How to Use Photos on Your Google Business Profile to Win More Customers

Photos on your Google Business Profile are far more important than most business owners realise. Research from Google itself shows that businesses with photos receive significantly more direction requests and website clicks than those without. In a local search result, a profile with a compelling photo is far more likely to be clicked than a plain text listing.

Yet many businesses either have no photos on their profile, or uploaded a handful of blurry images years ago and forgot about them. If that’s you, there’s a genuine, easy win available — and it requires no technical knowledge, just a smartphone.

What types of photos to upload

Google recommends several categories of photos for business profiles. An exterior photo helps customers recognise your premises when they arrive. Interior photos show the environment customers can expect — particularly important for restaurants, salons, clinics, and retail shops. Team photos humanise your business and help customers feel they know who they’re dealing with before they arrive.

For service businesses, "at work" photos are especially powerful. A plumber showing a neat, completed installation, a decorator showcasing a freshly painted room, or a landscaper revealing a transformed garden — these before and after images answer the fundamental question every potential customer has: are you any good?

Product photos are essential if you sell physical goods. Even if your primary sales channel is in person, having your products visible on your GBP helps customers know what to expect and can make the difference between a visit and a bounce.

How to take and upload effective photos

You don’t need a professional photographer. Modern smartphones take photos that are more than adequate for GBP. Good natural lighting makes the biggest difference — shoot near windows or outside during daylight, and avoid using flash which tends to flatten subjects and create harsh shadows.

Keep your images honest and representative. Google allows customers to add their own photos to your profile, and if your uploaded images are vastly better than the reality, the customer-uploaded photos will tell a different story. Authenticity builds trust more effectively than curated perfection.

To upload photos, go to your Google Business Profile dashboard, navigate to the Photos section, and upload from your computer or phone. Aim for JPEGs at 720 pixels minimum on the shortest side, and keep file sizes between 10KB and 5MB for best quality. Add descriptive file names before uploading — "norwich-electrician-wiring-installation.jpg" is better than "IMG_4823.jpg".

Keeping your photo gallery fresh

A photo gallery that hasn’t been updated in three years signals a business that isn’t paying attention to its online presence. Aim to add new photos at least once a month — document a recent project, capture a team moment, or photograph a seasonal change to your premises or stock.

Monitor the photos that customers upload to your profile. You can flag and request removal of photos that are inaccurate, offensive, or misleading. You can’t remove photos simply because you don’t like them, but you should address anything genuinely problematic.

If you have a logo and a cover photo, make sure they’re set correctly. Your cover photo is the first image most people see when they find your profile — it should be high quality, on-brand, and representative of your business at its best. Your logo should be a clean, high-resolution version that looks good at small sizes.