements, information accuracy is a vital piece of earning consumers’ trust in your brand. It is essential that brands actively monitor and update local listings to ensure that each and every prospective customer has a positive experience as they navigate from search to an on- or offline conversion.

Healthcare is another vertical in which information accuracy in search is crucial. Take this Google Post from Walgreens, for example:

Google My Business Posts are resurfacing

As long as this service is available, as is the case for Walgreens in the aforementioned example, Google Posts are a great way to give it an extra boost of visibility on search engine results pages. 

However, if this resurfaced on a Walgreens listing for a customer in a location where the service was no longer available, they would understandably have a frustrating experience and tarnished perception of the Walgreens brand. Clicking on ‘Learn more’ could direct them to a URL that was no longer active, or they might discover that ordering online with quick pickup wasn’t available as advertised.

Managing this at scale can be tricky and requires that removing expired Posts be part of your local content workflow.

Google Posts Expert Tips for Enterprise Brands 

  1. Understand the lifecycle of your GMB Posts. If you are posting about a promotion, limited time offer, product, or service, be aware that the content could resurface later unless it is removed.  
  2. Use Google Posts for evergreen content when possible. Posts are a great format for promoting popular blog content, resharing local customer reviews, giving customers an inside look at your operation, celebrating in-store happenings, and more. Make Posts a part of your local content strategy and use them to help searchers understand the unique experience each of your locations offers.
  3. Get visual. Google Posts help your listings stand out on busy SERPs and offer additional ways for searchers to engage. Need some inspiration? Check out these 25 ways brands can use the image carousel in GMB Posts to make a splash in search.

Want to learn more?