The short version
- The Google Business Profile post size is 1200×900 pixels, a 4:3 landscape frame.
- Google shows post images in more than one crop across Search and Maps, so words and logos belong in the centre of the frame.
- There are three main post types: updates for news, offers for discounts with dates and a code, and events with a start and end time.
- Google writes the post title, dates and button under the image, so the image should carry one short line rather than every detail.
- Posting regularly keeps a profile looking open and cared for, and one image design can be reused with different words each week.
On this page
The Google Business Profile post size is 1200×900 pixels, a 4:3 landscape frame. Upload a JPG or PNG at that size and Google has enough detail for every place it shows the post. Because Search and Maps don't always show the whole image, keep your headline and logo in the middle and let the background run to the edges.
Google Business post size and format
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A 4:3 frame is wider than the 4:5 portrait you use on Instagram, so a feed post won't drop straight in. If you stretch a portrait post to fit, the type distorts; if you crop it, the headline usually goes. Make a landscape version instead. Aspect ratios explained shows why one shape can't simply become another.
Google post 1200×900
1200 × 900
Instagram post 1080×1350
1080 × 1350
Facebook post 1200×1200
1200 × 1200
The three kinds of Google post
When you add a post from your profile, Google asks which kind it is. Each type adds its own fields under the image, which changes what the image itself needs to say.
Use it for
The image should say
Use it for
The image should say
Use it for
The image should say
Use the button. Update and event posts can carry an action such as Book, Order online, Buy, Learn more, Sign up or Call, and it sits right under your image; offer posts get a link to redeem instead. Write the image so it leads to that action: Book a table for Friday above a Book button reads as one thought.
Designing an offer post
An offer post is seen by someone already looking at you in Search or Maps. You don't need to explain who you are, only why today. Put the offer in large type, add one supporting detail, and leave the dates and code for the fields Google provides.
A salon offer: the deal in four words, the condition underneath.
A bakery update: what's new and when it is ready, nothing else.
Designing an event post
Event posts stay useful until the event ends, so they can work harder than updates. Show the day prominently, because the most common question from someone glancing at Maps is simply when. Google lists the exact times under the image; you only need the day and the name.
A wine bar event. The date leads, the name is large, the detail is one line.
What to post on your Google Business Profile
Ideas tend to run out after a few posts. The fix is a short rotation you can repeat every month. These work for shops, cafés, salons, clinics and trades alike.
- New in: a product, a dish, a treatment or a service you've added.
- Seasonal hours: bank holidays, late openings, closures. Set special hours in the profile too, then post about them; see holiday hours posts.
- The offer of the month: one, not five.
- An event: a class, a tasting, a demo day, a grand opening.
- Proof: a short customer review set as a quote, with permission.
- Behind the counter: a real photo of the team or the work in progress.
Avoid
- A portrait Instagram post stretched to fit
- Phone number, address and hours all in the image
- Text right up to the edges
- A different look every week
- Offers with no end date
Do
- A proper 1200×900 landscape layout
- One line in the image, details in Google's fields
- Words in the centre, background to the edges
- One background and type style you reuse
- Real dates, so the post expires on time
One design, every week
Google posts that look professional rarely start from scratch. They reuse one layout, one background and one font, and only the words change. That consistency also connects your Google profile to your shopfront, menu and social accounts, which is the point of local business marketing graphics.
In Gradiently, your background is a Mark that nobody else can export once you've claimed it, and it moves its calmest area behind your words so the offer reads. Describe the week's post to the Designer and it writes the words in your brand voice, lays out the 1200×900 version and makes the matching Instagram and Facebook sizes. One look, every size explains how resizing works.
Questions people ask
What size should a Google Business Profile post image be?
1200×900 pixels, a 4:3 landscape frame, saved as a JPG or PNG.
Why is my Google Business post image cropped?
Google shows post images in different crops across Search and Maps. Keep words and logos in the centre so nothing important sits near an edge.
Should I put the offer dates in the image?
Not necessarily. An offer post has its own start and end date fields, and Google shows them under the image, so the image can focus on the offer itself.
Can I reuse my Instagram posts on Google Business Profile?
Reuse the design, not the file. Instagram posts are usually 1080×1350 portrait, so make a 1200×900 landscape version with the same background and words.
What should a local business post on Google?
Rotate a few reliable types: what's new, seasonal hours, one offer, upcoming events, a customer review and a real photo from behind the counter.
Written by Gradiently
The team behind Gradiently, a design tool built around Marks: living gradients that make everything you design look like yours.
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