Ultimate Guide: Google Business Profile Optimization for Photographers

Updated 02/04/2023

First things first. What is GBP?

If I were to offer you a way to tell Google all about your business, where you want customers, what your website was, and how to contact you? And better yet, what if I said you could upload photos, videos, answer customer questions, post articles, and get and reply to customer reviews? Whelp...let me introduce you to a little thing called Google Business Profiles.

Why is it important to photographers?

Why should photographers care about Google Business Profile optimization? Primarily because Google cares about it, and if they give something their attention, we need to pay attention.

By utilizing every aspect of Google Business Profile, you are not only showing Google that you are an active and thriving photography business but also providing a better digital storefront than your competitors. If your listing has better photos, better reviews with responses, more informative posts, and videos, who do you think the searcher will gravitate towards? 

Wait…keep this in mind!

While Google wants business owners to claim and maintain their information, they realize that many business owners won’t do it. So they allow anyone to add and help to maintain business information.

“…these aren’t just “suggested” edits — these user-generated changes can actually be made live on your listing without you even being notified.” (SOURCE)

So make it a point to keep a close eye on your GBP to make sure the information is accurate and up to date.

Accurate Name, Address, and Phone Number (NAP)

If there was ever a time to get something right, this is it! Google relies heavily on this information and will compare it against your website and sometimes other business citations. Make sure that your business name, address, and phone number are accurate and consistent with what is on your website.

Google’s guidelines state that you should make your company name on your GBP profile match your actual company name displayed on signage. That being said, I have seen photography clients add a keyword to the end of their name with some success. Just be aware that this may be viewed as spammy, and someone (including a competitor) could request to change the name.

Many photographers work from a home office and don’t meet with clients at their homes. In these cases, most prefer not to share their address. If you don’t wish to share yours, be sure that you check the box to hide your address on your profile.

Add your business phone number as well. Bonus points if your area code matches a local area code.

Write a Compelling Business Description

Time to get into writing mode! GBP gives you 750 characters to describe your business. It should explain who you are and what you do in a way that is exciting and fun to read. You shouldn’t make it sales-y or describe promotions or offers. Just tell people what makes you different (and better) than your competition.

Be sure to use terms that help to describe your photography niche, your ideal client, and your geographic market.

Select Primary & Secondary Business Category

This is an important one to get right. The primary business category is where Google will place you for most searches. Unfortunately, you don’t have a ton of choices. Most will select “Photographer” unless you specialize in weddings or newborns, in which case Google provides those extra categories. Pick the one that applies most to your business.

After the primary category, you can select multiple secondary categories. 

Cover, Profile, & Logo Images

Of course, the cover photo and logo are critical since they will be featured prominently in your GBP profile. 

• Cover Photo Size: 1080 x 608 pixels

• Profile Photo Size: 250 x 250 pixels

Add Your Business Hours

Add the hours that you consider to be your office hours.

If you have a studio and are using your studio’s address, it’s best to add the hours that apply to your studio being open and not necessarily the hours you are working from home. 

Website & Scheduling Links

Add your website URL and be sure to include the http:// or https:// at the beginning of the URL.

If you want to get fancy, add UTM parameters to the URL, which will let you accurately track how much traffic you get on your website from your GBP listing.

Service Areas

If you choose not to display your business address, then Google refers to you as a service area business (SAB). Instead of displaying your address, they give you the ability to enter cities and areas where you provide services.  

You can add up to 20 locations to your service area. If you legitimately have that many places, go ahead and add them but be sure to put the ones you optimize for on your website as the first ones.

Services

Speaking of services, you can add all of the services you provide. Google does provide a few photography-specific services, but they also give you the ability to add your own too. The custom services have extra fields that you can use to describe the name of the service, the pricing, and a description.

Products

If you sell physical products, here’s where you can set up your products to include photos, pricing, and descriptions. 

Click on the “Products” section in the admin menu and add your products. You can specify a photo, collection reduction name, description, and price. You can add a CTA button with a few options.

Verify Your Listing

If you’re setting up or claiming your business online for the first time, you will need to get verified. You can do this by postcard, phone, email, or sometimes instant verification. 

Follow along with the instructions here to learn how to select a method and the steps to follow.

https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/google-my-business#verify

Maintaining GBP Posts

Wait. What!? I can post blogs directly into Google? Yep! 

Google Business Profiles provides you with the ability to post short articles that are another way to attract attention in search engine results.

What are GBP Posts?

There are five different kinds of posts: what’s new, events, offers, welcome offers, and products. Each one lets you add a CTA button, and you can add a photo or video to go with your post.

• What’s New - These can be used to share general business updates, special sessions you’ve done, maybe a new blog post on your website, and even recent reviews or exceptional testimonials you’ve recently received.

• Events - Use these for anything special you might be doing — a weekend of mini-sessions, a workshop, or special destination sessions that you may be offering. If your business participates in an event as a sponsor or supporter, you can add that event here.

  • NOTE: You may see events listed in the Knowledge Panel occasionally with other businesses. These are not from an event post (which seems silly...why wouldn’t it?). These are from other third-party websites or using special code on your website that defines an event.

• Offers - These can be used for any special promotions you are offering. Maybe a deal on fall family sessions or senior photos at a particular time of the year. The posts get a little yellow tag icon too.

• Welcome Offer - These posts offer something special for people who start following you. You can provide these new followers with something special to convert them into a customer. These are visible for about two weeks just to people who follow you.

• Product Posts - These are tightly integrated with the products feature in GBP. They don’t show up in your posts feed but instead are shown when people are browsing products. Since these are tied to physical products, photographers who offer physical prints or products can use this to highlight their offers.

Each type of post is designed for something different, and thus, they show up in various places on different Google screens. For example, most of the posts show up in the knowledge panel, maps, and local finder. Specialty posts like the “welcome offer” and “products” show up only in other relevant places.

Currently, most of these posts can be up to 1500 characters long, and they can include up to 10 photos and videos. Most are also only active for seven days before they drop off. That means that you need to post at least once per week to have your content displayed. Keep in mind that if you publish more than 1 per week, that the newest post tends to show up the most, and the other ones are less likely to be shown.

Can you repeat content? When your posts expire, they do stay in your GBP account but aren’t visible to anyone. You can recycle this content from time to time to save yourself some content development time. 

You can also repeat content from your own website’s blog posts., but make sure that it’s content you’ve developed. Google is good at recognizing repeated content, and they won't display or promote content they think isn’t original. 

How do you add them?

Follow the instructions here on Google’s support website to create and add new posts to your Google Business Profile account.

• https://support.google.com/business/answer/7342169?co=GENIE.Platform%3DAndroid&hl

How Can GBP Posts Help You?

By adding posts to your GBP account weekly, you will be providing Google with a signal that you are active and provide them with localized content that they can potentially use in a search result. Again, having more content available on your GBP account helps to set it apart.

A Few Tips

• Don’t bother with hashtags; they don’t seem to have any effect.

• Don’t add multiple images per post if they need to be seen in a specific order. Google displays what it wants and where it wants. They seem to pick and choose what they show without regard to the order you add the images.

• Be sure to use local terms in your posts, such as city names, landmarks, colloquial names, etc. These local terms help Google know exactly where you are and where you provide services.

• Toss in a few keywords into your post. Use them naturally, and don’t SPAM with keywords.

• Add your NAP (name, address, phone) and other contact information to each post.

• Depending on the post type, you may have the option to link to a page on your website. Pick the best page to nudge your prospect along to the next step in your funnel. 

• Each post gets a unique URL that you can link to from a social post, your website, or anywhere else you’d like to promote it.

Knowledge Deep Dive

• https://whitespark.ca/blog/everything-you-need-to-know-about-google-my-business-posts/

• https://thrivehive.com/google-my-business-posting-guide/

• https://www.brightlocal.com/blog/create-google-business-post-will-win-customers/ 

Respond to GBP Reviews

Online reviews are a critical part of your local business profile. It’s believed that they affect SEO ranking factors, and they positively affect potential clients’ opinions. How can you take advantage of them?

Why are online reviews valuable? 

According to a 2019 Brightlocal survey, 76% trust online reviews as much as a personal recommendation. In other words, online reviews are your digital equivalent of word of mouth. And word of mouth is one of the best ways to generate inexpensive leads. Imagine having your best customers telling everyone else how good you are, all on Google’s platform. Yep...this is an important one. 

A few other essential stats about reviews:

• 76% of people trust online reviews as much as recommendations from family and friends

• The average consumer reads ten reviews before feeling able to trust a business.

• Only 53% of people would consider using a business with less than four stars.

• 84% of people feel that reviews older than three months are not relevant

• 97% of consumers take into consideration the responses to review from business

• 91% of consumers say that positive reviews will make them more likely to use a business.

How can reviews help you?

Reviews let people see that other people have worked with you and come away with incredible customer experience. It removes many people’s fear of coming away with a bad taste in their mouths.  

Reviews help to drastically lessen or remove the fears people have when deciding to work with you.  For example, perhaps those who are fearful of getting their picture taken will see from your reviews that you are easy to work with, making the entire process fun and low-stress.

By having a strong review profile, you can eliminate that last little bit of friction at the very end of the buying process and close more leads!

Why should you respond to reviews?

Responding to all of your reviews is an important thing. It tells Google you’re paying attention, but more importantly, it tells your clients that you care about their concerns and are listening to them.

Responding to good reviews is easy (and essential). But responding professionally to bad reviews can turn a potentially harmful experience into a positive one.

Tips

• Install the Google Business Profile mobile app onto your mobile device and allow it to notify you of new reviews. 

• Respond to new reviews within a day or two if possible.

• Remember that you are not only replying to the review, but your reply will be read by anyone researching your reviews. Speak to all of these readers and let them know you take care of your clients.

How to do It?

• https://support.google.com/business/answer/3474050?co=GENIE.Platform%3DAndroid&hl=en 

Knowledge Deep Dive

• https://blog.hubspot.com/service/respond-to-google-reviews

• https://thrivehive.com/how-to-respond-to-google-reviews/

GBP Questions & Answers

Rarely, someone doesn’t have a question about your services before they book a session. Those questions are like tiny barriers that keep leads from signing up with you. By answering as many questions as possible ahead of time, you ease your own workload and eliminate the barriers to converting a prospect into a client.

What are Q&As, and how do they work?

In the last few years, Google added people’s ability to reach out to you and ask questions. For example, people could ask you:

• What is included in my photography session?

• How long does it take to get my photos?

• Do you offer prints or albums?

• Can you help us decide what to wear for our pictures?

• Does your wedding photography business offer a second shooter?

Undoubtedly you answer these on your website, but GBP’s Q&A offers a way to display these questions and answers right in Google’s knowledge panel for everyone to see and benefit from.

Many people don’t realize that while anyone can ask questions, anyone can also answer these questions! 

Wait. What? Can other people answer questions about my business? 

Yes, they can. 

Therefore it's crucial to answer any questions that come in quickly. Not only don’t you want anyone to answer something incorrectly and have that sitting in your GBP account, but you also don’t want a list of unanswered questions sitting there, leaving the impression that you aren’t responsive. 

You might be thinking, “I’ve never had anyone add a question. Quite frankly, I didn’t even know this existed!”

It’s true. The Q&A portion of GBP has not taken off much yet. I suspect that most people don’t utilize it as they either (a) don’t understand what it is there for or (b) don’t want to wait for answers to their questions. However, you can take advantage of this feature without waiting for people to ask you questions. How? By asking yourself questions and answering them yourself!

How do you add them & respond?

Go to the public side of your GBP profile via a Google search or Google Maps search. Once your business listing is displayed, look for the button that says, “ask a question.” 

When the dialog box opens, type your question and submit. 

I was expecting GBP to let me know that a question had been submitted, but I didn’t receive a notification (at least not right away). I waited a minute, refreshed the page, and it said there was one unanswered question. Click on that link and then submit an answer...and you’re done!

After submitting your answer, you may see a spot for people to “like” the answer. Keep in mind that Google will more prominently display the answer that has the most likes.

How can GBP’s Q&A help you?

The same way that reviews help alleviate customer fears, answering questions helps eliminate reasons that customers may hold back from reaching out to you. Share all of those FAQs! Answering questions eliminates potential barriers between you and your potential clients and shows them that you are open to answering questions.

Q&As can also help with searches. The more content you have on your GBP profile that discusses your business, your services, style of photography, and your locations, the more likely Google will be to use you in a search engine result.

Also, think about one of the newest ways that people search — their voice! As voice search increases, Google may very likely use these answers to respond to voice-based questions. 

By preemptively answering common questions about your business, it will help to eliminate inaccuracies from being introduced and help provide the best customer experience.

Tips

• Keep answers clear and concise. People don’t want to read a long-drawn-out response — so keep it short.

• As you come upon common questions, add them to your website’s FAQ section and your GBP profile.

• Depending on how Google processes these, you may not always receive an alert. Check your profile every few days to see if any new questions or answers have appeared that need your attention.

Knowledge Deep Dive

• https://thrivehive.com/how-to-post-faqs-to-google-business-listing/

• https://searchengineland.com/google-my-business-qa-what-you-may-be-missing-299177 

Our Recommendations

We recommend that you add 5 to 7 questions and answer them. This is a one-time task and can be done in less than an hour. Then monitor additional questions a few times per week with the GBP app on your mobile device or in the GBP dashboard on your desktop browser.

Adding & Updating Photos

Google Business Profile allows you to upload photos related to your business. If there was ever a section of Google Business Profile that no photographer should ignore, it’s this one. I’m guessing you have a few high-quality photos lying around?

What are the photos in GBP?

The photos area of GBP is designed to let you show off your business. For a brick and mortar store, this would include photography of the exterior, interior, team at work, products, etc. For your photography business, you can certainly show off you at work, your equipment, and set-up, but this is an opportunity to show off some of your best work...so take advantage of it. If you happen to have a studio, then this is especially important.

Google has several different types of photos that they let you upload. 

• Logo

• Cover Photo

• Exterior Photos

• Interior Photos

• Product Photos

• Photos at Work

• Team Photos

How do you add them? Specs?

You can add photos through the GBP admin on your desktop or through the mobile app. They need to be at least 720x720 pixels and be JPG or PNG format. The best ratio is 1:1.

SOURCE: https://support.google.com/business/answer/6103862?hl=en&ref_topic=6130059

How can they help you?

I feel silly answering this because it’s so obvious. Would you hire a photographer that didn’t have any photos on the GBP profile? 60% of consumers say local search results with good images help capture their attention and help them decide. (SOURCE: BrightLocal)

By having a substantial selection of images to view, you will guide the client to take the next step, either reach out to you through GBP or more likely to head to your website and learn more.

I’m not sure if I’ve seen a study about this, but steadily adding photos to your account is sending a good signal to Google about your activity level. 

Tips

• Pick your top 2 or 3 photos from each session and add them to your website’s gallery page and your GBP gallery. Make it part of your workflow.

• Whenever you have new headshots done, or have someone photograph you working during a session, add those to the right section of the GBP profile.

• When uploading an image, use a keyword and localization term in your file name, such as: family-photography-estes-park-001.jpg.

Knowledge Deep Dive

• https://www.brandify.com/blog/best-practices-for-google-my-business-photos

• https://www.brightlocal.com/blog/google-my-business-photos-guide/ 

Adding Videos

GBP allows you to upload short videos to your profile. These are designed to highlight your business, services and help someone get to know you a little better.

Why are there videos on GBP?

In addition to photos, you can add videos to help deliver your message and provide some interesting content for users to watch. This feature is designed to highlight things in 30 seconds or less — so they are intended to be brief and engaging.

Think about things from the prospect’s perspective. If they have an opportunity to see your work and also see and hear from you, hear your story, and more about your work, you are giving your client a chance to connect with you. If someone feels an emotional connection to you and your business, you’ve already started building a relationship.

How do you add them and what are the specs?

Add videos the same way you add photos.

They can be up to 30 seconds long, with a file size of up to 100MB and a resolution of 720p or higher.

It may take some time, up to 24 hours, for your video to appear. But many people see their videos available within minutes.

How can they help you?

Just as the photos in GBP display your work, the videos highlight you as the artist. Let the prospect see you and hear your voice. Describe your ideal client so they know ahead of time if they are a good fit. By connecting with the client through a video, you will be setting yourself up for a faster and smoother sales cycle.

Tips

• You can spend an almost unlimited amount of time and money making videos. Depending on your target client, choose the right level of style and polish that your video should have. Targeting boho maternity clients vs. high wedding clients are two very different things.

• Your photographs will show off your work, so let the video tell your story and the messaging you want to convey to your clients. Let them see you!

Knowledge Deep Dive

• https://biteable.com/blog/google-my-business-video-guide/

• https://www.brightlocal.com/learn/google-my-business-videos-engage-audience/

While an initial optimization of your GBP account is essential, it’s the regular updates and continual attention that will set your photography business apart. Google loves active companies that pay attention to their customers. Focus first on your online reviews and photos. After that, work on your posts, Q&A, and videos.

Additional Sources

• (NEW) https://www.semrush.com/blog/google-my-business/

• https://www.brightlocal.com/learn/how-to-optimize-google-my-business/

• https://support.google.com/business/answer/6300717?hl=en

• https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/google-my-business

• https://moz.com/blog/how-to-optimize-your-google-my-business-listing

• https://rater8.com/blog/google-my-business-photo-guide/