How to Optimise Photos and Videos on Your GMB Listing
Published by : Vicinus
Date : January 16, 2025
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Every GMB profile offers a section to upload photos and videos of the business. Google Business Profiles (GBPs) enable businesses to display photographs and videos of their storefront, products, services, and overall ambiance, allowing customers to gain an immediate impression of the business prior to their arrival. Incorporating high-quality photographs of your storefront, interiors, product offerings and team interactions fosters trust and confidence in the business. Using images and videos into your Google Business Profile
creates an authentic impact during first impression.
cultivates trust and engages clientele.
improves chances of conversion of profile visitors into purchasers.
augments local SEO, increasing visibility in search results.
The following is a screenshot of the photo upload feature in Google My Business Profile, intended to facilitate the posting of images, including cover photos and specific product images.
Images and videos on GBPs transcend mere aesthetics. Cognitive load theory posits that pictures serve as potent engagement instruments, being processed by the brain 60,000 times more rapidly than text. High-quality photos communicate authenticity and reliability, rendering them essential for converting spectators into buyers.Although photos do not directly influence rankings, businesses ranking in the top 3 positions have, on average, more high quality images in their profile than their competitors.
Basic Guidelines For Image Content Upload
In order to get a better understanding of how to optimise your Google My Business profile, let’s go over some of the primary guidelines and principles around the posting of photographs and visuals.
Image Upload guidelines:
Format: JPG or PNG file formats are recommended.
Dimensions: Images must range from 10 KB to 5 MB.
Suggested resolution: 720 pixels by 720 pixels for superior quality.
The minimum resolution required is 250 pixels by 250 pixels.
Quality: The photograph must be clear, well-illuminated, and free from excessive changes or filters. It must precisely depict the location.
Most businesses may submit a maximum of 100 photographs to their Google Business Profile, however hotels, restaurants, and attractions are permitted a greater limit of 200 photos.
Logo: Utilise a high-resolution version of your logo to facilitate customer recognition of your company's identity.
Customer Photo Uploads: Customers can upload their own photos of interactions or presence to your Google Business Profile, providing authentic insights into real experiences. These images enhance profile’s appeal and build trust amongst potential customers.
Avoid uploading: Screenshots, stock images, GIFs, manually crafted visuals, or photographs captured by others. Only authentic stuff is permitted.
Photo relevance: Photos or videos must be captured by users at the actual business location to be considered valid.
Exterior Photos: Include at least three exterior shots of your location to help customers recognize your business from different angles.
Interior Photos: Show interior photos to give customers a feel for the ambiance and decor of your business.
Irrelevant content: If the main focus of the content doesn’t relate to the location, it may be removed to maintain relevance.
Photos at Work: Share photos of employees working to help customers understand your work type.
Clarity and quality: Photos that are blurry, overly dark, or altered with heavy filters can detract from the user experience and may even be removed by Google if they don't meet platform standards.
Resolution requirements: The resolution of your photos should meet the standard and they should be High-quality photos.
360°GMB photos: Adding 360° photos to your Google My Business (GMB) listing creates an engaging, interactive experience that lets customers explore every angle of your business.
Product Photos: If you market products, post visuals of your best-selling items to enhance buyers' comprehension of your offerings.
Good and bad examples of images: The image on the left, from a lower-rated restaurant, is poorly cropped and unappealing, which can immediately hinder a first-time visitor’s impression. In contrast, the image on the right, from a top-rated restaurant, is visually captivating and inviting..
How to Add Photos To GMB Listings
The following is a systematic procedure to assist you in uploading photographs that accurately depict your business.
Sign in to Google Business Profile: Go to Google Business Profile and sign in using your Google account.
Select Your Business Location: If you manage multiple locations, select the one you want to manage.
Click on "Add photo": In the main menu, click on "Add photo" to access the photo management section.
Choose the Type of Photo to Add: You can add three different types of photos, including a logo, a cover photo, and additional business photos. Select the type of photo you want to add and continue.
Add Your Photos: Choose the photos you want to upload from your device and add them.
Regularly Update Your Photos: To keep your Google Business Profile fresh, engaging, and optimised, regularly update your photos with new and relevant images.
How to Remove Photos From GMB Listings
To remove images from your Google My Business profile, follow these steps:
Log in to your Google My Business account.
Choose the listing you wish to oversee.
Access the Photos area via the left-hand navigation.
Select the photograph you wish to delete.
Select the trash icon to remove the image.
Your Google My Business (GMB) listing may at times include inaccurate or out-of-date visuals, such as promotional graphics, old location photos, or shots that do not appropriately portray the company anymore. If you want your profile to remain updated and appealing to potential clients, you need to evaluate and remove obsolete and unnecessary images often.
Managing and optimising your GMB photos with Vicinus
Imagine a potential customer discovering your Google Business Profile, only to be greeted by outdated, blurry images—a missed opportunity to make a great first impression. Vicinus is an AI-powered platform designed to elevate your business’s online presence with effortless, analytics-driven listings management. With Vicinus, managing and growing customers becomes simpler and more efficient.
Vicinus’s AI Photo Checker simplifies the management of photos and videos in a business listing. This intelligent tool is meant to ensure that your visual content remains relevant, of high quality, and in line with the requirements of your business. This application does more than just detect images that are out of date or badly taken; it also performs a proactive search of your Google My Business listings, identifies any photographs that do not match the standards, and recommends alternatives that are more recent and optimised. Vicinus ensures that every branch of your company represents the quality and consistency that your clients anticipate by creating a portfolio of sharp images that were created in accordance with your brand.
Conclusion
Maintaining an updated GMB listing with well curated photographs and videos enhances the visual attractiveness of your business profile and boosts exposure on search engines. Consistently updated, high-calibre material indicates to Google that your listing is dynamic and compelling, potentially enhancing your position in local SEO results. By following principles and keeping images current, you ensure that potential clients see your organisation optimally, enhancing both foot traffic and credibility.
Keeping an updated Google My Business (GMB) page with high-quality images and videos not only improves the aesthetic of your listing but also indicates to search engines that your business is active and engaging. Regularly updated, meticulously chosen images can enhance your local SEO, facilitating higher rankings in search results and increasing foot traffic.
Although photos do not directly influence rankings, they might enhance interest in your Google Business Profile. Frequent user engagement with your photos may lead Google to perceive your profile as more relevant, thereby enhancing its exposure.
Using stock photos won’t get you in trouble, but Google prefers original pictures over stock images. If you use stock pictures, you should change them first to avoid problems, as Google may block some stock photos.
It’s fine to use the same pictures in more than one post. But it’s best to have unique pictures for each place. The algorithm doesn’t punish having too many pictures.
Adding new pictures about once a week is a good idea. Google doesn’t have a set rule for images, but it does recommend posting once a week to make sure that customers always see new content.
Go to your Business Profile, click Edit profile, and then pick either Cover picture or Logo to change your logo or cover photo. Remember that Google might not use your chosen picture if it doesn’t fit their platform’s needs.