RELEVANT GOOGLE BUSINESS PROFILE PHOTOS ARE NOW PRESENTED TO BROWSERS USING KEYWORD SEARCHES!
Photos are one of the top aspects when presenting a business to the general public. Photos can either draw in massive sales or they can keep online searchers from giving your business the time of day. Images can potentially make or break a business in some cases.
When looking online, individuals like to eat with their eyes, and this doesn’t necessarily mean food. When was the last time you looked an online listing that presented you with very unwashed looking photos; or a listing with no photos for that matter? Did you feel much of a need to look through that listing much further? Did it evoke you to find another business that visually presented who they are and what they do? I can say I definitely have!
Photos can be the instant selling point between an intrigued potential customer to someone who gives your online listing a slight glance and moves on. No one ever wants to see a really grainy or pixelated picture. Sometimes bad pictures can turn searchers away even more so than listings that have no images at all. When seeing a business, every onlooker wants to see everything clear as day. So, great, high-quality photos are one of the major keys to a new business’s success.
On the Google local end, Google has always been vigorous at getting your Google Business Profile (GBP) photos presented. However, the configuration of how your GBP photos are presented to the public is another story. Google has not yet relinquished control to the GBP owner/manager over how your images are laid out to the public.
For example, if you search for a Google Business Profile listing, it will present photo(s) on the GBP dashboard.
These photos may not necessarily be what the owner of the listing wants as the profile image(s). They may be good photos, but it might not be the very first image(s) the owner wants Google users to see.
However, we are starting to see the beginnings of Google using their image recognition technology for Google Business Profilees listings images. What this means is that when an individual search under a specific aspect related to your business and your GBP listing has an image related to said query search, there is a chance that image will present itself in the search results. This can cause the GBP profile image to be swapped out, just during a said search, for the searched related image.
This is huge for businesses using Google Business Profile platform. As originally emphasized, good images are exceptionally necessary, and not to mention highly needed for a classy looking GBP profile. Now that Google is starting to headline product photos on GBP listings that have ‘said’ product images, this is just another and a very big reason for GBP users to add more product photos to their GBP listing. This can lead to quicker sales and/or more opportunities for a business to be discovered along with providing more accurate Google searching relevance related to a business. Product and service images give the potential for your business to be discovered under product keywords that are being searched for – not just by a business’s name or typing in a specific business type in a Google search.
Now knowing this, the more products and/or service pictures you can show to the public the better!
Examples: If you own a bike shop, don’t be stingy about adding pictures of all the different brands, colors, models or enhancements available for bikes to the Google Business Profile listing. If your business is a jewelry store, don’t feel hesitant about adding your bracelets, rings, necklaces and/or whatever jewelry your store might supply.
Do you want to know just how good Google is in regards to image recognition? Check out this chart from Perficient Digital:
Tagging
We all know that Google is constantly updating, evolving and getting better and better. As great as Google’s image recognition technology is, nothing is foolproof. Having high-quality images of your business and products/services is great for image recognition but what can also help give images an extra recognizable boost is tagging the images. Tagging an image is simply labeling an image’s file title based on what is in the picture. This assists the photo being more actually found through online searches because of the labeled/tagged photo’s related keyword(s).
Having said all of this, at the end of the day, this does not mean that Google will not stop presenting the photos to upload into your Google Business Profile listing as they see fit. But….. what this does mean is that this gives the GBP owner/manager a way to influence how their images are shown; not to mention another way for Google users to find your business. It doesn’t put you in the driver’s seat in regards to GBP images but it does allow you to have your hand somewhat on the wheel.
Utilizing this information, you will be on your way to presenting great optimized images on your own Google Business Profile page along with influencing Google to present your business and products through user searches. If you are having a hard time determining whether your photos are optimized properly or simply in need of assistance with optimizing photos for your business listing, contact V Digital Services today! We have specialists that are more than ready to help your business become a success!
Google Business Profile, Local SEO