Photos and a Street View Tour of your business, directly in Google Search!
Google Business Photos hosts commerical photos and virtual tours for your local business. It's both a gallery and a 360° panoramic walkthrough tour (using StreetView technology) of your business that links right into Google Search results, Google Street View, and a free Google page for your business. It adds new clickable images on searches with the tour and still images. It's like Streetview for your business, with higher resolution.
Aperture's Stefan Chakerian, a professional commercial and event photographer, is proud to be the first Google Trusted Photographer for New Mexico starting with the NM launch in March 2012.
What is it? What is a Virtual Tour?
Virtual tours allow someone on the Internet to "virtually" visit your business. It allows them to visit your place on their computer or smartphone, in interactive 3D, and experience your business at the time of the photos. It allows them to walk through the store, zoom in and out, and get a feel for your space and products. If you're familiar with Google Street View, it's like that but inside your business and much higher resolution!
How does a virtual tour benefit my business?
The vast majority (over 90%) of people search for local businesses online. When they search for yours, a virtual tour will show off your merchandise, ambiance, and energy of your establishment, in a user-friendly 360° walkthrough tour. Anyone who searches you through Google will be able to virtually visit, but you can also embed your tour into your own website. This virtual tour is an excellent way to promote restaurants, B&Bs, gyms, nightclubs, fashion/merchandise/autos, tourist and seasonal attractions, salons, wedding and event venues, daycare centers, retirement homes, etc. If you're proud of your offerings, amenities, and presentation, or perhaps you have an eclectic collection of merchandise that defies catalogs, you can benefit from a virtual tour linked directly to a Google Search and Google Maps. It will even link into Streetview in the future!
Improve your search results - only from a Google Trusted Photographer
Why can't I do it myself?
You can upload your own still images into your G+Local page, but only a Google Trusted Photographer can create the virtual tour. This photography requires specialized equipment, extensive procedures, technical training, and certification by Google. After shooting the panoramas, Aperture will construct the walkthrough, edit the paths, blur the faces, and upload the tour directly to Google's servers. But this is a great deal on obtaining commercial photography, too. Aperture provides wonderful images for your G+Local page so you don't even need to shoot those yourself.
What kind of commercial photography do I get?
You will also get 10-15 professional product and location images of your business, uploaded to your G+Local business page including ~5 shots of your choosing (the remainder are required by Google). This commercial photography alone is worth well over $500. You will own all these images, and this is a great deal for a few professional product shots. If you like, we also offer very steep discounts for additional corporate photography, food photography, food styling, and product shots if done at the same time of the shoot -- up to 80% off. You can shoot your menu and get a virtual tour for less than our normal price of the food photography alone.
Commercial photography by Aperture Photography:
We not only have experience shooting food and product photography, we also offer corporate headshots, food styling, and photography for catalogs, fashion, locations, advertisements, and real estate (including panoramas and virtual tours for MLS).
How much will this cost?
Aperture's rates depend on the number of panorama shots required and each store may have different requirements, but it will always be a great marketing "bang" for the dollar. Many small-medium stores we have shot were charged under $500. Compare this one-time fee to the recurring cost of a 1/4 page ad in a local newspaper for a single week, and the advertising value should be apparent. Google hosts the service, there are no upkeep costs, and it doesn't expire! If your decor changes or you want the tour updated for any reason, reshoots by Aperture are discounted. [We never try to "oversell" a location, but the more panos taken, the smoother the tour will be.]
Sounds great! What do I need to do?
It's simple to do!
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1. Register a Google+Local (Places) page if you haven't already. This is free, but can take a couple weeks to activate. Need help? No problem, we're also Google Mapmakers and can create your listing quickly at no extra charge!
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2. Hire Aperture for a single shoot.
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3. Done! After the shoot, the images will be uploaded by Aperture right into your G+Local page.
Can I see an example?
High Noon Restaurant & Saloon is a well-known establishment in Old Town. They are one of the first in Albuquerque to get this technology through Google. Diners at the restaurant stated they saw the virtual tour within hours of it going live.
Use the scrollbar to ensure the entire image is on your page (or click the fullscreen button in the upper-right of the image). Then click to arrows on the floor to move around, drag the mouse to look around, and use the mouse wheel to zoom.
Get your business more exposure. Call 505-286-1127 today.
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Aperture is a certified Google Trusted Photographer, and is the first company in NM contracted with Google to shoot Google Business Photos. All photographs displayed were created by Aperture. Street View, Google Business Photos, Google Places, Google+Local, and the rainbow Google symbol are trademarks of Google.