Keep it right: suggested edits, posts and weekly upkeep

On Monday, someone suggests a change to your gym’s Google profile in Denver: you close at 5 pm, not 9. An old directory listing still says 5 pm, from years ago. Google emails you about it, but nobody reads that inbox. By Friday, Google may have published the change, and people who’d come after work think you’re closed.

In this lesson, you’ll set up the alerts that catch changes like that, publish your first Google post, and start a five-minute weekly check.

Your profile isn’t only yours to edit. Google gathers information from different places, like reports from users and licensed content, and any Google user can suggest an edit.

For some suggested edits, Google tells you first, by email or with a notification in your profile. Google says that once you’re notified, you have 4 days to accept or reject it. If you don’t respond, Google may publish it, if other public information supports it, such as your website. And Google may apply some edits without asking you at all.

So two habits protect you. First, keep your website, and your other listings, matching your profile: same hours, same phone number. Second, look at your profile every week. In the profile editor, anything Google has changed shows in blue. If it’s wrong, fix it straight away.

And remember the automated calls from Lesson 2.1. Google sometimes checks your details with an automated call, text or WhatsApp message to the phone number on your profile. Google says what you tell it can be added to your profile, and show on Search and Maps. So make sure whoever answers that phone knows, and gives the right answers.

So turn your notifications on. On your profile, choose “More”, then “Notifications”, and switch on the alerts you need, especially customer activity and business info alerts. Then check that the email address on that Google account is one someone reads every day.

Now posts. A post is a short update on your profile, with a photo and a button. There are three types. An update, for news or a recent job. An offer, which needs a title, dates and times. And an event, with start and end dates.

You can schedule a post for later, or repeat it weekly or monthly. Posts older than six months are archived, unless they have a date range. So a steady rhythm matters: once a week is a good habit, and every two weeks is fine if that’s what you’ll keep up.

Will posts lift your ranking? Probably not directly. In a nine-week test on three listings, Sterling Sky found weekly posts had no measurable effect on local pack rankings. It was a small test, but experts in Whitespark’s survey also put posting frequency 148th of 187 map factors. So post for customers. A fresh offer or a recent job can be what makes someone choose you over the business down the road.

And one rule matters more than any other. Google says it may remove posts with unverified contact details: phone numbers, email addresses, social media handles. So don’t type your number into a post. Add a “Call now” button instead. It uses your verified number.

Let’s do it. First, notifications: “More”, then “Notifications”. Check what’s switched on.

Next, the profile editor. Choose “Edit profile”. If Google has changed anything, there’s a notice at the top, and the changed details show in blue. Check each one against your business facts sheet, page W3.

Now a post. Write it first, and paste it into our free post checker. Say your draft ends “Call us on” and your number. The checker flags it, so take the number out. It runs in your browser, and nothing is sent to us.

Back on your profile, choose “Posts”, then “Add post”, then “Update”. Add a real photo and your text. Add a button, like “Call now” or “Book”, and select “Post”.

Google checks each post before it goes live. You’ll see “Pending”, then “Live”. If it says “Not approved”, the question mark next to it shows which rule it broke. Fix it, and post again.

Rules check. Suggested edits: once Google notifies you, you have 4 days to accept or reject. Posts: offers and updates are allowed. But Google’s content policy bans contact details and links in posts that aren’t related to your business, and Google may remove any post with contact details it can’t verify. So use the buttons. And remember Lesson 2.5: offers go in posts, never in your description.

Here’s the habit. Once a week, same day, same time, open page W6 of the workbook and tick eight things. Any suggested edits or Google updates. Your hours, especially before a holiday. New reviews, all replied to. Messages answered. New photos, including any from customers. This week’s post. Anything new Google has added to your profile. And a quick note of what you changed.

Five minutes. Put it in your calendar now.

To recap. One: you have 4 days to deal with a suggested edit, so keep notifications on and check every week. Two: post for customers, with a real photo and a button, never a typed phone number. Three: five minutes a week, with page W6.

Your task: turn your notifications on, do your first weekly check on page W6, and publish your first post today.

That’s Module 2 done. Take the five-question Module 2 quiz, and then in Module 3, we’ll start on reviews: how to earn them fairly, and answer them well.

And if weekly posts never quite happen, Flexi Local can draft them from your business details for you to approve by email. The course works the same either way.