1. Seo Tips: How To Use 360 Degree Photos On Google My Business Search
2. Seo Tips: How To Use 360 Degree Photos On Google My Business Account

If viewed on a computer, a user can often drag a mouse and rotate the photo 360 degrees. Doing so allows the user to view the photo from all angles. If viewed on a phone, the photo can be rotated with the touch of a finger. Alternatively, the photo might automatically spin as if on a rotating display. Benefits of spin and 360-product photography. Google has upgraded the Photos layer in Google Earth to not only include the millions of geo-tagged photos from Panoramio, but also to include 360 degree panoramas from 360cities.net. Are you using video on your social channels? Have you thought about 360-degree videos? 360 videos produce more engagement and message retention than normal videos. In this article you'll discover how to create a 360 video and use it for your business. What Is 360-Degree Video? 360 videos (also known as VR or virtual reality) are clips displaying a spherical scenario where the camera has.

Learn how to use Google My Business to easily manage your business listing info, reviews, photos and location on Google search, Google Maps and local search. Google My Business is one of the most powerful tools available to help you rank higher in local search results and reach more customers. On the latest episode of 'Tough Love Tuesday,' SEO pro Neil Patel will provide tips and tricks for marketing your content to grow your audience and brand.

Like other industries, photography is not moving into the 21st century—it’s already there. Having progressed beyond portraits and weddings, tech-savvy photographers are taking advantage of the lucrative industry trend involving spin photography.

What is spin and 360 product photography?

Spin photography comprises interactive photos that provide a viewer a 360-degree view of the subject matter. In short, the photo spins. Also known as 360 product photography, this type of photography is already ubiquitous. However, many people already take it for granted because these product shots exist across the internet. For instance, if someone is shopping for shoes or tents or toasters or cars, those products exist in the form of a rotating photo.

Seo Tips: How To Use 360 Degree Photos On Google My Business Search

If viewed on a computer, a user can often drag a mouse and rotate the photo 360 degrees. Doing so allows the user to view the photo from all angles. If viewed on a phone, the photo can be rotated with the touch of a finger. Alternatively, the photo might automatically spin as if on a rotating display.

Benefits of spin and 360-product photography

• Increased Engagement: 360 product photography is among the most important promotional techniques because it allows shoppers to digitally preview the product as if they were holding it or walking around it and inspecting it.
• Visually Stimulating: Simple product images don’t entice shoppers the way an in-store experience can; adding 360-degree and 3D product photographs can help e-retailers reach bricks-and-mortar levels of engagement.
• Increase Sales: Companies who include this type of photography on their websites or on their apps can give shoppers a more confident buying experience. In doing so, they convert shoppers into buyers at a much more frequent rate.
• Increase confidence in your brand: The extra visual information in 360° product photography builds customer confidence for making payments online at your website.
• Reduce Return Costs: You will find your level of product returns will drop considerably, as a better informed customer is less likely to be unhappy with their purchase.

Five tips to get the best 360-degree product shot

Spin photography begins with 360 object photography, which itself begins with a camera. In previous decades, the right camera would involve a high-resolution camera capable of 4K resolution. Currently, this type technology exists in just about any entry-level or prosumer camera. It also exists in many smart phones. Consequently, learning how to shoot 360 product photography and achieving the best 360 product shot involves not so much the camera but the subject, the environment, and the software.

Object

The best subjects or products for spin photography involve those that have little or no transparency. Such things as windows, cups, wine glasses, or spectacles will not allow the software to properly discern between the background and the object. The background will also show through the object while the reflective nature of glass will create reflections. Objects showing through the object and reflections will mar the final quality of the 360 product photo.

Lighting

The best lighting for 360 product images is diffuse lighting. Diffuse lighting is direct lighting that has been softened by either a white semi-transparent material or direct sunlight that has been softened by the clouds. The reason diffuse lighting is important is because it reduces hard shadows, which create different angles of light and dark that 3D photo software cannot splice together without creating harsh transitions that will be visible as the photo spins.

If a photographer is on a budget, quality 3D photography can be accomplished outside on an overcast day. For indoor environments, photographers can achieve overcast light quality using an on-camera light diffuser or a diffuse umbrella.

Consistent high-volume angles

Seo Tips: How To Use 360 Degree Photos On Google My Business Account

3d photography involves taking multiple photos from different angles of a single object. For best results a photographer needs from 12 to 36 photos.

Worse results stem from hand photography and few shots. Even if a photographer steadies a shot by propping his or her elbows into the sides of his or her chest, such hand photography will still create slightly different angles.

For professional photographers on a budget, a single tripod and a product turntable will accomplish equidistant shots at precise angles. However, the size of the product turntable will ultimately limit the types of product photography.

For professional photographers with large products, the best results are achieved through the use of a tripod set on a circular dolly set on a track. The tripod, dolly, and track allow the camera to remain at equal distances and heights from the object.

Whether someone uses a tripod and dolly or whether a product turntable is used, the photos arising out of these more precise setups will create uniform images that the software can better interpret and splice together into a smooth 360 product spin.

Additionally, a photographer must ensure the shooting process ensures a centered product. If the product is off center, even the best camera setups will create photos of different sizes at slightly different angles. – Bill Ross, CEO of Linchpin

Evenly lit background

Depending on the compositing software, the background should be bright white, green, or blue. Often, the website background is white, so the actual background during the photo shoot will also be white.

However, when a website design incorporates a dark or image-based background, products requiring a translucent alpha channel are best shot in front of an evenly lit green or blue screen. Software programs then key out the green or blue screens, producing a single high-quality 360 product spin.

Regardless of the type of background required by the software, the background must be evenly lit and without shadows.

Compositing software

For best results, 360 degree photography software should include the following functionality:

• Able to process hi-resolution photos of 4K or more
• Final product image should render quickly
• Batch capability for processing multiple images
• Integrates with content management software such as WordPress
• Operates equally well on a computer or on a smartphone
• Responsive spin shots that size according to the user’s screen size

We have previously discussed how Google My Business helps improve local SEO for businesses and makes it visible in search results pages. One of the important points that was discussed was how adding a virtual tour would be beneficial in increasing audience interest.

• Virtual tours give your audience a visual idea of how your business looks like before they even visit the actual location, and that makes for one big first impression what can be a deciding factor on whether or not they would like your service.

Adding a virtual tour on your Google My Business page may look simple at a glance, but it would take good effort to take some attractive 360-degree images that presents your business well. Here is a short guide on how to create your own virtual tour, along with reasons why you should do this for your business.

The first thing that you need to know before even taking pictures for your Google My Business Virtual Tour is to make sure that you get to comply with the image requirements. This consist of the following: Line rider 2.

• Images must be at least 7.5 Megapixels (MP) with 2:1 aspect ratio
• Images should not be more than 75 megabytes (MB)

Basically, this means that you need high quality images to be able to have your shots posted on your Google My Business listing. High quality images allow your audience to see each part of your business better and would give off a good impression.

Shoot Your Photos

Now that you have the image requirements, the next thing that you need to do before setting up your virtual tour is taking the pictures themselves. You would need a good camera that allows you to take panoramic 360-degree shots.

Some of the top of the line smartphones are equipped with cameras that have around 8-12 megapixels, which mean that you can take high-quality photos straight from your pocket. To allow these phones to have the ability to take 360-degree shots, you have to download applications such as 360 Panorama. After taking the shot, you can instantly share it on social media sites like Facebook, or even directly to Google Street View.

While smartphones are indeed convenient and inexpensive, the best way to take these panoramic shots is through the use of a 360-degree camera. It is best to make sure that you have the right height through the use of a tripod, along with the best location to be able to capture your ideal images.

Posting Photos

After capturing your ideal images for your Virtual Tour, the next step is to have them posted on your Google My Business page. On the home page, click “Photos” to begin.

On the Photos bar, click “360”, which will be the location of all of your 360-degree shots for your business. There are also a myriad of image and video options that you can use as well, such as interior and exterior images, and even images of your team at work.

Upon entering the 360 section, you would be able to see all of the 360-degree images of your business made by you and the customers themselves. To add your panoramic photos, click the blue plus icon on the right side.

Upon clicking, you would be at the upload section, where you would be able to post your photos. It is best to take note that you images must pass the guidelines set by Google. This simply means that all photos that are posted on your Google My Business page must be appropriate.

After posting your photos, you can now view them on your Google My Business Page, and even add these images on Street View. Adding your images on Street View allows more users to be able to see your business, and it can be done through the Google Street View app. After downloading it on the Google Play Store, the next step is to upload your image. Click the camera icon on the bottom right corner, and then select “Import 360 photos to upload your image.

After picking the option, the next step is to select the image on the album. You have the option to select multiple images if you want to feature more than one part of your business.

The next step is to pin the location on the map to your business, which means moving the red icon to the right location.

Once your location has been set, you can finally publish your image for your users to see. This is a quick and easy process that will take you a few minutes to accomplish but would give your potential clients a good look at your business.

Why Virtual Tours Matter

Now that you have set up your virtual tour, here are some important reasons why you should have one to help your business.

Get Noticed Better

The main purpose of the virtual tour is to give a good visual idea of your business to your potential clients. With technology and the abundance of businesses everywhere you go, people today have so many choices that being able to find a way to stand out would always give you a competitive edge.

A lot of businesses still do not use virtual tours on their Google My Business profile, and this can affect the number of customers they attract. With first impressions counting the most, giving your potential clients a glimpse of what you have to offer makes a big difference. This also does wonders for your local SEO, especially with how businesses are highly competitive today.

Efficient and Inexpensive

Being able to pull off high quality panoramic shots on your phone through the use of simple apps means that adding virtual tours on your business can be done quickly, with only a few editing and refinements needed. In fact, the apps that you need to install on your phone are mostly free, making it one of the most efficient ways of promoting your business.

Key Takeaway

Having a virtual tour may sound like just another fancy feature that would not do much. But in reality, users access these kinds of features to get to know more about your business. If you haven’t added your virtual tour into your Google My Business page, this guide will surely prove useful.

Monster truckfree flash games. If you have any questions about SEO tools and SEO in general, leave a comment below and let’s talk.