Member Article

Tyneside publican harnesses street view technology to show off pub

A renowned Tyneside pub that has an unrivalled reputation in the region for beer quality has harnessed a Google virtual tour to show the pub off, and unusually included a tour of the cellar where the ales are conditioned before being served to appreciative customers.

The 215 year-old Tynemouth Lodge Hotel has featured in the CAMRA Good Beer Guide for 30 consecutive years and owner Hugh Price decided that a Google Maps Business View tour was a great way to show off the pub to prospective new customers and unusually, to display the pristine cellar.

Adrian Don of 360DegreesNorth, a certified Google Trusted Photographer, produced and published the interactive tour which visitors can visit by searching Google for the Tynemouth Lodge Hotel and clicking the ‘See Inside’ image on the enhanced search results, or by following this link to Google Maps https://goo.gl/maps/h8TPl

Publican Hugh Price said: ’The pub is very traditional and majors on selling cask conditioned beers. We have no music or games machines and wanted to show off the ambience to help attract new customers.

‘The Google Maps Business View tour works just like Street View, but it’s inside the business, and anyone with a computer, tablet or smartphone can access it.

This means we are able to let people have a virtual walk round making it much more likely that they will make a real visit, and the tour is even linked outside into Street View. ’

Pub cellars are a hidden mystery to most pubgoers, so letting them have a virtual tour allows them to go ‘down the hatch’ and see casks of Draught Bass and Deuchar’s IPA maturing and also see how clean and tidy the cellar is.

‘It was also easy to embed the tour in our own website, which is a bonus’.

Adrian Don, Google Trusted Photographer from 360DegreesNorth, added: ’’Over 80% of consumers start their search for local services, products and information by using Google and 55% of UK adults already regularly use Google Street View, making Google Maps Business View an invaluable addition to every business that needs to show off what they do.

‘Business View increases visibility across Google not only with the actual tour, but also by enhancing the appearance of search results,helping with improving search rankings, and featuring on a business’s Google+ page.

’Getting a Business View tour is simple, fast and reassuringly inexpensive, with just a one-off charge and no recurring or hidden fees.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by 360DegreesNorth .