Photos And Videos

A well-written description tells people about your business.

Photos answer a different, faster question: do I trust this place?

That question gets answered before anyone reads your description, before they see your reviews, before they do anything else. Visuals are front and center on a Google Business Profile the moment someone lands on it.

The Data That Changes How You Think About This

Google has shared data showing that businesses with photos receive 42% more direction requests and 35% more website clicks than businesses without photos.

Not more impressions. Not more views.

More actions -- visits, calls, bookings.

If your goal is to get customers through the door, your photos have to earn that. They are not decoration.

The Most Common Mistake: Losing the Narrative

Most businesses either do nothing or upload a handful of random photos and forget about it.

The result: Google fills the gap with whatever customers happen to upload. You have seen this before -- a local business with one grainy exterior shot and three photos of a half-eaten meal. The business did not post those. They just never took control of their profile.

The businesses that win take control of the visual narrative first. They show up with clean, on-brand, intentional photos that make someone think: "Okay. I trust this place." And trust is what converts a profile visitor into a paying customer.

The Four Types of Photos You Need

Logo and cover photo

This is your branding. Your logo should be high-resolution, not stretched, not pixelated. Your cover photo should capture the vibe of your business -- a spa might use a calming treatment room shot, a bakery might show their best-selling pastry fresh from the oven.

Think of these as your profile picture and banner. First impression, nothing else. Make it memorable.

Exterior and interior shots

If you have a physical location, these are non-negotiable. People want to know what the storefront looks like so they do not drive past it three times, and they want to feel what the inside is like before committing to walking in.

Show your building from the street, your entrance and signage, and then the interior -- seating, layout, decor, whatever sets the vibe.

The goal is to make someone feel like they have already been there. That familiarity eliminates hesitation.

Product or service shots

Show the actual thing you do or sell. Food, haircuts, finished decks, massage setups -- whatever it is, photograph it.

The framing matters. Not "here is our product" but "here is the result or the experience." A before-and-after for a hairstylist does more work than a photo of an empty chair. The ambiance of a massage room does more than a price list.

Sell the feeling, not just the object.

Team and action shots

People buy from people, not faceless logos. A photo of your team doing actual work -- installing, preparing food, serving a customer -- builds more trust than any written claim about your values.

Show real moments. Behind-the-scenes, candid, in-progress. These carry more weight than staged portraits.

Videos: The Edge Almost Nobody Uses

Google lets you upload 30-second videos to your profile. Most businesses never bother.

That gap is the opportunity.

A 30-second walkthrough of your space, a quick team intro, a behind-the-scenes clip of how you make or do the thing -- none of these require professional production. Your phone is fine. Customers are not looking for cinematic quality.

They are looking for authenticity.

What matters: decent lighting, clear audio, steady footage. Shoot horizontal, not vertical. Keep it under 30 seconds.

Best Practices That Actually Move the Needle

Consistency over volume. Use a similar color tone or vibe across your photos when possible. A cohesive profile looks deliberate, not accidental.

Quality over quantity. A handful of great photos beats fifty random ones every time.

Spread uploads over time. Do not dump everything on day one and call it done. Adding new photos regularly signals to Google that your profile is active, which factors into local ranking. Show seasonal changes, new products, new work.

Tell a story with the sequence. Outside to inside, product to team, experience to result. Guide someone through what it is like to be your customer.

What to Avoid

Blurry photos hurt trust faster than having no photo at all.

Stock images are recognizable immediately and signal inauthenticity -- customers can smell them from the thumbnail.

Over-editing makes photos look fake. Real and slightly imperfect beats polished and hollow.

And do not let your customers be your only visual contributors. You cannot control what they upload, but you can lead with better content of your own and drown out the noise.

Technical Minimums

Photos: JPG or PNG, 720 x 720 pixels minimum. Videos: MP4 format, under 30 seconds, under 66 MB.

When uploading, Google asks you to categorize each photo -- logo, cover, interior, exterior, team, at work, products, videos. Use the correct category for each upload. This is how Google organizes your photos across the profile and Maps display.

The Essentials

1. Visuals answer the trust question before words do. The second someone opens your profile, they are already deciding whether you look credible. Your photos determine that before anything else gets read.
2. 42% more direction requests is not a rounding error. Photos drive real-world action. Treating them as a conversion tool, not a cosmetic detail, changes how you approach the whole thing.
3. The bar is low. Most businesses have weak, outdated, or missing photos. Getting yours right -- consistent, real, categorized, and added regularly -- puts you ahead of the majority without needing to outspend anyone.

Further Reading

• Add or update photos and videos on Google Business Profile: official Google specs and guidelines for photo and video uploads
• Why businesses with photos get more direction requests: the Google data behind the 42% and 35% figures
• Next: posts and updates -- how to use GMB posts to signal activity to Google and give customers a reason to engage