Your Google My Business (GMB) listing is likely your potential customers’ first impression of your business, so it’s essential to present your business’ best self by adding high-quality, relevant images. Google just recently released new GMB photo requirements to provide higher-quality content to its users, so we have some questions. Will these requirements affect the current photos on your listing? How will it affect you or customers uploading photos? Let’s dive in and take a look at the best practices for Google My Business Photos and how you can ultimately provide users with an authentic showcase of your business.
The first step to get the most out of your Google My Business Photos is to verify your GMB listing. If you have already done so, great! You are all set to start adding photos to your listing. If not, follow this helpful guide on how to verify your business on Google.
How to Add Photos to Google My Business
To add photos to your GMB listing, visit the dashboard of the listing you’d like to add photos to and click the “Photos” tab on the left-hand side. The first two photos that you should upload are your logo and a cover photo. The cover photo can be anything you want it to be, such as a picture of your team or the outside of your building. From there, you can click the blue ‘+’ button in the upper right-hand corner to add additional photos to your listing.
GMB Photo Requirements and Recommendations
Before uploading an image to GMB, it’s essential to follow the photo requirements and recommendations. While following best practices in regards to size, file names, and categories is not required, it will give you the highest possibility for more visibility on search engine results pages (SERPs).
Requirements for Google My Business Photos
- Photos need to be at least 750 x 750 pixels
- Photos should be compressed to be between 10KB and 5MB
- As a general rule, photos should be in JPEG or PNG format
Recommendations for Google My Business Photos
- Resize images to be 1000 x 1000 pixels or less
- Rename the image file before uploading to include dashes in place of spaces, no capital letters, and no special characters, but being as descriptive as possible (i.e., red-rose-on-a-flower-cart).
- Be sure to go back to the photo’s “information” and choose which category it falls under (i.e., Interior, Exterior, At Work, Team, etc.).
- Try not to post stock photos if you have authentic photos of your own.
Get a Picture-Perfect GMB Listing
Not only can photos make or break your Google My Business listing, but they can also be a determining factor for users searching for businesses like yours. Having original photos on your GMB listing makes your business credible, and therefore makes users more likely to choose your business over your competitors.