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DownloadA virtual tour is a sequence of panoramic images that are ‘stitched’ together by a specially designed camera to create a ‘virtual’ experience of any location.
Google Street View is a feature on Google Maps to allow customers to see inside your premises and shows your them exactly where you are. It visually displays your business, engages clients online, and helps people find you when looking for a location.
Creating a virtual tour can seem like an expensive proposition. But once you learn everything that goes into making them you’ll understand why they come with a premium price tag.
First, the company will need to bring in a camera. This will be positioned on a tripod, holding it still. Then, they will need to take a series of scans of the area. This lets them create a virtual picture of the site. The camera will then be moved to the next location where the process will begin again. Once the pictures have been taken, they will be rendered. This is the process of stitching all the photos together to create a realistic 3D walk-through of your property. After this, you can preview the tour. Sometimes, you might want to add special features to spice up the tour a bit. For example, you can embed a YouTube video.
After you are happy with the tour, it’s time for the team to put on the finishing touches. They might want to embed tags to improve the SEO. Next, it’s time to add it to Google Street View and put it into your website. This will allow your customers to enjoy the experience of walking through your business.
It's not what you sell that matters but rather how you sell it.
The answer is a strong yes. There are plenty of benefits that this technology can unlock.
First, analytics have shown that websites that offer a walkthrough have higher customer engagement. People spend more time on your site. You get a higher clickthrough rate and get more calls from interested people.
Unlike other types of marketing, the user will be able to change the experience to suit them. As an example, imagine that you are running a restaurant. Your customers can replicate the experience of sitting at one of your tables on a romantic evening. This is much more impactful than just reading about it on your website.
Secondly, this technology is still relatively new. As a result, not many small businesses have it. This presents a valuable opportunity. You can be the first in your area. This gives you the chance to make sure that your business stands out from the competition.
Thirdly, you’ll be able to use this technology to improve your Search Engine Optimization (SEO). This is how search engines will decide where to rank your website. Tags can be embedded into the virtual tour. When done properly, this can be all it takes to get to the number one spot.
Now that we know some of the reasons why it’s worth the investment, we can turn our attention to finding out how much it will cost. Usually, this will depend on a few factors.
Most importantly, the size of your location. The more square feet the business is, the more time it takes to photograph and compile. As a result, you will end up paying more.
You’ll also need to consider who is creating the tour. If you want to save money, you can hire an inexperienced team. But the quality of the experience will suffer. Remember, this is an investment in your businesses’ future. Because of this, you want to find someone who knows what they are doing.