The best practices for using photos and media on Google My Business (now called Google Business Profile) focus on high-quality, authentic, and relevant images that accurately represent your business and engage potential customers.
Key best practices include:
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Use high-resolution photos with recommended minimum dimensions of 720 x 720 pixels, ideally larger (e.g., 1024 x 576 pixels for cover photos) to ensure clarity and sharpness across devices.
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Ensure photos are well-lit, in focus, and natural without heavy filters or excessive editing that misrepresents reality. Authenticity builds trust with customers and aligns with Google’s content policies.
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Upload a variety of photos that showcase different aspects of your business, such as exterior and interior shots, team members at work, products, services, and customer interactions. This diversity helps tell your brand story and improves engagement.
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Add category-specific photos relevant to your industry to highlight features customers care about (e.g., signature dishes for restaurants, equipment for hardware stores).
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Avoid stock images as they lack authenticity and can be removed by Google. Instead, use genuine photos of your actual business, team, and products.
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Maintain a consistent posting schedule by regularly updating photos to reflect seasonal changes, new products, or events. This signals to Google that your business is active, potentially improving search rankings.
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Encourage customers to upload photos to add user-generated content, which enhances authenticity and trustworthiness.
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Follow Google’s content policies to avoid prohibited content, copyright infringement, or misleading images that could result in photo removal or account suspension.
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Optimize photos for SEO by adding descriptive file names and alt text where possible, helping your images rank better in Google Search.
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Upload photos via Google Business Profile dashboard or Google Maps app, ensuring you have claimed and verified your listing for full control over your media.
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For videos, keep them under 30 seconds, with a file size up to 100 MB and resolution of 720p or higher, following Google’s video guidelines.
In summary, focus on clear, authentic, and relevant photos that tell your business story, maintain quality and consistency, comply with Google’s guidelines, and leverage both professional and customer-generated content to maximize your Google Business Profile’s impact.
