How to use Visual Content to Elevate Your Google Business Profile
I recently chatted on X with a friend about Google Business Profiles and how I’ve seen many local businesses not taking advantage of it to increase their chances of being found in local search results.
We joked about creating another social media post on the subject from our different perspectives and experiences.
I started jotting down a few ideas for a post, then a few more.
Before I knew it, I’d come up with more than I could fit into a social media post, which ended up being this article!
So, what is a Google Business Profile anyway?
A Google Business Profile (or, as it used to be called, Google My Business) is a free online tool that enables businesses to create and manage their presence in Google Search and Google Maps.
It’s more than just an additional shop window for your business, website, and social media accounts. A Google Business Profile is a powerful marketing tool that significantly increases your visibility in local searches, empowering you to reach a wider audience.
- Nearly all consumers—98%—turn to the internet when seeking details about local businesses.
- With Google’s strong emphasis on local search rankings, an optimised Google Business Profile is essential.
You’ll agree with me that having an online presence is crucial for any local business that wants to thrive — if you know of any exceptions, feel free to share them.
Irrespective of what some gurus think, Google is undeniably the best at connecting local businesses with their next customers.
However, you need a decent and well-optimised Google Business Profile to boost your chances of being seen by your ideal customer.
It now begs the question,
Do I Have Information That Can Help You?
I don’t claim to be a master of Google Business Profiles.
But I’ve been testing, adapting, and using mine for a long time. I’ve even managed business profiles directly for several clients.
Over the last seven years, I have learned many things that have resulted in more clients entering my business.
So, these are my “real-world” observations of what has worked for me. They may work for your business, too!
If you need your business to be found locally but need to be properly utilising a Google Business Profile to boost your prominence and stand out from the competition, then this is for you.
Part 1 - How to Get Started with Google Business Profile
Claim and Verify Your Business Profile.
Before you can optimise your Google Business Profile, you need to claim and verify ownership of the business. This involves going through a simple verification process.
Once verified, you gain access to your profile and can build your online presence on Google.
Complete Your Business Information.
Your Google Business Profile is like a digital shopfront, and just like you would need to set up and prepare your physical shop, your online profile should be the same.
Google uses the information you provide to prioritise local businesses in search results. So, it makes sense to ensure that every section is filled out, making sure to include keywords in your business description.
Provide up-to-date information such as your business name, address, phone number (NAP), website, hours of operation, and a brief but engaging business description.
The more information you provide, the easier it becomes for new clients to find and connect with your business.
Link social media profiles.
Google now allows businesses to connect their social media handles to their Google My Business profile. This relatively new option helps new or existing customers quickly see all your social media handles.
It’s a great way to boost visibility and engagement, but that’s not all.
It can also help protect your customers from being scammed by fake social media accounts pretending to be you.
Select the Right Categories.
Choosing the appropriate categories for your business is essential for appearing in relevant search results. Google allows you to select a primary and several secondary categories that best describe your business.
Try to be specific and accurate in your selection.
For instance, if you run a bakery, ‘Bakery’ should be your primary category. At the same time, ‘Cupcake Shop’ or ‘Bread Store’ could be secondary categories.
This way, if someone searches for “bread store near me,” your business will also appear.
Encourage Customer Testimonials.
Reviews are a superb way to build trust and credibility and are crucial for ranking higher on Google. Always encourage your clients to leave a review and ensure you respond to them, whether positive or negative.
Responding to all comments shows potential clients that you value customer feedback.
As business owners, we all want positive, 5-star reviews because they often influence a potential customer’s decision. However, constructive responses to negative reviews can be just as influential, demonstrating your commitment to improvement and addressing the customer’s issue with your service.
Where possible, ask customers to mention your location or services. For example, a restaurant in Welling that receives numerous reviews mentioning “restaurant in Welling” boosts its visibility above competitors in the same area.
Be Careful!
You don’t want lots of reviews all at once! Be careful when asking lots of friends and family to leave reviews, as this can mark your account as spam by Google. It’s far more critical to have high-quality testimonials that add value to your proposition than lots of low-quality “bulk” Reviews. You don’t want to find your account suspended because Google thinks you’re cheating.
Use Local Keywords.
Incorporate local keywords in your business description, posts, and updates. This helps Google understand how relevant your business is in local searches.
Find phrases your customers might use when looking for businesses like yours in your area.
How do you do this?
A good start is asking the question, “What do the locals call businesses like mine?” Use it as long as it isn’t perceived as a slur or something offensive. (I’ve done this in both Google Search and ChatGTP).
Guidelines for representing your business on Google
Keep this important tip in mind: it’s against Google policy to add specific keyword terms to your business name.
What do I mean?
For example, my business name is Graham Baker Photography. This is how it shows on my profile.
However, it would be against Google policy if I had my business name as:
This is because “London Commercial Photographer” isn’t my business name, and Google is very strict about policy violations; the simple, ‘harmless’ act could result in your Business Profile being suspended! – You can read the Official Google Guidance Here.
Create Google Posts.
Google Posts / Google Updates lets you share promotions, the latest updates, news, and events directly on your Business Profile. These posts appear in your profile in search results and can grab users’ attention.
Sharing regular posts to your Business Profile does 3 things:
- It lets Google know you’re open for business,
- keeps your profile active,
- and can pull traffic to your website.
For example, suppose you run a hair salon in Sidcup. In that case, you can regularly upload posts about new promotions, keeping customers informed and engaged alongside your social media content.
Perhaps there’s a new hair extension trending in Sidcup. Well, your customers (and potential customers) won’t know you have it if you don’t update your profile, would they?
Utilise Google My Business Attributes
The so-called “small details” matter when setting up your Google Business Profile. Including specific features in your profile can help customers make informed decisions.
Options like “Wheelchair Accessible,” “Outdoor Seating,” “Wi-Fi Available,” “Dog-Friendly”, and other accurate attributes can boost your profile’s relevance for users with specific needs.
Monitor and Respond to Questions & Answers.
Your profile also allows people to ask questions about your business directly on your Google Business Profile. Proactively monitor these questions and provide accurate and timely answers.
This gives potential customers valuable information and demonstrates your commitment to customer service.
But here’s the best part most business owners don’t know:
You can even “ask and answer” these yourself. Creating a list of FAQs directly within your Google profile will encourage users to interact with it.
By asking and answering most of these FAQs, you automatically cut down on the number of enquiry calls you would have received daily.
So, technically, most of the calls you’ll receive will be from clients that have decided to do business with you. Or, they have a unique question that you haven’t thought about.
That’s a win-win if you ask me.
Local Citations and Backlinks.
Consistent business information across online directories and platforms, known as local citations, can boost your local SEO efforts. So ensure that your NAP (Name, Address, Phone) details are accurate and consistent across all platforms.
Another thing I’ve discovered that helps boost your visibility is quality backlinks from reputable local websites. This signals search engines (in this case, Google) that your business is credible and relevant.
However, the thing you must note with backlinks is this: if it doesn’t feel natural, don’t force it.
What do I mean?
You don’t have to go around spamming your link on different websites.
Instead, encourage your customers to share your links with family, friends, and colleagues. With good, quality service, your business could pop up in conversations you never expected.
Monitor and Analyse Performance
Google provides insights and analytics for your Google Business Profile.
Although there are hundreds of metrics to look at (and you should look at them), I think the three most important metrics to give your attention are:
- how many people viewed your profile,
- where they are viewing from,
- and how they interact with your content.
These metrics will help you refine your strategy and make informed decisions about what’s working and needs improvement.
Part 2 - How to use High-Quality Visual Content for your Google Business Profile
By implementing the tips and staying consistent with part 1, you’re already on track to rank higher on local search results than most of your competitors.
Now, let’s look at how you can use visual content (photographs and videos) to further transform your profile.
How Important Is Visual Content on Your Google Business Profile?
I can’t stress it enough: the visuals you use on your Google Business Profile can make or mar the excellent work you’ve done on your profile.
High-quality photos and videos that truly represent your business are critical to growing your local online presence and attracting potential customers.
Here are 7 reasons it works so well.
1. First Impressions Matter:
When someone interacts with your profile, the visuals are generally what they notice first. High-quality and visually appealing photos or videos will create a positive first impression, encouraging them to explore your profile further or click through to your website.
If that didn’t convince you of the power of visual content, consider that Google provides insights into how users engage with your visual content.
Monitoring metrics (as mentioned in part 1) like views, engagement, and click-through rates can help refine your visual content strategy over time.
2. Enhances your Credibility:
Authentic and relevant photos of your business, products, and services prove your legitimacy. They show that your business is active and trustworthy, increasing your credibility.
However, pictures don’t necessarily have to come from you: existing customers can leave a review + photo on your Google Business Profile. This is just as effective in swaying the decisions of other potential customers as the pictures uploaded by your business.
It’s worth a shot to encourage your happy customer to include photos when leaving a review. Especially if you run a product-based business, a happy client using your product is the best marketing strategy!
3. Builds Trust:
Potential clients are more likely to trust businesses they can see.
What do I mean?
Photos give a face to your company and provide a glimpse into the real-life experiences customers can expect. They also offer behind-the-scenes information on how you operate and help promote transparency.
4. Engages your Visitors:
Visual content has the potential to capture the viewer’s attention in more ways than text alone can.
Engaging images and videos will encourage users to spend more time on your profile, increasing their chances of doing business with you.
You can showcase your work and the interior/exterior of your establishment through photos. Additionally, you can create posts with images to share updates, promotions, and announcements directly on your profile.
5. Convey Information Quickly:
A single image can instantly communicate a lot of information. Instead of reading paragraphs of text, potential customers can grasp critical details about your business, products, or services by glancing at well-chosen images.
I’ve said it many times before – A Picture paints a thousand words!
6. Boosts Your Local SEO:
When it comes to local search engine optimisation (SEO), Google recognises and rewards businesses that provide comprehensive and relevant visual content. This can help your business appear in more local search results.
Whatever visuals you use on your profile, be sure to rename your pictures and videos from random strings to something you want to rank for—it helps.
7. Announce Your Area of Coverage:
So far, we’ve only focused on photographs and videos and their visual impact on potential customers’ decisions to do business with you.
However, your business location (or area of coverage) is also a visual content that makes it easier for customers to find your physical location or areas you cover. This feature is super important for businesses with a physical presence that customers need to visit.
When setting up your location on Google Maps, go a step further to include interactive 360-degree images that potential clients can explore!
Now that you know just how crucial visual content is to the success of your Google Business profile, what’s the best type of visual content to use?
Best types of visual content to use for the best results:
Use high-resolution photographs representing your brand and business whenever possible—avoid stock photos or videos. (Google will probably reject them or treat them as duplicate content – You can read more about this in my article about using Stock Photography
Ensure any visual content you upload to your profile is well-lit, well-composed, and truly captures the essence of your offerings.
You should always check the current Google policy for uploading images, mainly when text and logos are being used, as there are restrictions to how big they appear in the photograph.
Exterior and Interior Shots:
Showcase your physical location with exterior shots of your storefront or office building. Interior photos give potential customers a sense of what it is like to be inside your establishment.
I recommend adding photos taken from the customer’s perspective. For example, a shot taken while seated at the restaurant table will give potential customers a better view of the building — remember to blur faces and number plates.
Provide a virtual tour or 360-degree photo of your business space if applicable. These work particularly well with Google Maps. You can embed these directly into your website and share them as social media links.
For example, the 360 image below of my studio is embedded directly from Google Maps.
If a 360-degree photograph of your location isn’t applicable, you could make a 360-degree demo of your products or services.
Product Showcase:
If you sell products, showcase them using high-quality images. Use a mix of images that capture your products from different angles and highlight their features and uniqueness.
If you own a boutique, for example, showcase your latest fashion collection. If you run a restaurant, upload high-quality images of your most popular dishes.
Service Demonstrations:
For service-based businesses, use images and videos that depict your team in action. For instance, if you’re a hair salon business, add photos of a hairstylist working on a client’s hair to your Google Business Profile.
Before-and-After Photos:
If applicable, include before-and-after photos that demonstrate the transformative effects of your products or services. This can be particularly effective for fitness, beauty, or home improvement industries.
Customer Testimonials:
Few things build trust and credibility like genuine customer testimonials and success stories. Having them on your Google Business Profile encourages other satisfied customers to share their experiences with your products or services through photos.
You can also incorporate images of satisfied customers and testimonials you’ve taken. This adds authenticity and relatability to your profile and fosters a sense of community and reliability.
When searching for services, I look at the reviews, especially where there are images to go with them!
Events and Promotions:
Share photos from events you’ve hosted or participated in. If you’re running a special promotion or hosting an event, use images to create excitement and provide context, compelling potential customers to take action.
Behind-the-Scenes:
Customers love to connect with the human side of businesses. Provide a behind-the-scenes look at your business operation. These candid glimpses can foster a sense of connection and transparency.
For example, share candid shots of your team at work, brainstorming sessions, or even team-building activities. When done well, these shots humanise your brand and create a sense of authenticity that resonates with your desired customers.
Video Introductions and Descriptions:
Google allows you to upload short videos as an introduction to your business. These videos help potential customers get to know your brand, understand your mission, and feel more connected. A compelling video introduction can make your business profile more memorable and appealing.
Typically, Google videos should be between 30 seconds and 2 minutes long, under 100MB, and uploaded from a mobile device.
Visual Branding Elements:
Visual consistency is critical to establishing a solid brand identity. Incorporate elements that align with your brand, such as consistent colour schemes and logos. Consistent visual branding across your images reinforces brand recognition.
Summary
Regularly using visual content on your Google Business Profile is essential for making a solid impression, building credibility, and engaging potential customers.
If used correctly with your other web presence, it can make your business enticing to potential customers.
Remember, just like your website or other social media strategy, the marketing goal for any business is to provide an informative experience that resonates with your target audience, increase your visibility in search, and fundamentally drive more customers to your business.
Do you need help creating engaging and relevant visual content for your Google Business Profile and Brand?
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