Special Storefront Photos - Tips and Challenge

[TusharSuradkar]

There are many businesses that need special attention when including and storefront photos on Google Maps.

Here are a few that I noted during my recent 10 meetups especially for storefront captures.

1. Include Both Day and Night Photos

Storefronts look notably different during the day and the night.

Lightings and illumination on adjacent shops also affect the appearance.

Whenever possible, try to include both day and night photos of the storefronts.

2. Include Glowsign Logos

Many stores have famous or not-so-famous glow sign logos or neon lights that can help identify them easily.

Including these can help find this when navigating using Google Maps from far off much ahead of reaching the actual store.

3. Include Photos of Mascots

Many stores like this tea shop in Pune have a tea-seller mascot created in fiber and proudly displayed outside their shop.

Including a photo of such iconic figures can help identify the shop easily.

4. Business Has Moved

If a storefront displays a notice that it has moved, capturing such a photo with the new address can help people navigate to the new place.

5. Storefronts Hidden in Plain Sight

Due to local constraints, many storefronts like the ones shown below are facing in the direction of the traffic hence could be difficult to locate.

Including photos like these can give an idea in advance about the situation.

6. Long-Distance Shots

Many shops that were at a T-junction like the one shown in the photo below are now located exactly at a traffic signal that was not here when the shop opened.

To reach the shop, one has to cross the signal and then take a u-turn.

Including such long-distance shots can help to navigate to such stores without hassle.

7. Offset Store Locations

Some businesses are located at an offset from the main road and may not be visible unless one passes right in front of them and looks sideways.

For example, the SPA Fitness is located between the Auto Garage and the Bosch Garage but not on the road.

Caption: Color-Pencil Photo effect by Photomania.com

8. Recessed Store Locations

Another example is Sheetal Hotel that is offset between Deccan Fitness and the Inheritance shops but in a recessed area.

9. Just Boards on Display

The library and the dentist are located in the basement of this building and have no storefronts.

Including such photos of their direction boards will help users of Google Maps to navigate to these places easily.

10. Include the Photo of the Entire Building

If a store or food joint is occupying the ground floor of a larger building, including the photo of the entire building can help a lot in locating the store easily.

Challenge: Have you added photos of business at an unusual place or located at odd places to Google Maps?

Please share your photos or Google Maps links here.

[Gezendunyali]

Thank you for this explanatory text. @TusharSuradkar

[AjitThite]

Very nicely covered some of the essesntial points @TusharSuradkar !!!

Thanks for sharing.

Cheers!

[Rohan10]

Great tips @TusharSuradkar . Seems very useful. Thank you so much buddy for sharing. Definately useful next time while capturing store front photos.

[TusharSuradkar]

Thank you @Gezendunyali for your feedback

[TusharSuradkar]

Thank you dear @AjitThite for the lovely feedback that encourages me to share more…

[TusharSuradkar]

Thank you @Rohan10 for the feedback - looking forward to seeing more such special photos in your upcoming recaps.

[MortenCopenhagen]

Hi @TusharSuradkar

Thanks for sharing your tips on store front photography.

Would you mind if I add a few more tips?

Cheers

Morten

[TusharSuradkar]

Absolutely…! @MortenCopenhagen

That is in fact the challenge i.e. invitation to share your photos and tips as well…

But it seems most readers have ignored or overlooked the blue text at the end of the post

Looking forward to your tips.

[MortenCopenhagen]

@TusharSuradkar

Thanks, so here we go:

Please keep in mind that my perspective is to increase the chances of my photos becoming the cover photo of places with all the extra views cover photos get. The cover photo is the 1st photo of places. So my tips are designed to please the AI algorithm selecting the cover and featured photos for Google Maps.

1. Make sure the business name is clearly visible and easy to read = almost as big as possible.

2. Make sure your shot is useful for new visitors going to the place for the first time, so shoving the entrance is for me #2.

3. Zoom level: Try to include the entire storefront plus a bit of the environment. Again, this is helpful for Maps users if they need help finding the place after using the navigation.

4. Get the straight shot meaning you should position yourself directly across from the storefront side-wise and height-wise. Straight shots will increase your chances of getting picked as the cover photo.

5. Aim for a good balance between indoor and outdoor light. Dusk during opening hours is to be preferred, so the warm light from inside will shine our and make the place look really good and inviting.

6. ALWAYS use landscape orientation for Google Maps photos. Always!

My recommendations 1-4 can be done in one single shot. Finally, I recommend only uploading one photo to each place= only your very best click.

If you want to see some examples, please feel free to visit My Google Maps profile, and you will notice that I petty much do storefronts most of the time.

@TusharSuradkar , under item 9 you mentioned that we should add photos of Boards on Display. In my experience, such photos are often not accepted by the AI. So if you want to get a lot of views such photos should be avoided. Instead, walk in and get take your shot of the entrance.

All the best

Morten

PS: One last tip:

7: Make sure your reflection is not visible in the shot.

PPS: As with all Google Maps photos we should avoid recognizable faces. If unavoidable they should be blurred.

[TusharSuradkar]

Thank you @MortenCopenhagen

Superb points

#1 - I learned it the hard way recently when I added a place without the photo that had the storefront name.

It is pending approval or was not applied as per the status.

#3 - Can you please remove this point as it may lead a reader into thinking that I am promoting posting only storefront photos in my original post here.

Thanks.

#5 agree…! my banner photo in this post has the photos at dusk and they look beautiful.

About my #9 - I understand your point.

Can you also explain how the AI would know if a board with a storefront name is a part of the store or standing free on the road and serving only as a direction? If the AI is so smart to tell that apart then it is a loss for Google Maps and the user - not mine.

Also great tip about avoiding shadows and reflection - Can you also tell what the AI thinks about it?

Or do you recommend avoiding such extra items in the photo only from an aesthetic viewpoint?

Thank you once again for all the immensely helpful tips

[MortenCopenhagen]

Good morning, @TusharSuradkar

Thanks for your response.

I have rephrased #3 to accommodate your concern.

Re #9: When I in the past saw businesses where the sign is the only visible clue, I have tried to zoom in all the way so we only see the name sign. Such photos very often get rejected = never show up publicly on the place’s page. This is closely related to #3, I think. So I believe the AI can sense the background of the sign. If the background is uniform, like just a wall, this can trigger the rejection.

Re shadows and reflections.

Thanks for mentioning the shadows also. Admittedly, there is a strong aesthetic component in this tip. In addition, shadows and reflections are distractions removing focus from the place itself. Just like avoiding recognizable faces in all Google Maps photos.

All the best

Morten

PS: Dusk photos help the eyes focus on the shop windows and see some of the inside compared to photos taken at noon where the windows are pretty much black.

[Mukul_Anand]

This is an interesting post , I love to take these photos , it’s fun and helpful too , people find places both in day and night enjoy view of both day and night , glowing pictures are beautiful and eye catchy too , late , informing about shifting business is the best way to contribute on connect because people ignore to update the shifted business information , thanks for sharing a best post again @TusharSuradkar sir

[TusharSuradkar]

Thank you dear @Mukul_Anand for the detailed look at the points.

Looking forward to your photos of various challenging and unusual places in Delhi.