Google 360 tours

[TheBogFlogger]

HI all,

Has anyone used Google 360 tours for their business? Just had someone come in offering to do it for not much cash, I know it will help with the rankings but any downsides?

Thanks

[RM]

TheBogFlogger said:

...know it will help with the rankings...

Did they tell you this?

[KrazyIvan]

RM said:

TheBogFlogger said:

...know it will help with the rankings...

Did they tell you this?

Yeah not really seeing how a 360 image will help with SEO, though if you have a business that is very visual I can see it benefiting a business.

[TheBogFlogger]

Yes, they did mention that it would help in rankings. Reading a few things and they all seem to think it should, but who knows

[Dr Interceptor]

I think the people selling these images need to be very careful in their wording.

A 360 view will improve your appearance on Google.

It will not improve your ranking any more so than adding good quality interior, exterior and product photos.

[wheelerc]

Dr Interceptor said:

I think the people selling these images need to be very careful in their wording.

A 360 view will improve your appearance on Google.

It will not improve your ranking any more so than adding good quality interior, exterior and product photos.

Without inside knowledge of Google's systems, how can you say that with any more certainty than the companies who say it will help?

[Dr Interceptor]

wheelerc said:

Without inside knowledge of Google's systems, how can you say that with any more certainty than the companies who say it will help?

I've had it done on our shop....

Plus, I have a degree in web development, largely out of date now admittedly, but I'm still up to date with SEO practices as I look after all of ours in house, so have a better idea than most.

[Frimley111R]

wheelerc said:

Without inside knowledge of Google's systems, how can you say that with any more certainty than the companies who say it will help?

Because SEO does not work like that. At the fundamental level, search engines look for up to date, high quality content. This is neither. The closest you can get to improving SEO via this is by getting more people to spend longer on your site watching it/looking at it. Also, the above poster and I are not trying to sell you anything

[TheBogFlogger]

Dr Interceptor said:

I've had it done on our shop....

Do you think it helped?

[Dr Interceptor]

TheBogFlogger said:

Do you think it helped?

Nope, but it looks pretty.

[Canute]

There are some misinformed people in this thread. Always the case with SEO sadly.

To rank for something that relates to a "local search" intent phrase, you would potentially want to ensure your Google My Business listing ranks if the local pack of search results regularly shows for the search terms of interest to your business.

Adding a 360 to the Google My Business listing will actually help with it ranking. Google will favour more comprehensively completed Google My Business listings over ones that are less complete. But as always there are additional factors to weigh into the mix like the actual location in relation to the query, reviews and other factors.

So, in summary, it is possible that adding the 360 could help the ranking of the Google My Business listing, whether it could help rank your own site, less clear but adding related content to this on a dedicated page would not hurt or be a bad idea depending on the local competition.

Next, any more local SEO questions?! :-)

[wheelerc]

Canute said:

So, in summary, it is possible that adding the 360 could help the ranking of the Google My Business listing, whether it could help rank your own site, less clear but adding related content to this on a dedicated page would not hurt or be a bad idea depending on the local competition.

Bingo! There are a lot of factors google use to determine ranking positions. Some give a much stronger influence than others, but it is still possible (probable IMO) that having a 360 view could help ranking position in some way. Google very rarely disclose what factors influence ranking, but for example they have confirmed mobile friendless helps, as well as sites using https.

Companies who explicitly state that something will or will not affect rankings should be viewed with caution.

Generally I'd advise optimising for humans first, and a 360 view fits that mantra well. So if the costs are reasonable I'd go for it. You can also DIY with a 360 camera or even with a mobile app if you don't mind lower quality images.