It takes a consistent effort to stand out from the crowd. By regularly posting to your Google Business listing you boost your views, interactions, website traffic, driving directions, calls, and overall consumer trust. Google rewards businesses that post high-quality, relevant and personalized content to their Google Business profile, and by doing so you will not only start to see more web traffic but will be well on your way to ranking within the Google Map Pack.
By regularly posting to your Google Business listing you boost your views, interactions, website traffic, driving directions, calls, and overall consumer trust.
Photos VS Posts
Google Business is an online directory that takes shape as a social media platform. When consumers search for your business, your Google Business listing is the first thing they see. Your Google Business listing is a complete online overview of your business, with photos, post updates, a Q&A panel, reviews section, products, services, “Buy Now” features, “Book Now” features, and so much more. The longer you can keep a consumer clicking around your business listing the better. How do you do this? By increasing your profile’s footprint and scroll-ability.
Photos
Adding pictures to the photo section of your GBP allows searchers a quick view of your business before they make a decision. This is valuable for a number of reasons and Google rewards businesses who replicate the real world online as much as possible.
Posts
Posts add to the “scroll-ability” of a profile. Once potential customers click on your listing, give them something to scroll through by adding posts. Interest customers with your special offers and promotions, entice them with your witty humor or classy banter. Posts are an excellent way to stand out and increase the amount of time a potential customer stays on your profile.
Studies have shown that posts without photos do better than posts with photos. With that being said, as confirmed by Google Gold Member Yan Gilbert, Google does not mind if you use your GBP photos in your posts as well. It is also confirmed that you are able to delete old photos and reupload them for modern purposes. It is not recommended to post duplicate or stock content.
When adding photos to your Google Business account there are a few things to consider
How often are you going to post?
Our current recommendation is one photo and one post per week. However, things are ever-evolving on Google and the amount you should post depends on a few different factors. This includes what your competition is doing, changes made within Google, or current promotions and special events happening. Ultimately, you can post as much as you’d like, as long as you’re posting regularly!
- Once you have decided on a schedule for how often you are going to post, get organized by scheduling what days will be post days in your planner or calendar.
How much should you invest?
Creating high-quality content comes at a cost but pays off in high-performing posts. Although not entirely necessary, consider investing in a good point and shoot or a high-quality phone camera. Think about the lighting inside your business, if there’s low light, consider that when choosing a camera and lens. Consider the types of things you will be photographing as well as the style of photography (i.e. portrait photography, landscape photography, or a mixture of both). If there are any small changes that you’ve been wanting to make to your business, this is a good time to make that investment. The pictures on your Google Business listing are the first thing consumers see when searching for your business. Represent and impress with high-quality photos of a photogenic business.
Hire a professional. We follow specifically crafted guidelines to capture 52 high-quality images of your business for your Google Business listing and various other marketing needs.
- Consider a camera upgrade
- Interior/Exterior updates
- Hire a professional
How many photos should you take?
Scrambling for content is no fun. When you’re hard-pressed for the time it’s hard to create fresh, high-quality content that you’re proud of. You end up posting something that just “works” and eventually stop posting altogether. However, if you do not stay up on regular photo and post updates, your business will fall behind.
Do the math
Take the number of days you want to post a picture, and multiply it by 52 (the number of weeks in a year). For example, if you want to post one photo per week, multiply 1 by 52 to get 52 photos. Now that you know what you’re working with, it’s time to set out on your content-creation journey!
Start with the basics
The first thing to think about when taking pictures for your GBP is to start with the basics. First, let’s take a look at the different photo categories within Google Business- “Exterior”, “Interior”, and “360º“. We’re also going to add “At Work” and “Products” to the category list.
Assuming you are planning to post one photo per week for a year, take 52 (the number of weeks in a year) and divide that by the four categories mentioned above (excluding 360º Photography). Now, you have your categories broken up into the number of pictures you need to take for each category, 13.
Exterior
Now that we have our categories broken up into 13 photos, let’s break it down even further. Think about your business fronts’ unique attributes. What do you want customers to see when they look you up online? What would you want to see if you were a customer?
Some Exterior shot ideas include…
- Vibrant or unique paint color
- Unique Architecture
- Artwork, murals, sculptures
- Company sign
- Landscaping
- Parking
- Front door
- Unique doormat
- Building numbers
- Walkways, stepping stones, pathways
- Seating
- Wheelchair Accessibility
- The neighborhood
Now, your business might have all or some of these traits. Try applying as many of these ideas as you can to capture 13 unique photos of the Exterior of your business. As long as they are distinctly unique shots, you can take and post more than one photo of the same subject. Between these suggestions, you should be able to come up with 13 different unique angles of your business fronts’ unique attributes.
Interior
Let’s do the same thing for your interior shots. Again, not all businesses have the same attributes and won’t be able to shoot all of the suggested content. Compile a list of the attributes your business does have and try getting more than one angle on some of them to reach your 13 shot goal.
Some Interior shot ideas include…
- Lobby seating
- Artwork, murals, sculptures
- Unique decor
- Unique architecture
- Front Desk
- Seasonal displays
- Bathroom
- Office plants, flowers, and animals
- Lobby amenities (water machine, reading material, t.v.)
- Unique views
- Windows and views
- Equipment
- Awards, certificates, achievements
Do what you can to apply these ideas to your own business. If in some areas these ideas do not apply to you, try compensating for the loss by taking more shots in a different category.
At Work
Nothing connects a future customer to your business more than photos of the smiling faces they’re about to go see. Post pictures of your employees at work doing what they do. Your customers will love it.
Between all of your employees collectively, 13 photos shouldn’t be too hard to gather upon following these seven suggestions…
- Employee headshots
- Hands at work
- Greeting a customer
- Behind the scenes prep
- Employee gatherings
- Special events
- Honorable mentions
Products
Feature your main products and services in the photos section of your Google Business profile.
*As a side note and bonus you can add products and services directly to your listing complete with “Buy Now” and “Book Now” buttons!
Product photography is pretty straightforward in that you are photographing products. However, the way you photograph your product is entirely up to you and could look different to anyone. If you are just getting started in product photography, start by taking an individual product and giving it a closeup. Make some investments into your product content if you’d like, such as lighting, spin tables, backgrounds, etc. It’s up to you how you want your products displayed. If it’s a service you offer, take pictures of the service being offered.
- Schedule time with some friends or regulars to act as model customers for your GBP. (These photos can be used for the “At Work” category as well.)
- Individual product shots
- Invest in product photography
The goal is to capture 13 unique images of the products and services you offer. Consider taking multiple angles of your products, especially if your business offers less than 13 products.
Conclusion
After following this guide you should have 52 photos ready to post weekly for the next year. Once you have your content, put it in a folder, and set a reminder on your calendar so you don’t forget to post! Hope this helps, and happy snapping!
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