This is part 10 of 19 in the Storefront Photography Series. Click/tap here to see the Series Index.
Google created an Artificial Intelligence system to select the “best” photos for all places on the Map. The “cover photo” is the first photo and the selected one to be shown when only one photo is needed to represent a place.
Therefore, cover photos can get thousands, if not millions of views.
When one of your photos takes off gaining thousands of views, the artificial intelligence system has found your photo to be of high quality, relevant, and helpful to Maps users. So we can think of the view count as a sign of quality and relevance on Google Maps. The AI is not a human, but the AI does make mistakes now and then. But generally, the AI is doing a great job.
If you regard the view count as an indicator of quality and relevance, you can start optimizing your Maps Photography to gain more views while at the same time making more relevant and helpful photos. The most apparent method is to study your own photo contribution list sorted by the number of views.
This source of inspiration for better photos is not limited to your own contribution lists.
You can also visit popular places and check out the featured first 10 photos. They are also selected by the AI as awesome, relevant, and useful photos.
Furthermore, you can find new wisdom by studying the contributions of other Local Guides who added photos you really like. Such Local Guides have often added many more great photos that can guide and inspire your photography skills and style. Just click on the profile names, select photos, and then sort by views.
Dive in to figure out how you want to make better Maps photos.
I have spent quite a few joyful hours regularly evaluating my list of most viewed photos. My 30 most viewed photos are shown above. I really like this kind of personal feedback from Google. From this, I learned many valuable lessons related to quality & relevance and also what categories of places are likely to yield more views.
Actually, my focus on storefronts is very much guided by studying contribution lists and checking if my new photos get featured or not. Or if they become the much sought-after cover photo.
Photo quality and relevance
Open your photo contribution list in Google Maps and sort the list by views. Your most viewed photos will be at the top of the list. Yes, you! Do it now.
While focusing on your Top-10 use the following questions to take in Google’s direct feedback on your photos:
What do your Top-10 most viewed photos have in common?
How many:
- Are outdoor photos
- Show an entire building
- Show a storefront
- Are well lit and bright
- Are in landscape orientation (not the tall portrait mode)
- Are colorful
- Are food or drink photos
- Are sharp
- Show recognizable faces
- Are taken against the sun
- Have cars blocking the view
- Show plumb vertical lines
- Are taken at night time
- Have a good balance between in- and outdoor light
To get more views you should aim to take more photos with the same quality and composition as your most viewed photos. Please do share your findings below.
You can reuse the same set of questions when analyzing the pics with most views from other Local Guides and those featured on popular places on Google Maps.
Hotspots
The number of views also depends on the popularity of the places. So places that many people search for on Google Maps are obviously able to attract a lot more views. Having the cover photos of a place only a few people visit will not give you millions of views. On the other hand, getting the cover photo of places with thousands of photos is surprisingly difficult due to the fierce competition. So you will need to find a balance between the two extremes.
There are important lessons waiting for you to discover. Knowing what the most popular categories are in your area can significantly help you get more views. You need to keep track of the Google Maps categories that gain the most views. We call these places Hotspots.
In my post What are your Hotspots? from 2020, you can find lists of what categories give the most views. My list includes:
- Restaurants
- Fastfood/Takeaway
- Women’s clothing stores
- Hobby
- Supermarkets
- Thrift store
Hotspots are typically places where Maps users will want to check reviews. Not places people visit regularly. Many hotspots are also places you typically need navigation to find.
Your list of hotspots will depend on where you live and your interests. I use my list of hotspots to make sure I don’t forget to shoot them while on a photo walk.
I hope you found this post interesting and that some of the inspiration will help you take more high-quality photos that are more relevant and helpful to Maps users while ensuring you a lot more views.
Happy guiding & Happy New Year
Morten
PS: Next week is also about getting more photo views. The source of inspiration will be the Top-100 Star Photo Leaderboards. See you then.
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