On Google Maps, someone searching "plumber near me" or "florist Leeds" usually sees your photos before they read anything you have written. A cramped thumbnail of a van, a dark shopfront or a stock image of a smiling call-centre worker can lose you the call before your reviews or opening hours get a look. This guide covers the photo side of a Google Business Profile: the actual rules, what to shoot, what to skip, and how to tell if your photos are working.
Why do photos matter so much on a Google Business Profile?
Whitespark's Google Business Profile photo guide quotes Google as saying that businesses with photos get 42% more requests for directions and 35% more website URL clicks. Be clear about what that compares: profiles with photos against profiles without. It is not a promise that each new photo adds calls. It does tell you where the biggest loss sits, which is a bare or neglected profile.
Think about how people use Maps on a phone. They scroll a list of three or four businesses, tap one, swipe through the images and decide in seconds. A roofer with photos of finished roofs on recognisable UK housing looks like a safer bet than one with a logo and nothing else.
What are Google's actual photo requirements?
These come straight from Google's Business Profile photo help page:
- Format: JPG or PNG.
- File size: between 10 KB and 5 MB.
- Recommended resolution: 720 pixels tall by 720 pixels wide.
- Minimum resolution: 250 pixels tall by 250 pixels wide.
- Quality: in focus, well lit, no significant alterations or excessive filters.
If your profile is still waiting on verification, photos may not show publicly until that is complete, so expect a delay before they appear.
In practice, resolution is rarely the problem with modern phones. File size is. An iPhone or recent Android photo can go past 5 MB, so export at a slightly lower quality or resize to around 2,000 pixels on the long edge before you upload.
Which photos should a UK small business upload first?
Around three photos per relevant type is a sensible starting set. Here is what that looks like for a few common UK businesses:
- Café or restaurant: shopfront from across the road so people can spot it, the counter, the seating, three or four best sellers on a plain table in daylight.
- Electrician or plumber: the liveried van parked on a real street, a tidy consumer unit or boiler install, the engineer at work (with permission), a finished bathroom.
- Salon or barber: the entrance, the chairs, real finished cuts or colours, the team.
- Shop: the window, the main aisle, the till area, a close-up of popular lines.
The exterior shot does more work than most owners think. Someone driving to you for the first time uses it to find the door. Take it in daylight, from the angle people actually approach, with the sign readable.
Should I use stock photos or professional photography?
Whitespark's guide is blunt about it: do not use stock photos on your Google Business Profile. Searchers spot them at once, and they undo the main thing photos are for, which is proving you are a real local business.
Professional photography has its place. If you run a restaurant, a wedding venue or a high-ticket trade such as kitchen fitting, a half-day shoot for your cover image, exterior and a handful of hero shots can be money well spent. For everyday additions, a recent phone in good daylight is fine. The honest trade-off is that professional shots look better but date quickly, while a stream of phone photos from real jobs keeps the profile current.
How often should I add new photos?
A profile whose newest photo is several years old makes people wonder whether you are still trading. A simple rhythm works for most small businesses: two to four new photos a month, taken during normal work. Tradespeople can build it into the end of each job. Shops can photograph new stock as it arrives.
If you already plan social posts, add Google photos to the same routine. A simple monthly plan, like the one in this guide to building a content calendar for a small business, stops photos becoming a job you remember once a year.
Does geotagging or keyword-stuffing photo files help rankings?
This is one of the most persistent local SEO myths, and some agencies still sell it. Whitespark states that geotagging photos does not improve or affect rankings and that Google wipes EXIF data on upload. Renaming files to "best-plumber-manchester.jpg" is not where the value is either.
What matters is the image itself. Whitespark notes that Google can recognise what is in a picture and suggests running photos through Google's Vision AI demo to see what it detects. A photo that clearly shows a boiler installation says far more than any file name. Spend the effort on clear, relevant images instead.
Can I add videos to my profile?
These limits come from Google's photos and videos help page. Thirty seconds is less than it sounds, so plan one idea per clip:
- A walk from the street to the front door, which helps first-time visitors.
- A before and after on a job, filmed from the same spot.
- A short introduction from the owner saying who they are and the areas they cover.
Keep the audio clean, film in landscape if you can and hold the phone steady. Nobody expects broadcast quality from a local business. They do expect it to look real.
What should I do about bad customer photos?
Customers can add photos to your profile, and some will be dark, blurry or of a different business entirely. Whitespark notes that you cannot stop customers uploading photos, but you can flag and request removal of any that break Google's Maps photo or content policies. A genuine but unflattering photo usually stays, so the practical answer is to outweigh it with good images of your own.
Photos that customers attach to reviews also tend to get noticed. Sterling Sky's small set of case examples on reviews with photos found that adding a photo to an older positive review moved it up the review list, though the effect varied between listings and was limited where a profile had many negative reviews. If you already ask happy customers for reviews, asking them to add a photo of the finished job costs nothing. Once you have good reviews, it is worth showing them on your own website as well.
How do I know if my photos are bringing in more calls?
The current performance view focuses on outcomes such as calls, direction requests and website clicks rather than photo views, so judge photos by those. Note the date you refresh your photos, then compare the following two or three months with the same months last year to allow for seasonal swings. A florist will always be busier around Mother's Day, whatever the photos look like.
Bear in mind that Maps is no longer the only place people find local businesses. AI search tools draw on similar business information, which this guide to AEO, SEO, GEO and LLMO for UK small businesses explains. A complete, accurate profile with real photos helps across all of them.
What is a simple photo checklist to work through this week?
- Photograph the exterior in daylight from the direction customers approach, with the sign readable.
- Take around three photos in each type that applies: interior, products, at work, team.
- Check each file is JPG or PNG, between 10 KB and 5 MB, with no heavy filters.
- Remove stock images and anything showing old branding, old premises or staff who have left.
- Film one 20 to 30 second clip of the premises or a finished job.
- Review customer photos and flag any that show the wrong business.
- Set a monthly reminder to add two to four new photos.
- Note today's date and check calls and direction requests again in eight weeks.
If you want the wider picture, from categories and reviews to service areas, the local SEO service page sets out how the rest of the profile fits together.
Listing Photos That Get More Calls from Google Maps — FAQ
What size should Google Business Profile photos be?
Google's Business Profile help page sets the rules. Photos must be JPG or PNG, between 10 KB and 5 MB, with a recommended resolution of 720 by 720 pixels and a minimum of 250 by 250 pixels. Most modern phones shoot well above that, so the usual problem is file size, not resolution. If a phone photo is over 5 MB, export it at a lower quality setting or resize it to around 2,000 pixels on the long edge before you upload. Google also asks that photos are in focus, well lit and free of heavy filters or significant alterations, so leave the beauty filter off and fix the lighting instead.
How many photos should a small business add to its Google profile?
Google's photo tips point businesses towards several photos in each type that applies, such as exterior, interior, product, at work and team, and three per type is a sensible starting point. For a typical UK tradesperson or shop that comes to roughly 12 to 15 photos to begin with. After that, steady additions matter more than a big one-off upload. Adding a few new, real photos every month keeps the profile looking current and gives people who search a reason to trust that you are still trading. Quality and relevance count for more than the total. Ten clear photos of real jobs will do more for you than fifty blurry or generic ones.
Do photos really get a business more calls?
Whitespark's Google Business Profile guide quotes Google as saying businesses with photos get 42% more requests for directions and 35% more website clicks than those without. That compares profiles with photos against profiles with none, so it does not mean every extra photo adds more calls. What it does show is that a profile with no photos, or only a logo, loses people at the point where they decide who to ring. The practical takeaway is to cover the basics with real images first, then judge any further effort by what shows up in your profile's calls, direction requests and website clicks.
Does geotagging photos help Google Maps rankings?
No. Whitespark, a local search research firm, states that geotagging photos does not improve or affect rankings. It also notes that Google wipes EXIF data when you upload images, so keywords or coordinates hidden in the file do nothing. File names and metadata are not where the value is. Time spent geotagging is better spent taking clearer photos of your real work, your premises and your team, and on getting customers to leave reviews that include photos of their own.
Can I upload videos to my Google Business Profile?
Yes. Google's photos and videos help page says videos can be up to 30 seconds long, up to 75 MB in size, and should be 720p or higher. A phone is fine. Short clips work best: a walk through the shop door, a before and after on a job, or a 20 second introduction from the owner. Keep them filmed at your own premises or on real jobs. Like photos, videos have to follow Google's content policy, so avoid adding text-heavy promotional overlays or footage that has nothing to do with the business.
