whystreetview

Why Does Street View Help Generate Business?

A virtual tour of your place of business is a chance to showcase your organization online to potential customers, clients, or donors. Google's Street View technology will bring your location to life with a high-quality, 360-degree, interactive tour. The virtual tour will be visible on Google Search results, Google Maps, and Google+ Local, to give customers a better sense of the layout, decor and ambience of your business.

What Google knows about "local" search ...

A Google Street View Tour represents an unprecedented marketing opportunity for your business or organization.. At just a fraction of the cost of a print or radio spot, your tour will be online indefinitely – and the cost per click? $0. Monthly fee? $0. Your Tour will be hosted on Google’s servers at no charge – ever.

Street View Trusted is hosted (for free) on Google Maps. Throughout the Google family of integrated web services, Street View Trusted is presented as “See Inside ”. It can be viewed on a number of Google services, and can be embedded in your websites and many social media pages. Easily viewed on phones, tablets and desktop. 

• Google Search - Over 80% of all consumers looking for local services, products or information start their online investigation using the Google search engine. Your Google business listing is your company’s most visible web asset. "Claim" your business location and improve your listing with Street View "See Inside" content.

• Google Maps is the #1 online mapping service. It offers satellite imagery, street maps, 360° panoramic views of streets (Street View), real-time traffic conditions (Google Traffic), and route planning for traveling by foot, car, bicycle (in beta), or public transportation. It links to Google's Business listings. Google Maps search results will include a "See Inside" option and a custom Street View shot.

• Google+ is Google's Social media platform and most businesses already have a Google Business page. Google+ has established itself as the second-largest social media site in the world and boasts a monthly active user base of 235 million.

• Websites and Social Media - Google Street View | Trusted can be added to your website simply by pasting a HTML code into your pages. It's easy to embed the virtual tour on company website using a HTML snippet.

*If you want to know more about Google's research into local search

What is the Process

Businesses that participate in the program work directly with a local service provider that is specially trained and certified by Google. These providers are known as “Trusted Photographers” and within Google’s culture are affectionately called “TIPS” (Trusted Independent Photographers). They coordinate a quick photo shoot with the business, normally during slow or non-operating business hours when possible.

Once all the pictures have been taken, the Trusted Photographer handles all the post-production work, including photo-stitching the panoramic photographs into spherical 360 degree views and linking the different “panos” (also referred to as spins) to one another to create a path thru the business that we publish on the business’s behalf to Google Maps and Google Search pages. Business owners have the option to also embed the virtual tour on their website.