Credit: RatbarSteward - Worth100.com
Of course the title is a joke, but the goal is to be more transparent with customers, right? Well, what better way than to let your customers visit your entire location 24/7 from anywhere in the world. No, I’m not talking about customers just visiting your website. I’m talking about Google’s latest addition to Google Maps, called Google Business Photos. This new program allows customers to visit your business, via virtual tour, similar to Google Street View in Google Maps, allowing the visitor to see everything. They can look up, look down, move around, zoom in and zoom out. Thus, providing a tool for small businesses to knock down their walls of secrecy and be more transparent.
How it works
Google Business Photos is another tool for a small business marketer’s tool belt. As a manager of a medical practice (that offers elective, aesthetic procedures), I try to keep up with the latest things in SEO, because it is a very inexpensive way to market my business. I subscribe to various SEO blogs through RSS, so that I am up to date on the latest changes. When I came across an article describing Google’s effort to make small businesses more visible in local markets using Business Photos as one method, I figured I had to seek out more information. After selecting a Google Trusted Photographer, the following was produced for my business:
Benefit to Businesses?
Well, besides being a really fun toy, this program helps to make any Google+ business page (formerly Places page) more dynamic with vivid content. Google has opened the platform to allow you to embed a customized version into your website, which allows you to pick the size and starting point of the tour. Also, from an SEO view, Google gives recognition to businesses that have been photographed through this program.
Now, I am not sure if this new feature will directly lead to an increase in sales; however, I plan on attempting to analyze organic Google clicks we get through Google Analytics, but it will be hard to differentiate if clicks were a direct result from visitors of the virtual tour. If we get an uptick in clicks, without me making any other changes, then I will be happy. I find this tool as a way to tell customers that we have nothing to hide and that we invite you to take a look around our facility. It helps to support our branding, because we want our customers to see what we have to offer, compared to other medical aesthetic practices.
Limitations
Currently, there is a limit on the number of “panos” you can do for a single business location. We maxed the limit with our 5,500 sq. ft. location. Unfortunately, if we decide to make any renovations to our business, our virtual tour will remain the same, unless we pay to redo our whole tour. Also, we run the risk of competitors looking into our entire facility, which can open the doors to imitation. Of course, they can always “secret shop,” which we have experienced before, but this tour just makes it easier.
Looking forward
What’s next? I think it would be safe to assume that Google might find a way for everything to connect seamlessly. Just last week, Google converted all Google Places pages to their growing Google+ platform, which incorporates business information, reviews, photos, and now virtual tours into one location. It seems that Google is gearing up to take on Facebook and Yelp at the same time. These tools are important for small businesses, because many potential customers will “Yelp” a location prior to trying it. Reviews and content play such an important role in convincing a potential customer to visit a location, because these are just a couple variables that they analyze prior to making their decision.
Interested in setting up Google Business Photos for your business?
First go to Google Business Photos. The website will provide a list of Google Trusted Photographers. These photographers do not actually work for Google, but have gone through a certification process in order to be allowed to photograph your business. At the time when I started my search, there were nine photographers in Southern California; however, there are more listed now. Of the nine I made contact with, I would have to recommend Carl Affable. He stood out with his great customer service and excellent work with previous businesses. Once you select a photographer and negotiate a price based on the size of the business, the photographer will take care of the rest.
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