A location without photos is a cold, gray void. Nobody wants to visit a cold, gray void. Show your smiling face. Show your messy counter. Show your dog sitting on the cash register.
Businesses with photos get 42% more direction requests on Google Maps. That’s nearly half! A picture of your storefront is literally a map to treasure. Use natural light. Avoid blurry shots of your thumb.
Fun fact: Google’s algorithm can smell a stock photo. It hates them. Use real, slightly-crooked, authentic photos. Perfection is boring. A photo of you holding a weirdly giant carrot is gold.
The Review Game
Once you add that location, reviews will start trickling in. They’re like digital confetti. Good reviews are happy confetti. Bad reviews are weird paper scraps you have to sweep up.
How to Use Google My Business to Connect With More Customers
Reply to every single review. Even the grumpy ones. Especially the grumpy ones. Google sees you reply, and it thinks, “Wow, this human cares. I will show their map to more people.”
Say “Thank you so much, Sarah!” to a five-star. For a one-star, say “Sorry about the cold soup. We’ve fired the chef (it was me).” Humor works. Robots can’t detect sincerity, but they detect effort.
