Using Google Business Profiles with Buffer
Publishing regularly on Google Business Profiles (formerly Google My Business) increases organic reach and engagement, ultimately boosting conversions.
Only 21% of brands post regularly to their Google Business Profile. Will you be one of the ones who see the traffic to their site and their visibility in Google Maps increase (improving your ranking)?
With Buffer, publishing consistently on Google Business Profiles is a breeze. Let’s get started!
In this article:
- Connecting and refreshing your Google Business Profile
- Scheduling Google Business Profile posts
- Image specifications for Google Business Profile
- Engaging with Google Business Profile posts
- Google Business Profile analytics
- Google Business Profile error library
These features are available for Google Business Profiles
| Publishing | Analytics | Engagement |
| ✓ |
Connecting and refreshing your Google Business Profile
📝 Connection checklist
- Is the Google Business Profile verified? It needs to be!
- Are you logged into the Google account linked to your Google Business Profile?
- Does the Google Business Profile Manager have "Groups" created? We're currently unable to connect when there are "Groups" created within the Google Business Profile Manager.
- As a workaround, please invite a new Google Account without "Groups" established to manage the Google Business Profiles and then try connecting using that Manager account.
You can connect multiple Google Business Profiles to Buffer. To connect a Google Business Profile to your Buffer account, you will need to make sure:
- you are logged into the Google account linked to your Google Business Profile
- your profile must be verified
To see a step-by-step guide and troubleshooting steps, checkout the article: Connect your channels to Buffer.
If your connected Google Business Profile requires a refresh, check out the article Refreshing a channel in Buffer.
Scheduling Google Business Profile posts
The "best time to post" feature in Analyze is not available for Google Business Profiles at this time.
| Features & good-to-knows | Notes |
| Scheduling posts | Checkout our step-by-step guide to scheduling posts on any social channel or peruse Google Business Profile-specific details below. 📝Good-to-knows
|
| Tagging / mentions | Google Business Profiles do not support mentions / tagging. For more information on tagging within other social networks, check out our full guide to adding tags (mentions) here. |
| Hashtags | Google does not hyperlink hashtags, so hashtags sent to Google Business Profile will not be clickable. Learn more about how hashtags work in Buffer here. |
| Daily posting limit | 50 posts per 24 hours. Learn more about Daily posting limits here. |
| Character limit | 500 characters per post. Learn more about character limits for each social network here. |
📝What will be the timezone for my Event and Offer posts? Times for Events and Offers will be the local timezone of your Google Business Profile location. [eg. If you create an Event type post and the event is for 2 weeks from now at 7PM, it would be 7PM wherever the location is set for your Google Business Profile].
Image specifications for Google Business Profile
Google Business Profile supports images. Google Business Profiles do not support GIFs or videos due to API limitations.
| Images | |
| Number allowed per post | 1 |
| File size | between 10Kb and 10 MB |
| File types supported | JPG, PNG, WebP (images uploaded as WebP will be converted to PNG), HEIC |
| Recommended resolution | 720px x 720px |
| Maximum resolution | 10,000px x 10,000px |
| Minimum resolution | 250px x 250px |
| Canva integration | Yes |
| Alt text | Yes. Learn more about adding alt text to your images here. |
Engaging with Google Business Profile posts
Buffer’s engagement features are only available for Facebook and Instagram. Google Business Profiles are not supported within Buffer's engagement features at this time.
Google Business Profile analytics
We unfortunately don’t offer Google Business Profile analytics at this time.
Google Business Profile error library
If you're (unfortunately) hitting errors in Buffer when trying to connect a Google Business Profile, or publish posts to one, the Google Business Profile error library is the place to go for solutions.
📝Do you have a Google Business Profile feature suggestion? We’d love for you to submit or upvote it here on our feature suggestions board.