Picture perfect: Welcome customers into your business on Google Maps

When we initially announced the Business Photos pilot program, we wanted to give business owners an easy way to get customers in the door online using interactive, high-quality, 360-degree images of places on Google Maps and on Google Search results. With thousands of businesses under our belt — from cafes to hotels— we’ve been hearing the same question again and again from both business owners and photographers alike: How can I participate?

Well, with the overwhelming success of the first pilot, we’ve decided to unveil a complementary initiative that will help us reach more interested business owners, more quickly: Trusted Photographers.

Click and drag to view the inside of Yuki’s at The Quay

It’s simple. Visit our new website and search for a Google Trusted Photographer in your area. Either email or call a photographer in your area to schedule a time and agree on a price that you will pay the photographer for a photoshoot of your business. This self-serve model makes for easier scheduling and quicker turnaround, while also supporting the local photographers in your community. During the hour it should take for the shoot, you can collaborate with the photographer about how best to display and capture your business. When finished, the photographer will upload the images to Google, and shortly thereafter, you’ll see 360-degree panoramic views of your business on Google.com.au, Google Maps and on your Google Places listing.

See how Business Photos has helped Toy Joy of Austin, Texas.

Trusted Photographers are available in 14 U.S. cities, as well as in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand and France. Don’t see a photographer in your area? Let us know, as that will help us determine where more Trusted Photographers are needed.

Posted by Gadi Royz, Product Manager, Google Maps

Small business - why so shy?

Small businesses are the celebrities of the web. It’s a little known fact, but Australians are actually searching more for builders than they are for Miranda Kerr and more for florists than they are for Julia Gillard (or at least, they were until the remarkable events of last week). That’s because Australians are spending more time online than ever before and more time online than any other media including TV. We’re increasingly going online to find out about products and businesses. According to Research International, more than 80 per cent of all Australians research products online.

These are all really compelling reasons for businesses to get online yet the majority of small businesses aren’t stepping into the spotlight like the celebrities that they are. A study from Research International showed that of the 1.6 million businesses in Australia with less than 20 employees, three quarters (74%) do not have a stand alone website and 40% do not use the Internet or email for business. With almost near saturation of Australians with access to the Internet and with the upcoming roll out of ubiquitous high speed broadband, it’s vital that businesses of all sizes are able to participate in the digital economy.

There are some shining stars. According to the Research International study, while only one in four Australian small businesses have ventured online with a website, those that market online are more likely to track the return on investment of their advertising spend and are looking to increase the proportion of their advertising spend online this year, with AdWords seeing the greatest growth. Small businesses listed the following reasons for increasing their AdWords budgets: easy to calculate return on investment, effective at reaching a large audience, suitable channel for building brand in the marketplace, and great channel to help acquire new customers.

So, if you’re a small business and you want to be found, where do you begin? The great news is that it’s easier than ever to strut your stuff on the red carpet. You don’t need a website to be found online - you can have a web presence with local business listings like Google Places. One in five searches on Google is related to location and people come to Maps to find types of businesses. They might search for cafe Fremantle or hairdresser Surry Hills. Google Places literally puts your business on the map. Anyone can list their business for free, you can provide information for your customers such as hours of operation, contact info, photos, videos, parking info, product offerings and you can manage your business listing with a personalised dashboard. We’ll even show your business in Google Search as well.

To get started now, go to google.com.au/places.

We see every day that small businesses are the ‘local celebrities’ of the Internet - they shouldn’t be shy about stepping into the spotlight.

Posted by Kate Conroy, AdWords Product Specialist