Reading Time: 2 minutesOver the past two years we have steadily watched Google organic search results change. These changes provided local search results for Google Maps local listings but also for news, images, books, products and video, or what is known as blended or universal search.
As the search engines battle against each other for the most informational and relevant first page results, we have seen in the last few months that Google has begun to bring image and local listings together. Searching very broadly, most often at a city or landmark level you can now see that these Google searches show photos in the “one-box” local listing. These images are fed from Panoramio, A Google photo-mapping service.
Analyzing the evolution of universal search one must wonder what will come next. This will most likely be video integration into local listing results, but will it be pulled from Google maps listings or from a Google property such as Youtube as you can set GEO-placement on your videos? These are some of the questions we must ask ourselves. To be a good search marketer you have to think ahead of the curve and anticipate what will happen next in the search marketing landscape. Now that Panoramio has been introduced to local search at a broad level it is time to optimize your location images so that they will compete in local search results in the near future.
Here are a few tips for Panoramio local search optimization:
- Upload your images to your Panoramio account with file-names which include keywords as well as your physical address.
- Place tags and title your images with keywords which are relevant to your business location.
- Map the photos to your exact address.
- Within your Google Local listing, upload the photos directly from their Panoramio link.
- On your local or contact us/directions page where you most likely are taking a localized SEO approach, include images of your location. Past local search image optimization tips were usually to have localized keywords in your image file-names and ALT tags. This is still recommended but make sure that you provide a few location images which are linked to the Panoramio-based images.
These locally focused SEO modifications to your location images will help get your photos ready for the big time. You will also be able to better prepare a local customer who is attempting to find your location with these visual aids and help yourself in image search and attract the attention of searchers with your new eye candy.
Thinking Locally? Look to Vizion Interactive to help you with your local search engine optimization needs!
At Vizion Interactive, we have the expertise, experience, and enthusiasm to get results and keep clients happy! Learn more about how our SEO Audits, Local Listing Management, Website Redesign Consulting, and B2B digital marketing services can increase sales and boost your ROI. But don’t just take our word for it, check out what our clients have to say, along with our case studies.
