Understanding Google My Business & Local Search
Optimizing Your Profile Image at Google Plus
There probably isn’t an image of your business that gets seen more by potential customers and searchers than your Google My Business profile image. There isn’t a single image that has more impact on searcher’s behaviors. And there isn’t an image in the online world that is harder to “get right.”
Read my thoughts on how to best optimize your profile image: Your Google My Business Profile Image – The Most Important Image? at Local U.
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Comments
10 Comments
Mike, thanks for all of the coverage on profile images. What about the company profile copy on the “about” tab? I may have missed an article on that and can’t find it with a search.
@Ann
I am not sure I understand. Could you give me a little more detail?
Mike, you make an extremely great point regarding the G+ image in local search. What I find confusing is why once you click through, there is no link to the actual G+ business page.
@Alan one can only assume it is because Google would rather you go someplace other than the Plus page.
Never even thought on those lines and it makes so much sense! I thought job was done by completing the profile and posting the picture. I guess this would hold true for other social media platforms also.
Very insightful helpful and thoughtful advise. Thanks. I just had two pictures changed by some google demon and had no idea why. Very frustrating. Not only does google change the pictures but it contfols the data and research and traffic that sees a view and then goes to a website.
Consider this, Mike: Suppose the picture of the ring worked great and Google wanted fewer people to leave the knowledge box or any google box and go to the website….so they substitute a worse pic?
Could be. They are only ones with the traffic data.
@Dave
While it is certainly possible that Google could choose the less satisfactory photo, it doesn’t make sense to me that they would. They have a number of other ways of keeping someone on a page without making the experience worse by degradation of photos. And once they limited someone’s ability to leave then they would want the better photo.
First off, great suggestions and detail.
Secondly: They change things without notice….oh well, isn’t that google’s way.
Third, that you put up a picture and they independently change it without notice: In general that just stinks!!!!!! Who are they? Are they a dictatorship?
Fourth: They are the only one’s with real data on traffic on these pages. Who knows why they do things?
Fifth: My suggestion was just that a suggestion. Who knows what they are doing. But frankly since they are always monetizing and they are putting up boxes and knowledge boxes, etc to cut traffic to organic sites….why not??? Especially if it works. But who knows???
AND A BIG SIXTH: Changing pictures on a random or unexplained basis, simply reinforces that these pages, like all the data that comes out in Local in any format…is always Google’s. Its not yours. You supply them info….they do what they want with it. You have no control. UGHHH!!!!
@Dave
Changing the pictures in what appears to be a random way is certainly problematic. That fact they provide no clue as to why is equally troublesome. As you point out they hold the data and provide no mechanism to test for the best one.
So yes they are dictatorship. That is the nature of business in the US. Responsive to customers to a point after that their rules dominate.
I just had one other thought. I recently had some views change. Of course totally random, zero contact, etc.; possibly not unlike what your client Barbara Oliver experienced.
The thought is that they might be doing this across the board with all sorts of sites as of (this time period–assuming the Barbara Oliver changes and the one’s I saw on our own sites occurred at the same time).
Google has instituted or made changes, or had glitches on a system wide basis at various times in the past, as you well know. Possibly you should query others to see if they noted changes among their profile images…and if they can pinpoint the time period.
Just another shot in the dark idea.
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