Why Visual Search Matters to Businesses

In the age of Instagram, visual search is an increasingly important way for people to find information online. The concept is exactly what it sounds like: using images to search for content. Sixty two percent of Millennials and Gen Z prefer to search visually. It is important for businesses to optimize their content for visual search, especially as Google continues to unveil new ways to help people search visually.

What Is Visual Search?

Visual search uses artificial intelligence to make it possible for people online to use images as part of their search for information. For instance, someone searching for a particular blouse, jewelry, or toy can take a photo of the object using Google Lens, and then the software powering Google Lens identifies the object and searches for it online.

According to Google, people use Google Lens more than 8 billion times per month. This type of search has many applications, especially with online shopping, when someone might be searching for a hard-to-find item and might be uncertain about its name or might lack further information. For instance, in the home repair industry, contractors and plumbers might use visual search on job sites where they need to replace an obscure or dated part and have no further information to go on.

What Are Google’s Latest Developments with Visual Search?

Google recently developed multisearch, which makes it possible for someone to search for something using both images and text at the same time. This makes searching with visuals even more precise because a person can layer more information on to the search – say, a price range to go with a photo of a blouse a shopper is trying to find.

At Google’s annual developer conference, Google said it is refining multisearch. Google said that the company is adding a way to find local information with metasearch, meaning that people can find nearby information faster and more accurately. A searcher can add “near me” to their text/visual search and get more precise results for potential retailers, restaurants, or other businesses that may have answers to a request. This will make search more useful for when someone prefers to narrow their search for the closest-available answers.

As noted on the Google blog,

For example, say you see a colorful dish online you’d like to try – but you don’t know what’s in it, or what it’s called. When you use multisearch to find it near you, Google scans millions of images and reviews posted on web pages, and from our community of Maps contributors, to find results about nearby spots that offer the dish so you can go enjoy it for yourself.

Local information in multisearch will be available globally later in 2022 in English, and will expand to more languages over time.

Google also announced the future launch of “scene exploration.” This will make it possible for someone to use multisearch to pan their camera and instantly get insights about multiple objects in a wider scene.

For instance, with scene exploration, someone shopping in a store or via a website might pan an entire palette of inventory to do a more complete search. On its blog, Google shared this hypothetical example:

Imagine you’re trying to pick out the perfect candy bar for your friend who's a bit of a chocolate connoisseur. You know they love dark chocolate but dislike nuts, and you want to get them something of quality. With scene exploration, you’ll be able to scan the entire shelf with your phone’s camera and see helpful insights overlaid in front of you. Scene exploration is a powerful breakthrough in our devices’ ability to understand the world the way we do – so you can easily find what you’re looking for– and we look forward to bringing it to multisearch in the future.

Google did not say when this feature will go live, but it’s certainly an important development any business should be aware of.

What businesses should do

The latest developments underscore the need for businesses to ensure their content is optimized for visual search. This is especially true for retailers, auto dealerships. restaurants, and other businesses where visual content is exceedingly important.

• Offer numerous images. Don’t rely on one image of your product. Offer multiple perspectives, including back, front, side, and overheard shots. This will increase the likelihood that your content aligns with the image a searcher has used to initiate a search. If you provide, say, the image of a blazer only from the front, your image might not turn up in visual searches that use side or rear views.

• Consider all your touchpoints. Your website should be the center of your brand’s universe. But make sure you share visual content in all the places people are searching – such as your Google Business Profile (crucial for Google searches) and socials. Don’t sell yourself short. Be as comprehensive as you can.

• Use great photos. High-quality images will represent your brand in the best way possible in search results. Crisp, beautifully shot images obviously add to the appeal of your product, service, or setting. And they also help a business have more ownership over its brand. In the era of user-generated content, a business has less control over poor-quality images that people post on their socials or Google Business Profiles. It’s important for businesses to counter bad user generated content with professional images. In addition, make sure the photos are of high resolution. Images with poor resolution will be harder to find when Google scans the internet for search results. Also, consider context. Especially as Google rolls out scene exploration, it’s more important than ever that businesses provide useful and attract contextual images – such as a plate of nachos or a cheeseburger on a tastefully appointed table or next to adjacent products (such as guacamole or French fries) that might also appeal to someone searching online.

• Optimize image titles and descriptions. If a restaurant posts a delicious photo of an enchilada on your website, use a descriptive file name like DeliciousEnchilada. Avoid generic file names such as img or Screenshot. Descriptive file names will help Google find your content.

• Optimize product descriptions and captions. Make sure the actual description of the content itself sparkles. If an automotive dealer lists a 2022 Lexus RX, don’t forget to complement those great photos with descriptive content that people are likely using, too, such as the price, year, special features, and names of similar makes/models in stock. All this is especially important as people use the Google multisearch feature.

• Use alternative text. Include alternative text, or an alt tag, with your image. The alternative text will make your content more findable for the visually impaired. (They can use screen readers to read the alt tag and understand your image better.) This meta data makes your content more accessible and inclusive. And it helps Google find your products.

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