This article is inspired by the world-wide success of the application, Google Maps. Since its launch in 2005, approaching its 20th Anniversary on the 8th of February, Google Maps has turned out to be one of its most successful of all time with over a billion active monthly users and over 10 billion APP downloads on Google Play Store. It is easy to add your business by finding your location on the map and clicking Add your business. Individual users can become Local Guides and can write reviews, share photos or videos, answer questions, add or edit places like what’s on the menu, and check facts like when it is open on Google Maps. They are now about an unbelievable 200 million active Local Guides out there. Local Guides are rewarded with points per contribution and there are 10 levels and to get to level 10 you need to get 100,000 points. Sometimes if a Guide is lucky Google will send them a gift as a goodwill gesture for helping to improve Maps. We Guides also have our own worldwide online platform/forum called Local Guides Connect and within it the Top 100 Local Guides Leaderboard to connect and share experiences including good practice. I will show why it’s so important for a business to be on Google Maps and in doing so why guides’ contributions often significantly help local businesses.
We are used to taking for granted Google Maps features : from turn-by-turn navigation which gets you from A to B which many of us use without having to worry about paying unlike other GPS navigational devices such as TomTom. With built in GPS and offline mode there’s really no need to worry where you are. Maps will show you your location with a blue dot, when you open the APP. Augmented reality which makes it easier in real time to know exactly where you are and which way you are going, helping to save time getting to your final destination. Immersive Street View so you can do your homework about a place in virtual terms before you visit to familiarise yourself where the entrances and exits are and more about your surroundings including places to eat or stay. Public transport information so no matter where you are you can always get home quickly with the minimum of effort often combining all forms of transport mode. Local search which helps you find where to eat or stay and what places are trendy and are receiving good reviews etc: and much more besides! An incredibly powerful, free APP that connects people all over the world to places and information.
Given its significance and importance in desktop or mobile format, it’s still surprising to me that businesses are not maximising the opportunities presented by Google Maps and have been slow to utilise it to their full advantage, notwithstanding its powerful navigation focus. There’s a host of business considerations which warrant businesses investing more resources to help capture more clients. Google Maps not only helps your customers to find you. The reviews that customers leave will inform potential customers as to whether to visit or purchase from your business and build reputation. Much in the same way as Tripadvisor or other customer review based websites influences people’s decisions. Having a presence on Google Maps also means the customers are more likely to buy from you.
I’m using this article therefore to briefly explain how business users can best optimise and exploit their profile on Google Maps to help grow business. I would be more than happy to receive any feedback or questions and to be approached so I can give more specific help and advice. The APP in my experience especially on your Smartphone is a very powerful tool for businesses inter alia. Over the last 10 years I’m so happy to have helped thousands of mainly Spanish, Portuguese,Galician and UK businesses with their profile and how to improve it which has enabled them to capture more business. All businesses should therefore have a profile on Google Maps but they should also maintain it and contribute to improving it by engaging with customers including responding to their reviews. This is where in my experience many businesses, especially small ones, struggle. Although some may have a profile, many don’t maintain it or devote any time to improving it.
Actively managing a Google Maps profile has several advantages.
1. Visibility and Reach : A profile that is well managed increases your online visibility and makes it easier for clients to find you therefore attracting customers and driving website traffic.
2. Accurate and high quality Information : Keeping your profile updated ensures that customers get the latest information, such as hours of operation, latest products, offers, posting high quality photos and videos etc
3. Engaging with Customers : This can be largely overlooked by many businesses to its overall detriment often causing incalculable harm. It is fundamental to interact with customers by responding to reviews, answering questions, conversations and posting updates or offers, as this helps build credibility, trust and loyalty.
4. Insights and Analytics : Google provides valuable analytics like customer interactions on how customers find and interact with your business profile, helping you make informed decisions about marketing and operations.
5. Search Engine Optimisation Benefits : A properly managed profile can improve your local SEO, making your business more likely to appear in relevant local searches.
6. Competitive Advantage : Businesses with well-maintained profiles often stand out from competitors who neglect theirs, potentially attracting more customers. The number of times I’ve asked a local business whether I can add them to Maps only to be told no, has made me feel from time to time disappointed.
Overall, actively managing your Google Maps Profile is vital for maintaining a positive online presence, enhancing customer engagement, and driving business growth. It’s free marketing while for those with bigger budgets you can pay for services like advertising or premium listing features, that would be managed through Google Ads or Business Profile.
Let me now explain the most common tasks I do regularly for businesses on Google Maps.
Adding a Business.
This involves creating a profile so that it appears on Google Maps. Surprisingly many self-employed people or small businesses don’t seem to have time to do this themselves. One of the best examples I can give is when I added my mechanic’s repair garage in Nigran to Maps. I went back for my yearly service and he was so pleased to see me again and to tell me how many new customers he’d secured on the back of the good reviews he had received! Google also allows owners to add managers so they can maintain and update their profile, freeing up the owners time in the longer term.
Improving Business Profiles.
This involves a variety of tasks to do with updating a whole gamut of site specific locational or services/facilities related information and adding high quality photos and videos. When you browse a profile the first thing you see are photos or videos of the place and if you scroll you will see more of them. The order of these over time will change based on an algorithm but it is usually the highest quality shots that get featured. Google has more recently encouraged videos to be featured and in local searches. In the Explore tab you have a list of the latest posts from Local Guides in your area where you can see more multimedia posts being featured. So it would be sensible looking into the future to take more videos for businesses. A field of expertise that over the years I have been fortunate to have excelled with business commissions from satisfied clients. You can see my latest article about videos on Google Connect. Another page that needs more attention is Updates. This is an opportunity to post fresh content which is great for SEO purposes but reaches the customer and compels them to visit you especially if it is a special offer, promotion or occasion. Many smaller businesses have problems with small details like fixing where their location is shown, updating their opening hours or reporting that the navigational route to get there by car is not correct. I often advise businesses to add product descriptions with a price list.
Rate and Review.
I have been told by lots of business owners that my reviews can have an incredible impact on their business. This is because customers are more likely to attach weight to reviews from an experienced Local Guide. In addition, although it is subjective I believe the order that reviews appear is related to the quality of the review and status of the Guide! Mine are often featured and usually generate supportive likes by fellow customers, that’s if the review is well written and based on a true and informed experience of the place. I try to give a positive review even if it contains negative comments. Many Local Guides have developed sophisticated checklists which amount to a comprehensive audit of the business be it a hotel, restaurant or sports venue etc. Some may specialise on accessibility, social responsibility or environmental sustainability issues. It is based on a 5 star review system (same as Tripadvisor) and for some categories this is broken down. For example, to give a restaurant review you have an overall rating as well as the breakdown based on food, service and the atmosphere the customer experienced. For Hotels the breakdown is rooms, service and location. I often have to tell an owner to respond to all reviews, especially negative ones and in exceptional circumstances to offer a good gesture if there was a significant failure in service.
Google Maps Features
I often have to explain how a business should navigate around all of Google Maps features. This might entail showing them how a customer would do it to help identify a business to visit using search which shows competing businesses on Maps with their ratings either in searchable map form or at the bottom of the business profile where it lists all other nearby businesses that people also can search for. This is in addition to providing more general information on the importance of Google Maps and its effectiveness. More often than not I try to focus on promoting best practices for businesses to follow. This often relates to social responsibility/community issues, inclusivity, customer focus, environmental protection and enhancement and business excellence.
While much of my time is dedicated to helping businesses that struggle with this, it is also satisfying to be around highly successful and switched on businesses too. We can therefore share our experiences on what works and about good practice. It is not surprising that those businesses who strive for excellence and are fully committed to Google Maps are normally more likely to have a high rating and therefore more business than their competitors. It’s self perpetuating as customers are more likely to place an order with a well rated business. Talking to thousands of business owners over the years I’ve heard so many success stories worth shouting out. By way of an example, I remember going to the inauguration of El Restaurante Garden Pizza in Barcelona and talking to my friend, chef and owner Jorge Sastre, and his partner Rafa Panatieri. They were very brave opening yet another pizza restaurant in a city where there are over 1000 outlets that serve it. But to stand out they use a special base with Italian flour that takes 72 hours to ferment. They use high quality, often local ingredients with innovative recipes. What stands them apart was being young and ambitious and they knew how to capture business using social media and Google Maps etc. They knew that they had to do all they could so that the first clients through the doors were satisfied and left a good review. It is a good strategy to ask customers to leave a rating. When they started to get good reviews it motivated them to continue to maintain these high standards. Then soon they said business really took off when they started to receive literally coach loads of touring Asian people arriving because some of them had typed into Google Maps search for pizza restaurants in Barcelona and they came up with a very high rating.
To end this article and to show how much expertise I have amassed on Google Maps, here’s a summary of my current experience.
My Track Record
I was invited to be a member of an elite group promoting the Top 100 Local Guide Leaderboard. This is partly because I am the Guide with the highest points in Spain and in the World’s Top 30! So here goes :
Local Guide since 24th of August 2016, 398,000 points Level 10 Local Guide.
340 million views, 254 million photo views
71,989 contributions
60,684 photos
5,606 videos
3,227 reviews
330 places added
2457 followers
As a member of the beta group that has access to latest updates for Google Maps and given the focus on Artificial Intelligence I can say I’m excited about the future and how Maps is likely to evolve. Helping the consumer get the best out of Map’s features can only be good for businesses too. It will be important for those dedicated Local Guides like myself to continue to help spread the word and to assist businesses to get the best out of the opportunities. This includes boosting local visibility and engaging with customers to help grow. What’s not to like with such an influential, cost effective APP that enhances credibility, provides valuable insights and improves customer convenience. Hence there will continue to be a role for articles that stand back and disseminate what’s going on and how business can benefit from the latest developments. In addition, Google Local Guides have never had so much useful information posted on Connect including the Top 100 Leaderboard expertly run by my mentor Adam Gatt at our disposal. Exciting times lie ahead.
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