One question we get all the time from our clients is, “What are the differences between Google Street View Virtual Tour & 360 Virtual Tours”. While they appear to be very similar, they are both very different products with distinct advantages and strategies. So why or when would you choose one over the other (and, in some cases, use both)? Let’s look at the two options and break them down, see the differences and look at a few exciting case studies.

Differences Between Google Street View Virtual Tour & 360 Virtual Tours

Google Street View Virtual Tour

The primary advantage of a Google Street View Virtual Tour is that it lives on Google (Specifically Google Maps). So we will take the photos, upload and link them to your Google My Business profile.

Your clients / potential customers will be able to use Google Maps to see inside your premises. Google Street View tour shows your clients exactly where you are. It visually displays your business, engages clients online, and helps people find you when looking for a location. The other advantage is that you will be seen and rank higher in Google Maps. Google Conducted a Street View Study, and the findings for businesses with 360 Street View Virtual Tours found:

• When searching for businesses, consumers use mapping products 44% of the time
• Listings with photos and a virtual tour are twice as likely to generate interest
• On average, 41% of these place searches result in an on-site visit

Additionally, the independent Ipsos MediaCT Study found:

• 94% more likely to be viewed as reputable
• More likely to be used than businesses without a listing.
• 29% more likely to motivate consumers to consider purchasing goods or services from them
• Google virtual tours influence a 16% growth in Google Search and Maps appearances.
• There is a 12% increase in engagement with Map listings that have a Google Street View tour.

The benefit to your digital marketing is obvious; increased visibility, interactivity and a customised online presence.

Simply 360 is an officially trusted and verified Google Street View trusted photographer and has been for many years.

Case Study: Rebound Health

Rebound Health opened a new location in Harbord Diggers. The main challenge was to show people where they were located in the RSL and how to be found. By having their listing in Google Maps and embedding the tour on their Page, the map ranking increased, and clients found them much easier.

360 Virtual Tours

While 360 Virtual Tours use the same panoramic images as Google Street View Virtual Tours, 360 Virtual Tours are used with a very different strategy in mind. In short, you can add content-rich information into a 360 Virtual Tour, all while keeping in line with your company’s brand and design. This can be linked to your site, with call-to-actions from within the virtual tour, and add your company’s specific fonts, videos and traditional images.

The advantages of this include giving the viewer a feature-rich experience and explaining information to them in a way that helps them learn as though they are on site. 360 Virtual Tours can also become excellent sales and marketing tools for many brick-and-mortar businesses. Embedding these tours on your site increase page view time which is ideal for SEO. Some key stats are:

• Among 18-34-year-olds, prospects are 130% more likely to book based on a virtual tour.
• Interactive Virtual tours keep people looking at a website 5 to 10 times longer, which is excellent for SEO.
• Those who view a listing with a virtual tour are twice as likely to be interested in booking a reservation there.

The other advantage of a 360 Virtual Tour is that they make excellent sales and marketing tools to send to prospective clients, can be used at expos and bring your venue with you through the tour plus, all our tours are VR headset compatible (as standard). This means you can literally take your venue anywhere. Additionally, you can very easily make a Google Street View Virtual Tour from a 360 Virtual Tour. This means you can have the advantage of both worlds.

Case Study: Gang Gang Gallery

The Gang Gang Gallery in Ligthow was looking for a new way to interact and showcase their artwork to their patrons. They wanted a tour that listed all their artworks, contact information, and integration of high res artwork imagery. All this was in mind while set to their brand’s look and feel, including their ambient music selection. This helped them engage with their customers (near and far) to give a warm and inviting gallery experience, all while creating great content on social media.

Double-click the virtual tour Gang Gang Gallery to make it go fullscreen, or click here.

When to use both Google Street View and 360 Virtual Tours for your business

Case Study: mySpa Sydney

MySpa Sydney, located in Castle Hill, has been around for over a decade. The challenge they faced was two-fold. Firstly, their physical location can be a little hard to find as it is in a multi-level business complex. Adding a Google Street View Tour helped people find their business much easier on Google Maps, which also helped increase their Google Map Ranking. Additionally, they decided to create an interactive virtual tour. By having people walk and interact through their showroom, they can see their products as though they were in the showroom, have their questions answered, and contact and engage with the sales staff directly.

Both Help In Their Own Way.

As you can see, there are many differences between Google Tours and 360 Virtual Tours, as both have their place. Utilising one or the other (and in many cases both) helps boost your business’s online presence, helps with SEO, and helps customers find and engage with you faster and easier than ever before. If you are interested, contact us today by phone or on the form on this page.

Before you read this blog, what did you think the differences between Google Street View virtual tours & 360 virtual tours were? Are you considering having a Google Maps Virtual Tour or a 360 Virtual Tour, or are you looking at having both? Are there any differences you feel we left off the list? Join the discussion below and leave a comment :)

Dimitri Cassimatis( Founder )

Dimitri is the founder of Simply 360, which specialises in creating immersive, interactive and engaging 360 / VR virtual tours, AR integration and marketing consultancy. He has worked in the digital marketing industry for over 15 years and has a passion for creating virtual tours with a key focus in strategic implementation.