How to integrate a virtual tour into your website or social media:
- Embed the tour on your website – Copy the HTML embed code (iframe or script) provided by your virtual tour platform and paste it into your webpage. This allows visitors to interact with the tour directly on your site.
- Add a direct link or button – Place a prominent link or “Take a Virtual Tour” button on your site (or social media profile) that opens the tour in a new tab or platform. This is a quick integration if you cannot embed it.
- Include it in your header/menu – Add a Virtual Tour item to your website’s main navigation or header banner. This ensures every visitor notices it—clicking the menu link can either open the tour page or launch the tour in a viewer.
- Use a pop-up modal – Trigger the virtual tour in a pop-up lightbox. For example, a visitor clicks a “View Virtual Tour” image or text, and an overlay window opens with the tour. This keeps users on the same page while they explore the tour.
Integrating virtual tours on your site or social media is a smart way to enrich user experience and showcase your space in an immersive way. Virtual tours allow visitors to “walk through” a property or location remotely, which not only engages them but also builds trust and interest. In fact, virtual tours can improve your SEO by increasing the depth of content on your site and keeping visitors around longer. It’s no surprise that users increasingly expect this feature – for example, 67% of homebuyers prefer virtual tours when evaluating properties online.
1. Embed the Virtual Tour on Your Website
Embedding a virtual tour directly on your website is often the most effective integration method. Most 360° virtual tour providers (e.g. Matterport, Kuula, CloudPano, Imercia.io) supply a snippet of code (usually an <iframe> or a JavaScript embed) that you can easily drop into your site’s HTML. By inserting this code into a webpage (such as a dedicated “Virtual Tour” page or even your homepage), the tour player will appear inline, allowing visitors to interact with the tour without leaving your site. This provides a seamless user experience and keeps people engaged on your page longer – a positive signal for search engines.
To embed a tour, locate the Share or Embed option in your virtual tour platform’s dashboard. At imercia.io we provide that code directly to you and you just add it to your site. Copy the provided code, then edit your website page where you want the tour to display. Paste the code into the HTML section (for platforms like WordPress, use the Custom HTML block or code editor). Adjust the width and height if needed (many embed codes default to 100% width and a fixed height like 500px, which you can tweak). Once published, the tour will be live on your site, fully interactive.
Embedding is advantageous because it keeps the virtual tour on your domain. Visitors can browse the tour and your website simultaneously, which encourages them to explore further. Additionally, the interactive nature of an embedded tour often increases the time users spend on the page, improving engagement metrics (and potentially SEO). Ensure the embed is mobile-responsive – most modern tour iframes are, but it’s wise to test on a phone or tablet to confirm the tour viewer adapts to smaller screens. With an embedded virtual tour, you’re offering an immersive peek directly on your site, which can captivate visitors and set you apart from competitors who simply use static images.
Embedding a virtual tour keeps visitors on your website while they explore your space.
2. Add a Direct Link or Button to the Tour
If embedding isn’t feasible (or even in addition to embedding), providing a clear link to your virtual tour is a simple and effective integration. This could be a text hyperlink (e.g. “View our virtual tour”) or a styled button on your webpage that, when clicked, opens the tour. The tour might open in a new browser tab or on an external site (such as the tour host’s URL) depending on where it’s hosted. For example, many real estate agents link to Matterport tours on Matterport’s domain, or a museum might link to a Google Street View tour of its gallery.
To implement this, make sure the link is highly visible. Common places include your homepage hero section (“Explore our space virtually”), on product or property pages next to descriptions, or as a call-to-action in relevant content. You can also embed the link in context – for instance, a blog post about your facility could say “take a virtual tour of our facility” with the hyperlink on that phrase. Style the link or button to stand out (use contrasting colours and a clear label like “Virtual Tour”).
When users click the link, ensure it’s clear what will happen – usually it’s best to have it open the tour in a separate tab so they can easily return to your site. Direct links are also how you’d integrate tours on social media profiles or posts (more on that below). The beauty of a direct link is its simplicity: any platform or site can handle a hyperlink. Even virtual tour services emphasize easy sharing; for instance, Kuula (a 360° tour platform) notes that whether you embed on a website or simply share a link via email or social post, it’s designed to be straightforward. In short, a well-placed link or button invites all your visitors to experience the virtual tour with a single click.
3. Include the Tour in Your Header or Menu
To maximise the visibility of your virtual tour, consider adding it to your site’s main navigation or header area. Many businesses create a permanent menu item titled “Virtual Tour” or “360° Tour”. This way, no matter what page a visitor is on, they can access the tour from the menu. This integration is essentially a special case of the direct link, but it’s so prominent that it’s worth doing separately for emphasis.
Adding the tour to your top menu involves editing your site’s navigation links (through your CMS or HTML). You might link the menu item to a dedicated Virtual Tour page on your website, where the tour is embedded or the link is provided with more context. Alternatively, the menu item could open the tour directly in a pop-up or new tab. For example, a hotel website might have “Virtual Tour” in the menu which takes you to an internal page with an embedded 360° walkthrough of the hotel lobby and rooms.
Another approach is to feature the virtual tour in your homepage banner or as a feature section. For instance, a university might have a homepage banner saying “Explore our campus virtually” that leads into the tour. By placing the tour call-out in high-traffic areas like the header or main page sections, you ensure virtually every visitor is aware of it. This method is about prominence—since the tour is a key engagement tool, giving it a fixed spot in your site’s UI (User Interface) can significantly boost its usage. Just be sure to label it clearly (avoid clever names; straightforward terms like Virtual Tour work best for SEO and for users to instantly understand).
4. Use a Pop-Up or Lightbox to Showcase the Tour
A pop-up integration (also known as a lightbox or modal window) allows visitors to view the virtual tour in an overlay on the current page. This method is slightly more technical to set up (often requiring a bit of script or a plugin), but it provides a neat user experience: the tour appears floating over the page, usually dimming the background, and can be closed to return to where the user was. It’s a good option if you want users to stay on the page and not be redirected elsewhere.
To implement a pop-up tour, you’ll typically have a trigger element like a button, image, or text link that says something like “Open Virtual Tour”. When clicked, a script loads the tour embed in a modal window. Many website builders and CMS have plugins or extensions for pop-up modals – you can insert the tour’s embed code inside the modal’s content. For instance, on a real estate listing page, a thumbnail image of the property might have a View 360° Tour overlay; clicking it opens the full interactive tour in a lightbox view, allowing the user to pan around and navigate rooms, then close it when done.
When using pop-ups, ensure the solution is mobile-friendly. The modal should scale to smaller screens or fall back to a full-screen view on mobile devices. Also, avoid aggressive pop-ups (like ones that trigger automatically) – it’s better to let the user initiate it by clicking, so it feels like a natural part of browsing. Because this method is less common than a straightforward embed or link, you can summarise it briefly: its main advantage is keeping users on the same page, and it adds a modern, interactive touch to your site. However, if not implemented carefully, it could be less accessible to some users or ad-blockers might interfere, so use a well-tested plugin or script.
(In summary, if pop-up integration sounds too complex, you can always fall back to a normal embed or link. This pop-up method is optional, but it’s a nice way to present the tour without redirecting the user.)
A lightbox keeps users on your page while they explore the virtual tour.
5. Promoting Your Virtual Tour on Social Media
Social media platforms thrive on visual content and easy sharing of immersive experiences. Virtual tours, being highly visual and interactive, are a natural fit for social media marketing. Studies consistently show that posts including eye-catching media like photos or videos dramatically increase user engagement, so sharing your virtual tour on networks like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn can amplify its reach. Here are some strategies to effectively promote your virtual tour on social media:
For example, you can add your virtual tour URL to your Instagram bio, share a teaser clip on Facebook, or include the link on your LinkedIn company page. Encourage feedback and user-generated content to further boost engagement.
- Share direct links in posts: Post your virtual tour link on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and other platforms with an engaging caption. For example, on Facebook you might write a short intro “Take a 360° walkthrough of our new office!” and include the tour link in the post. Add a relevant image or preview (many tour platforms generate a thumbnail) to make the post stand out. On LinkedIn, a business-oriented description highlighting what viewers can learn from the tour works well. Direct linking is straightforward and lets followers click through to explore the tour immediately (on some platforms like Facebook, the tour may even load within Facebook’s browser for convenience).
- Use teaser videos or clips: Create a short preview of your virtual tour to post on visually-driven channels like Instagram, YouTube, or TikTok. Since you can’t embed the full interactive tour in an Instagram post, for instance, you can screen-record yourself navigating the tour (or use a built-in “share video” feature if available). Then, post that clip as a teaser — perhaps as an Instagram Reel, Story, or a YouTube short. This gives viewers a taste of the experience. In the caption or video description, invite them to view the full tour by clicking the link in your bio or a provided URL. Teaser videos work great because they leverage the high engagement of video content while directing interested viewers to the interactive tour.
- Leverage 360° content on supported platforms: Some social networks support 360-degree photos and videos natively. Facebook, for example, allows you to upload a 360° photo or a panoramic video that users can click and drag to look around. You could take a 360° snapshot from your virtual tour and post it as an interactive photo on Facebook. Similarly, YouTube supports 360° videos – if you can export your tour as a video or record a walkthrough, upload it to YouTube so users can pan around within the video frame. While these aren’t the full interactive tours with all features, they are attention-grabbing and can intrigue viewers enough to seek the full tour. Always include text directing people to the complete tour experience (e.g., “Check out the full interactive tour on our site for more!”).
- Encourage sharing and engagement: Boost the social media reach of your tour by encouraging your followers to interact. Ask questions or invite feedback about the space shown in the tour (“What’s your favourite part of our virtual tour? Let us know in the comments!”). Use relevant hashtags (for example, #VirtualTour plus a niche tag like #YourBusinessTour or #LondonHotelTour) to tap into broader audiences looking at virtual tour content. You can even prompt user-generated content: for instance, a university could post a tour of its campus and ask alumni to share their memories of the featured locations. Make sure your tour platform’s share options are visible so viewers can repost the tour easily. The more people comment, like, and share the tour post, the more visibility it gains through social algorithms.
- Integrate tours into social media profiles or ads: Don’t forget to add your virtual tour link to your social media bios or profile sections. For example, update your Facebook Page’s call-to-action button to “Watch Virtual Tour” linking to the tour, or put the tour URL in your Instagram bio (and mention in posts “link in bio”). If you run social media ads, consider using the virtual tour as the featured content in a campaign – a Facebook ad can use a snippet video or image from the tour with a Learn More button leading to the tour. This paid approach can dramatically increase the reach beyond your followers, targeting demographics that might be interested in your space. It’s an efficient way to drive traffic to the tour, especially if you’re in real estate, hospitality, or any field where showcasing the venue is key.
Conclusion: Maximizing the Impact of Your Virtual Tour
By implementing these social media strategies, you’ll greatly expand the audience for your virtual tour. Social platforms not only drive traffic but also create a viral effect if your content resonates. A virtual tour is the kind of engaging, interactive content that people love to share and discuss. In summary, integrating a virtual tour into your website and social media presence ensures you get maximum value from it. You’ve worked hard to create a stunning virtual experience – now make sure it’s seen! Combining on-site integration (embed or link) with savvy social media promotion will help your virtual tour attract more viewers, keep them engaged longer, and ultimately achieve the goals you’ve set (be it more inquiries, bookings, or brand exposure). With a tightly integrated and well-promoted virtual tour, you’re providing a cutting-edge user experience that in 2025 is not just a novelty but often an expectation. Embrace it, and you’ll likely see higher engagement and conversions as a result.