Geotagging images is a debated Local SEO technique, especially when it comes to its impact on Google Business Profile rankings. Some say it has no impact, others say it’s important for local business and should be part of your Local SEO strategy.
We’re on the second side of this debate. We’re not saying geotagging the images and photos on your Google Business Profile (GBP) is the key to getting in the Map Pack but we do think it can help. SEO success is not about doing one thing perfectly but about doing many small things a little better. When it comes to geotagging images for Local SEO:
- Will it hurt your Local SEO? Not likely.
- Is it hard to do? No.
- Does it take a lot of time? Not really (this article will show you).
- Can it help your Local SEO? Potentially.
So there’s no reason not to geotag the images you upload to the Google Business Profiles you manage. Consider it part of your optimization checklist. Whether you think geotagging is important or just a best practice, here’s how to geotag your GBP images and photos in seconds.
Geotagging & Image Optimization
Before we get into geotagging, note that it’s just one part of optimizing your GBP images. A universal best practice for local or traditional SEO is to optimize your image filenames and meta tags to match the keywords you want to rank for. We fully recommend this. Ensure that these optimizations are applied to relevant pages to maximize their impact on local SEO.
For example, instead of using a default filename like /img-97833545.jpg for a local SEO campaign you could rename it to something relevant like /grapefruit-nyc-seo-agency-logo.jpg. You should also include these keyword and location optimizations in the image’s description and alt text. This article will walk you through that process as well as the geotagging steps.
What is Geotagging & How Can It Help You?
Geotagging is the process of embedding geographic information, like latitude and longitude coordinates, into the location data of an image or photo. Usually, this data indicates where the image was taken but can also be manually added to suggest location relevance. For Local SEO, search engines could use this metadata to associate your business profile with specific geographic areas. This added location relevance might help your profile show up in map rankings for searches around that area.
How to Geotag Photos & Images for Local Searches
When you take images for your Google Business Profile (GBP) your camera or smartphone likely has the ability to geotag the images, which records the exact location where the photo was taken. This data is embedded in the Exchangeable Image File format (EXIF), which stores the location information within the image file. But the photo names from these devices are not SEO optimized and you may also work with other types of visuals like logos or graphics. For these reasons, GeoImgr can make it much easier to geotag and optimize your images.
Using GeoImgr to Geotag GBP Images with EXIF Data
GeoImgr is a great and easy to use image geotagger. If you only have a few images to optimize the free version should be enough. But if you need to upload a large volume of images especially for populating your GBP it might be worth upgrading to the PRO version which is under $10 for a month of unlimited use.
Here’s a quick step by step guide to using GeoImgr to optimize and geotag your images:
- Upload Your Images: The tool supports JPG, PNG and WEBP formats – just upload the images you want to geotag.
- Set the Location: Drop the marker on the exact location where the image was taken or manually enter latitude and longitude coordinates. If the marker placement is tricky because there’s no search feature in the free version you can grab the lat/long coordinates from the URL of your business profile on Google Maps.
- Enhance Keywords and Tags: Add location and business-related keywords in the “Keywords & Tags” section and optimize the description or alt text to increase visibility.
- Write EXIF Tags: Click the Write EXIF Tags button to embed the geotag and any added data into the EXIF data of the image file.
- Download Your Optimized Images: Save the geotagged and optimized images and upload them to your GBP or use them on location-specific website pages.
And that’s it – you now have geotagged images ready to use for your Google Business Profile. Also, if you have location-specific webpages, business listings, and other relevant pages, geotagging images used on those pages may also be beneficial.
Why Geotag?
There’s ongoing debate about the direct impact of geotagged images on GBP map rankings but implementing this optimization is easy. It’s a best practice we include as part of a broader local SEO strategy because it takes minimal effort and can help your results.
That said geotagging alone won’t boost your rankings dramatically. But when combined with a full SEO strategy it can help overall. While geotagging alone may not dramatically boost your rankings, it can contribute to improved local search rankings when combined with a comprehensive SEO strategy.
Of course, geotagging is just one element of optimizing your GBP for better performance in the local search results, so if you need assistance to ensure you have a fully-optimized business profile, just click this link to submit an inquiry and we’ll get in touch to discuss how we can help.