Photos on your Google profile
When somebody searches your trade and three businesses come up, what decides which one gets called is what they see, and what they see is photos. A listing with twenty photos of real work beats one with three stock images almost every time, even against a better rating. And there's an effect almost nobody uses: uploading photos every month tells Google the business is active, and active listings rank better.
Updated 2026-08-16
How many and of what
**Twenty minimum to start**, then two or three more each month.
What to upload, in order of how much it convinces:
**1. Finished work.** Ninety percent of the value. Ten or fifteen, from different jobs.
**2. Before and after.** In landscaping, cleaning, roofing, painting, nails, detailing and remodeling it's the highest-converting photo there is.
**3. You working.** People hire people. A photo of you with a tool in your hand does more than any logo.
**4. The truck or the shop.** Proof the business physically exists, which is exactly the doubt of someone about to let a stranger into their house.
**5. The crew, if you have one.** In uniform and presentable.
What not to upload
**Stock photos.** They always show, and what they communicate is that you have no work of your own to display. The smiling plumber with a wrench in a white catalog kitchen subtracts credibility rather than adding it.
**The logo repeated.** Use it once as the profile image and leave it.
**Dark or blurry photos.** Ten good ones beat thirty bad ones.
**Photos with private details.** House numbers, license plates, paperwork with names. Beyond the privacy problem, some customers don't want it known where they live.
**Screenshots of text or promo graphics.** That's what profile posts are for, not the gallery.
How to shoot them well without knowing photography
- **Natural light.** Outside or near a window. Never direct flash.
- **Clear the frame.** Move the rag, the bottle, the loose cable. It's what changes a photo most.
- **Get closer.** A detail of work done well convinces more than the whole room.
- **Same position for before and after.** If the angle changes there's nothing to compare and it loses its force.
- **Landscape for the listing**, which is how they display best on the map.
The habit that solves all of it
Three photos per job: before starting, halfway, and at the end.
With that you never run out of material, for the listing or for social. And it gives you the before-and-after without having to remember on purpose.
How often to upload
Two or three a month, not twenty at once every six months.
Google looks at whether the listing has movement. A listing uploading photos every month reads as an active business, and active listings outrank abandoned ones with the same review count.
Photos customers upload
Customers can also add photos to your listing, and those you don't control.
If someone uploads a bad one, it can't be removed unless it breaks the rules. What you can do is upload plenty of good ones so yours sit on top and theirs sinks.
It's the same logic as reviews: volume protects you.
doubts
What people usually ask
Are phone photos good enough?
Yes, and they're better than bought ones. Any phone from the last few years takes more than good enough photos in decent light.
Do I ask permission to photograph a customer's house?
Yes, always, and don't show the address or house number. Most say yes when the work came out well.
Do photos affect ranking?
Indirectly. Listing activity counts, and photos make people click yours instead of somebody else's, which is also a signal.
What if my trade doesn't photograph well?
Almost all of them have something: the equipment, the process, you working, the truck. A notary or an accountant can show the office and their own face, which is what people want to see before going.
Should I add watermarks?
No. They subtract and make the photo look like advertising. On a Google listing it isn't needed.