Your Google Business Profile is an incredible resource that Google has a provided for FREE! But, most people don’t utilize it properly. The photos section of a profile can be extremely powerful for building a strong brand, keeping your listing safe from suspensions, and engaging people searching and converting searchers into to leads.
At Simple SEO we are experienced in all things Google Business Profile including photography. We use a Google approved 360 camera to take high resolution photos and 360 photos of your business so your brand looks fantastic online!
Why You Should Use Photos On Your Google Business Profile
As a Google Business Profile Product Expert, I see a lot of business profiles both in my day to day work and as a Google Product Expert in the support forums. One thing that I see a lot is issues with verifications and reinstatements.
People often ask, “Kevin, how can I set my Google Business Profile up to prevent issues with verifications and suspensions, and also improve my visibility online?”
Great question. If only more people asked this. One of the ways you can help do that is through photography.
Google Loves Photos
When people think about using photos for a Google Business Profile, they often think about adding their logo and a few images that represent the work that they do. This is true to a point. Google has provided a number of different labels that your photos can be added under such as:
- By Owner
- By Customer
- Interior
- Exterior
- Identity
- Team
- and more…
The fact that Google provides a separation of labels means you should pay attention to these. They help organize data and when Google is organizing data, you can bet they are using it to understand your business.
Photos Are Proven To Increase Conversions
When someone looks at your profile, the photos show the kind of work you do, your team doing the work and it hepls to establish repoir before you even have a conversation.
Photos have been shown many times over to improve engagement with your listing. Plus, Google sometimes shows photos in the search results and the impact of photos on rankings can be quite impressive.
Photos tell a story about your business and most businesses don’t leverage photos properly.
Types of Photos To Use On Your Google Listing
Identity Photos
This is a label Google provides to show the iamges that help Identify your brand and business. These photos include your logo and cover photo. They are extremely important regarding conversions and how your listing shows up in search so make sure you put extra effort into making these look fabulous!
Exterior Photos
If you have a storefront, one of the simplest things you can do is upload photos of the exterior of your building with permanent signage so that people will know what they are looking for when they arrive at your place of business.
These photos should be uploaded into the “exterior” label on your Google Business Profile. The “exterior” label is often misused by people and they think it just means upload photos of “outside” but it is meant to display your business. Get your signage up, Get your team together with branded shirts and smiles on their faces and take some photos out front of your store.
Remove uncertainty and show customers what to expect.
Interior Photos
On the same note as the exterior photos, you should also upload “interior” photos. This doesn’t mean photos of work done indoors like many businesses do. This means take some photos of the lobby or waiting area. This is helpful content. People will know what they are walking into and it helps remove uncertainty.
These photo should represent your business inside.
Team Photos
This is one of the most under utilized types of photos. Google has provided the “team” label because people like to see who they are going to work with when they hire a company or are going to a business. Having a photo of the team is a great way to present your business well.
By Customer Photos
Did you know that your customers can upload photos to your Google Business Profile? In fact, anyone can. They can take out their phone, snap a photo when they are in your lobby and post it to your Google Business Profile. This gets posted with a date, timestamp, GPS info and more! Google LOVES customer uploaded photos because they aren’t manipulated by the business owner. They are more authentic so encourage your amazing customers to do this!
By Owner Photos
While it is great for your customer to upload photos, it is important for the owner of the listing to upload photos as well. This is a great opportunty for you to show the important things. This is something you can control so take advantage of it.
360 Street View Photos
Google drives their car around and takes photos constantly. When we are looking to verify a listing, one of the first things we look at to see if they are a legitimate business is the Google Street View at the location address. This is an important feature and one that you can influence.
If your Google Street View does not display your business properly, you can request a new photo to be taken.
360 photos also give the searchers a means to navigate around the street in front of your building. This is another great way for them to get familiar with where your listing is so they understand the directions and won’t get lost. Street View photos help remove uncertainty.
360 Virtual Tour Photos
If you have ever looked at real estate online, you likely have seen 360 virtual tours of houses. Google Business Profiles can do the same thing! You can hire a photographer to take 360 photos and create a virtual walk through of your building to show potential customers what the interior of your building looks like.
This is an amazing feature for malls and other large spaces that offer a variety of ammenities. It is also a great feature if you share an office space with other businesses and you want to show customers how to get to your space inside the office building.
I have mentioned a few times already the importance of removing uncertainty. This is an amazing way to do that
Conclusion
Most listings I see don’t leverage the photos properly. I don’t think I have seen a single business use photos to its full capacity. But, one this is for sure, the businesses that put more effort into regularly and consistently uploading photos to their Google Business Profile are usually ranking higher and have more engagement with their listings. Google likes consistency and photos is a really easy way for you to maintain engagement on your Google Business Profile listing.
Not only do the businesses that consistently use photos on their listings do better in the search results, they don’t have nearly as many issues with Google suspensions and verifications because they are building a strong reputable brand online.
