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Tag Archives: Google Trusted Photography
New Virtual Photography Tour — Look Inside Penn Camera Tysons Corner
It feels really good when the best photography store in the area hires you to handle their photography. That’s all I’ll say about this tour below. It’s the first of three Google photography tours that I created for Penn Camera. Use the arrows below to navigate their Tysons location, and soon I’ll share virtual tours of their Rockville and DC locations.
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Will Marlow is the founder of Circle View Photos, the original Google Trusted Photography Partner in the Virginia, DC and Maryland region. He creates virtual tours of businesses that are featured in Google Maps, Google Street View and Google Places. He is also a marketer who specializes in Google AdWords (certified), Google Analytics (certified), SEO, social media, and PR. Follow Will Marlow on Twitter or Like Circle View Photos on Facebook.
Posted in Circle View Google Virtual Tours
Also tagged 360 photography, Google Trusted Photographer, Panoramic photography, virtual tours
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Google Business Photography Tour — Look Inside Action Music
Action Music is the best guitar shop in the region — and I had a good time creating the Google 360 panoramic Virtual Tour for Matt and
company. The tour was recently published, and is now a part of Google Maps, Google Street View, and Google+ Local (formerly Google Places) and the shop looks great (including the 250+ guitars that line the walls).
I made this tour out of 360 high resolution photographs. Check it out, go full screen if possible, use your arrow keys, zoom in and around the whole place. Be sure to check out the acoustic guitar room, as well as the repair shop in back.
Myles Marlow, in addition to being a digital marketing and advertising consultant, is a Google Trusted Photographer who works in the Virginia, DC and Maryland region. In this capacity, he creates virtual tours of businesses that are featured in Google Maps and Google Places. He is also a marketer who specializes in Google AdWords (certified by Google).
What is a Google Trusted Photographer?
In my last post I laid out the top four reasons why people seem to be hiring Google Trusted Photographers. But perhaps I should have started with a simple definition that answers the question: what is a Google Trusted Photographer?
The answer actually begins with what we are NOT. We are NOT Google employees. We are official Google partners who are helping Google to expand Google Maps, Google Street View, and Google+ Local pages by creating virtual tours for independent businesses. I sometimes think of the program as Phase 2 of Google Street View. Phase 1 of Google Street View involves Google employees who drive around with special cars that photograph public property. The “public” part is key, because Google Trusted Photographers are working exclusively with private property owners.
Here is everything you need to know: a Google Trusted Photographer will have an official certification (which is featured on all of my blog posts, like this one, in the top right corner), and that certificate means that they have passed all of Google’s officially administered photography tests, both in the field and the classroom.
The official name is actually Google Independent Trusted Photographers, and as partners we act as liaisons to Google. We handle 100% of the virtual tour creation process, and we then work with Google to add the virtual tours to Google+ Local pages, Google Maps, and Google Street View.
I hope that this definition helps you understand a little more about the program, and I also hope that you let me know if you have any other questions that I can answer.
Will Marlow is the founder of Circle View Photos, the original Google Trusted Photography Partner in the Virginia, DC and Maryland region. He creates virtual tours of businesses that are featured in Google Maps, Google Street View and Google Places. He is also a marketer who specializes in Google AdWords (certified), Google Analytics (certified), SEO, social media, and PR. Follow Will Marlow on Twitter or Like Circle View Photos on Facebook.
The Top Four Reasons for Hiring a Google Trusted Photographer
I was one of the very first Google Trusted Photographers, and I love the program. It allows me to partner with Google on one of their cutting edge program, help expand Google Maps, and meet lots and lots of business owners in Virginia, DC and Maryland.
But I also wanted to share the top four reasons why you (as a business owner) should consider hiring a Google Trusted Independent Photographer.
- Enhance Your website. A virtual tour is easily added to your website. In fact, it’s as easy to do as it is to add a YouTube video to a website. You just take a small bit of HTML code (which I would provide you) and drop it into your website. It’s so easy to do that I refuse to charge someone for help with it. I’ll just do it for you. Then, you can have a virtual tour embedded right into your page, just like I have here. And the result looks both beautiful and impressive — an awesome addition to your website.
- Search Engine Optimization. There is no question that creating a virtual tour of your business is intimately tied to search engine optimization, because the tour will live on your Google+ Local page. Google wants Google+ Local to replace Yellow Pages. You might be surprised to learn this (I was!) but the Yellow Pages are not dead yet. In fact, they are still one of Google’s biggest competitors in the incredibly lucrative “local” search market. This means that local businesses should expand their “local” presence by building out their Google+ Local Pages, as well as taking many other steps — this will help ensure that Google can deliver your name to the right people who are searching for it at the local level.
- Make your Google+ Local page more interesting. Your Google+ Local page is going to be coming up more and more as people search for your business’s name. As we learn in the “pay per click” advertising business, your “branded terms” (including your name, your business name, your address, or your product names) are the most valuable and easiest clicks to optimize for. But if your Google+ Local page is consistently occupying the space at the top of the search engine results page, then you’re going to want it to look great. A tour is the best way to do that — instead of seeing a boring text box, you’ll see a picture of your store with a caption that says, “Look Inside!” that people can click on and begin navigating around your business.
- Rent out your space. This only applies to some customers, but I have found that people who make money from renting their space are the first ones to signup for Google Business Photography. This is a no-brainer — it’s a lot easier to rent a building if you can explore every part of it at your leisure, without the hassle of driving out. At best, especially in the DMV area, you are not going to have time to physically check out every location in person. But you can explore virtual tours of lots of businesses before making your decision.
So there you have it. These are the top four reasons that I encounter as I help create virtual tours for people in DC, Maryland and Virginia. If you’re interested, give me a call for a free consultation to see if you qualify for a tour.
Will Marlow is the founder of Circle View Photos, the original Google Trusted Photography Partner in the Virginia, DC and Maryland region. He creates virtual tours of businesses that are featured in Google Maps, Google Street View and Google Places. He is also a marketer who specializes in Google AdWords (certified), Google Analytics (certified), SEO, social media, and PR. Follow Will Marlow on Twitter or Like Circle View Photos on Facebook.
Google Virtual Tour: The Outstanding Mozzarella Bar in Bethesda
I created this virtual tour for an outstanding Italian restaurant in Bethesda called the Mozzarella Bar. It’s owned by the same people who own Assaggi Osteria in McLean, and the food at both restaurants is amazing. As is the decor, which you can see from the tour below. I created the virtual tour out of 168 photographs, or 169 if you count the picture I took of the homemade Italian donuts they made me, which generated over 100 comments and 91 “faves” on Flickr.
I have a number of very cool tours around the corner that I’ll be excited to share with you soon, including two tours for Hilton Worldwide.
Will Marlow is the founder of Circle View Photos, the original Google Trusted Photography Partner in the Virginia, DC and Maryland region. He creates virtual tours of businesses that are featured in Google Maps, Google Street View and Google Places. He is also a marketer who specializes in Google AdWords (certified), Google Analytics (certified), SEO, social media, and PR. Follow Will Marlow on Twitter or Like Circle View Photos on Facebook.
Circle View Photos In The News!
Just as I was going on vacation to France two weeks ago, I saw this great news story appear in LeesburgToday, which highlighted my work creating virtual tours for the Boyd School in Loudoun and Fairfax County. You can see a virtual tour of the Boyd School’s Herndon Campus here, and for their Aldie Campus here.
The Boyd School is the first school in Virginia, Maryland, or DC, to use Google panoramic photography to give parents an easy way to explore the campus. As someone who has spent a lot of time working with schools on fundraising in the past, I know how competitive school selection has become, and I think these tours will be a great asset for them. I hope that more schools follow their lead, and I look forward to shooting additional Boyd School campuses in the future.
Will Marlow is a Google Trusted Photographer who works in the Virginia, DC and Maryland region. In this capacity, he creates virtual tours of businesses that are featured in Google Maps and Google Places. He is also a marketer who specializes in Google AdWords (certified), Google Analytics (certified), SEO, social media, and PR. Follow Will Marlow on Twitter here, or email him here.
Will Marlow is the founder of Circle View Photos, the original Google Trusted Photography Partner in the Virginia, DC and Maryland region. He creates virtual tours of businesses that are featured in Google Maps, Google Street View and Google Places. He is also a marketer who specializes in Google AdWords (certified), Google Analytics (certified), SEO, social media, and PR. Follow Will Marlow on Twitter or Like Circle View Photos on Facebook.
Google Virtual Photography: Explore an Amazing Italian Restaurant — Assaggi Osteria
I can’t remember why my wife and I ate at Assaggi Osteria two weeks ago, but I’m very glad we did. The food was outstanding. And it led to me creating virtual tours for three equally outstanding restaurants — Assaggi Osteria (below), Assaggi Mozzarella Bar, and Bistro Vivante (tour coming soon).
The tour below was created out of 264 photographs. As you can see, the restaurant itself is meticulously decorated, and the food is even better.
Will Marlow is the founder of Circle View Photos, the original Google Trusted Photography Partner in the Virginia, DC and Maryland region. He creates virtual tours of businesses that are featured in Google Maps, Google Street View and Google Places. He is also a marketer who specializes in Google AdWords (certified), Google Analytics (certified), SEO, social media, and PR. Follow Will Marlow on Twitter or Like Circle View Photos on Facebook.
Posted in Circle View Google Virtual Tours
Also tagged 360 photography, Google Trusted Photographer, Panoramic photography, virtual tours
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Google Virtual Tour: Explore the Boyd School’s Herndon Campus
Here is part two of last week’s post on the Boyd School. The virtual tour below was created out of 204 photographs, and if you use your mouse or touch screen to navigate the arrows in the tour below, you’ll get to see the Boyd School’s Herndon campus.
The Boyd School is a Montessori school system with locations in Fairfax and Loudoun County.
Will Marlow is the founder of Circle View Photos, the original Google Trusted Photography Partner in the Virginia, DC and Maryland region. He creates virtual tours of businesses that are featured in Google Maps, Google Street View and Google Places. He is also a marketer who specializes in Google AdWords (certified), Google Analytics (certified), SEO, social media, and PR. Follow Will Marlow on Twitter or Like Circle View Photos on Facebook.
Posted in Circle View Google Virtual Tours
Also tagged 360 photography, Google Trusted Photographer, Panoramic photography, virtual tours
1 Comment
Google Virtual Tour: Explore the Boyd School’s Aldie Campus
I recently created virtual tours for two locations of the Boyd School, which is a Montessori program in Fairfax and Loudoun county. According to Wikipedia, Montessori education is all about independence and freedom, and “respect for a child’s natural psychological development…” Apparently, according to Wikipedia, there are about 20,000 Montessori schools worldwide. In Northern Virginia, the Boyd School operates seven Montessori schools.
(I actually went to a Montessori school for grades 1-5 called Drew Model School, and really liked it, although at the time I didn’t know what a Montessori school was.)
Below you’ll find a virtual tour of the Boyd School’s Aldie campus, which I created out of 360 photographs. Use your mouse or trackpad, and the white arrows within the tour, to navigate through the classrooms at the Boyd School’s Aldie Campus.
After I finished creating this Google Virtual Tour, I was thrilled to see that the Boyd School wrote this blog post about the tour, and said such complimentary things about me 
Will Marlow is the founder of Circle View Photos, the original Google Trusted Photography Partner in the Virginia, DC and Maryland region. He creates virtual tours of businesses that are featured in Google Maps, Google Street View and Google Places. He is also a marketer who specializes in Google AdWords (certified), Google Analytics (certified), SEO, social media, and PR. Follow Will Marlow on Twitter or Like Circle View Photos on Facebook.
Google 360 Photos: Take a Virtual Tour of Arrowine in Arlington
Arrowine is an independent wine shop in Arlington, Virginia. (We bought the wine for our wedding here.) The staff is well-known for providing great advice to wine lovers, and they always have a wide selection of wines across the whole pricing spectrum.
I made the 360-degree photo tour below out of 240 photographs.
Click on the arrows in the image below to navigate through Arrowine.
Will Marlow is the founder of Circle View Photos, the original Google Trusted Photography Partner in the Virginia, DC and Maryland region. He creates virtual tours of businesses that are featured in Google Maps, Google Street View and Google Places. He is also a marketer who specializes in Google AdWords (certified), Google Analytics (certified), SEO, social media, and PR. Follow Will Marlow on Twitter.
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