The short answer
A virtual tour lets new patients look around your office before they book: the entrance, the waiting room, the front desk and the treatment rooms. It shows up on your Google listing and your website, and it answers "what's it like there?" before they ever call.
What a virtual tour is
A virtual tour is a set of 360-degree photos of your practice, connected so people can move from room to room on their phone or computer. Published to Google Maps, it appears with your Business Profile when people search for your practice. You can also embed it on your website.
John has been a Google Street View Trusted Photographer since 2014, and his Google photos and tours have over 41 million views. You can see examples in our virtual tour gallery.
Why it matters for a medical or dental practice
Choosing a new dentist or doctor is personal, and walking into an unfamiliar office can make people nervous. A tour lets a new patient see where they'll park, which door to use, what the waiting room looks like and how the treatment rooms are set up. A first visit feels less unfamiliar when they've already seen the place.
It also helps the people who help patients choose: an adult child picking a dentist for a parent, or a parent checking out a pediatric office before the first appointment.
Virtual tour vs. photos vs. video
- Photos show one angle of one room, chosen by you.
- A video plays at its own pace, in the order you filmed it.
- A virtual tour lets the patient go where they want and look in any direction, the closest thing to walking in the door.
They work best together. Your Google profile should have current photos as well as a tour.
What to show
- The way in: the outside of the building, parking and the entrance, so patients can find you
- The welcome: the front desk and the waiting area
- Treatment rooms: clean, comfortable and ready for patients
- Your equipment: any technology you want patients to know about
- Accessibility: ramps, wide doors and anything else that helps patients who need it
Does a virtual tour help your website?
An embedded tour gives visitors something to explore, so they stay on your site and look around instead of hitting the back button. That's what we call stickability. Google has confirmed in court testimony that it uses how searchers interact with results, such as clicks, as a ranking signal. It has never said time on a website counts directly, so we don't promise a ranking boost. What we can promise is a page that gives a nervous new patient a reason to stay, and to book.
How to get your office ready for shoot day
A tour is public and it stays up for years, so nothing private or temporary should be in it.
- Schedule it outside patient hours, before you open or after you close
- Clear patient information from desks, counters and screens, and take down anything with a name or chart on it
- Turn on every light and open the blinds
- Straighten up: chairs in place, counters clear, cords and boxes out of sight
- Skip seasonal decorations, which date the tour fast
- Decide on staff: out of frame, or posed in place if they're happy to be in it
Common mistakes
- Skipping the entrance and parking. Finding the door is the first thing a new patient worries about.
- Too few stops. If patients can't move into a room, that room might as well not be in the tour.
- Leaving it only on Google Maps. Put it on your website too, where patients deciding on you are already looking.
- Letting it go out of date. After a remodel or a move, the tour should change too. Here are the signs it's time to refresh a tour.
Where patients will see it
- On Google Maps and in Google Search, with your Google Business Profile
- On your website, embedded on the home page or a "Visit us" page
- In social posts and in emails to new patients
How to get started
John shoots tours for practices and businesses in Hot Springs, across Arkansas and beyond. A virtual tour is a one-time project, shot, edited and published for you. Learn more about Google Street View and virtual tours, or book a free visibility check and John will look at how your practice shows up on Google today.
Questions
Where does a virtual tour show up?
Published to Google Maps, it appears with your Google Business Profile when people search for your practice. It can also be embedded on your website.
Will patients appear in the tour?
They shouldn't. Plan the shoot for before or after patient hours, and clear any patient information from desks and screens first.
Is a virtual tour a monthly service?
No. A virtual tour is a one-time project, quoted on your free visibility check.
Do I need a separate tour for each office?
Yes. Each location has its own Google Business Profile, so each one gets its own tour showing that office.
Can we put the tour on our own website?
Yes. The tour can be embedded on any page of your website, such as the home page or a "Visit us" or "New patients" page.