The 5 social accounts every local business needs and how each shows up in Google
The 5 social accounts every local business needs and how each shows up in Google
The 5 social accounts every local business needs are Google Business Profile, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube, and since late 2025 Google has started pulling posts from each one straight into local search results through a new Social Media Updates carousel. That is the part most guides miss. They tell you to “be active on social media” without saying what that activity now physically does on the search results page, right next to your name, your phone number and your reviews.
Here is the money side of it. A searcher looking at your profile is already halfway to phoning you. If the carousel under your name shows a finished kitchen from last week, you look busy and trusted. If it shows nothing, or a post from last March, you have just handed the job to the competitor listed below you. That is revenue left on the table, and it costs nothing but attention to fix.
Online Marketing Group builds and links these accounts for local businesses as part of its social media marketing and online branding work. The ranking below reflects what each platform actually feeds into Google today, not how fashionable it is.
How we ranked these accounts
Accounts are ordered by how directly each one connects to the Social Media Updates carousel and the local pack. After that, we ranked them on the credibility or booking value each adds on its own.
Every entry also gives a realistic posting rhythm. The carousel shows your latest posts, so the update schedule is the difference between looking open and looking abandoned.
Three extra platforms sit after the core five. They still matter locally, even though Google treats them differently.
1. Google Business Profile — the hub every other account feeds
Google Business Profile is not really a social account. It is the control panel. Every other link on this list gets added inside it, under Edit profile, Contact, Social profiles, one web address per platform.
Before you link anything, make the details match. Same business name, same logo, same address and phone number, same primary category. A profile that says “Malone Joinery” and a Facebook page that says “M Malone Joinery & Sons” gives Google two versions of you to reconcile.
That consistency work is the unglamorous half of local visibility, and it is the half most businesses skip.
Online Marketing Group manages this setup for clients as part of its digital marketing agency services. We connect Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube in one sitting.
As Keith Malone puts it, “we build conversion-focused websites designed specifically to generate leads, not just look pretty”. The same rule applies to a profile. Linked accounts should bring in enquiries, not badges.
Book online at omgmarketinguk.com/qualify to get yours audited and linked.
Pros: it is free, it is the only account Google itself controls, and it is where the carousel actually displays.
Cons: it only shows what is linked to it, so a business with no active Facebook or Instagram gets an empty carousel.
Update rhythm: check details monthly, post an offer or update weekly.
2. Facebook Business Page — the community feed Google still pulls from
A Facebook Business Page is the account most often linked inside the Social Media Updates carousel. It pulls in recent posts, events and offers.
This is the platform that carries local news. When Glasgow Live runs a piece on independent coffee shops or an award-winning local takeaway, the shares and comments land on Facebook first. A linked page turns that local coverage into something a searcher sees inside your Google profile, not just something that scrolls past on a feed.
It is also the account a cautious customer checks second, straight after your reviews. A live page with recent posts, replies to comments and this week’s opening hours answers the only question they actually have: are these people still trading and worth phoning?
Pros: widest local audience and the most complete events and offers format for the carousel.
Cons: organic post reach on Facebook has declined for years, so an inactive page simply parades stale content in the carousel.
Update rhythm: one post a week, plus events whenever you have them.
3. Instagram for Business — the visual proof carousel
Instagram is the second platform Google links straight into the Social Media Updates carousel, and for anyone selling visible workmanship it is the strongest evidence you own.
For a trade in Inverclyde, this is a before-and-after account. For a Glasgow café, it is the counter, the pastries and the queue on a Saturday morning. Both are proof, and both now show up under your name in search, before the searcher has clicked anything.
Pros: strongest visual proof format for trades, hospitality and retail businesses.
Cons: needs a steady supply of photo or video content, which stalls fastest when nobody owns it internally.
Update rhythm: one or two posts a week, taken on a phone, not staged.
4. LinkedIn Company Page — the credibility signal
A LinkedIn Company Page is one of the seven accounts Google Business Profile now accepts as a social link. It is also the one most B2B and professional service businesses skip.
If you sell to other businesses, this is where the person checking you out before a meeting will land. A page with your team, your services and a recent post beats a blank placeholder every time.
Pros: carries the most credibility for service businesses selling to other businesses.
Cons: low posting frequency is common, which leaves the carousel showing months-old updates.
Update rhythm: one post a fortnight is enough to keep the carousel current.
5. YouTube Channel — the video snippet source
YouTube is the only major social platform Google itself owns, through Alphabet. Linked channels feed video straight into the same carousel as the other platforms.
Video is also where most local businesses give up early. A two-minute walkthrough of a finished job, filmed on a phone, does more for an enquiry than a month of stock graphics. That is content marketing doing an actual job of work.
Pros: video ranks separately in Google’s video results as well as inside the profile carousel, a double placement no other platform gets.
Cons: production takes longer than a photo or text post, so channels are the most likely to go quiet.
Update rhythm: one video a month, kept short.
6. TikTok for Business — the newest carousel feed
TikTok was added to the supported Google Business Profile social links in the same 2025 to 2026 rollout as the carousel itself.
Pros: reaches a younger local audience that increasingly searches inside the app itself rather than on Google.
Cons: the newest addition, so carousel display can be inconsistent depending on region.
Update rhythm: two or three clips a week, or leave it alone entirely.
7. Pinterest for Business — the niche visual search feed
Pinterest is a supported Google Business Profile link. It suits home, food, wedding and retail businesses with a strong product range.
Pros: long content lifespan compared with other feeds, a single pin can drive traffic for years.
Cons: narrow relevance outside visually driven, product-led niches.
Update rhythm: a batch of pins once a month.
8. Nextdoor for Business — the one Google doesn’t show, and why it still matters
Nextdoor is not a platform Google Business Profile accepts as a social link. So it never appears in the carousel.
Pros: hyperlocal trust among neighbours who actively ask for recommendations.
Cons: invisible to the Google features covered in this guide, so it should never be treated as a substitute for the five above.
Update rhythm: respond to recommendation threads, nothing more.
Who should set these accounts up first
A tradesperson or home services business should start with Google Business Profile, Facebook and Instagram. Photo proof of finished jobs is what local searchers click.
A B2B or professional services business should lead with Google Business Profile and LinkedIn. A hospitality or retail business gets the most from Instagram, TikTok and Pinterest alongside the profile itself.
Whatever the order, none of it counts unless the accounts are linked inside Google Business Profile. That is the step most businesses in Glasgow and Inverclyde skip, and it is a free one.
Getting these accounts linked properly
Online Marketing Group handles this setup remotely for clients across Greenock and the wider Inverclyde area. It is part of our social media marketing and lead generation work, so no office visit is needed to get started.
Keith Malone has spent 40+ years in sales and marketing, and runs OMG as a family business from Greenock. His view on qualifying is blunt: we would rather turn a business away than promise a result we cannot deliver. If linked social accounts will not move the needle for you, we will say so on the call.
Book your social media audit
Book your appointment at omgmarketinguk.com/qualify. OMG will check which of these five accounts you already have, which ones are missing, and whether they are properly linked to your Google Business Profile.
If you have not linked all five yet, that is the single fastest fix on this list. No upfront cost, no empty promises. Book online now at omgmarketinguk.com/qualify to get it sorted.
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