What is a Local Guide in Google Maps?

If you take an excellent photo, your image could end up being the primary image on a local business Google listing. The program is available to anyone with a Google account and access to the Google Maps app, making it an important feature that will transform the landscape of reviews. This is why, being part of this program will always be beneficial, at least until you reach the level 4 where you will get a badge that identifies you as a reliable Local Guide. From the moment that the Local Guides program started in 2015, the number of Local Guides has surpassed 120 million users. Whether or not you believe this “confession,” businesses need to take control of their profile images or someone else will.

• Make sure that you’re signed in to the Google account you use with Maps.
• In 2008, I once renamed Microsoft’s Place page from Microsoft to “Microsoft Escort Service.”
• Hundreds of millions of people rely on Local Guides’ contributions to make perfect decisions about where to visit and what to do during their holidays.

Using a tool like Cloutly, you can proactively drive new reviews from your customers to your Google My Business listing , helping you build trust and bury fake or negative reviews. Unfortunately, at a high level, not all Local Guides are in it for the right reasons. While the majority of the Local Guides contribute to the ecosystem as intended, many businesses have at some stage received fake reviews or ratings, which are detrimental to their business. After making enough contributions to reach level four, a badge will appear next to your name when leaving reviews signifying to others you’re a Local Guide. There are currently around 450 Level 9 local guides in the game, making it one of the most popular levels in the game.

Episode 31: Reaching Level 10

Our own research has tracked this trend over the last decade. Year after year we find that the vast majority read online reviews for a local business, while 89% of year-olds trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations.

These details will vary based on your location so you’ll need to verify that you’re on top of that. Try and level up with photo uploads that are not relevant or making edits that are not true, just to get points. If you’re a consultant, local SEO, or digital marketing agency, it just makes dollars and cents. It gets your foot in the door with prospective clients, giving you a chance to demonstrate the value you provide. If prospects are interested in learning more about Google Maps, you have the opening you need to educate and inform your prospect.

Takeaways for Google Local Guides

Local Guidesis a global community of explorers who write reviews, share photos, answer questions, add or edit places, and check facts on Google Maps. Millions of people rely on contributions like yours to decide where to go and what to do.

Now you can do so with the local guide program by becoming a Google Local Guide in 2022. This program is basically for travelers or people who love adventures. Someone who loves sharing their travel stories and experiences with the world would love to be a Google Local Guide. There are no monetary benefits to becoming a Google Local Guide, but there are quite a few perks and rewards that some of you may like to get. I’ve talked about the gamification of Local Guides above, but it’s really worth pointing out what a flawed system it can be when not applied correctly.

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As a business owner, you know reviews and fresh content are essential to your success. If you recently opened a new business location and haven’t already created a listing for it on Google My Business, it won’t be long before a Local Guide fills in your business info themselves. Stay up to date on social media trends and the latest SOCi news. Pick “Follow†from the drop-down menu on a local guide’s profile page. Go to the profile of a local guide you would need to follow.

However with their 2017 update to the program, adding new levels and a hierarchy of points, I fell into despair. Living in a tiny rural setting there were only so many data issues to correct; and if I got wild and crazy writing reviews my house would have been burned down by the other local merchants. Having a dedicated plan for review response and generation not only helps boost customer retention numbers; it can also pave the way for an organic boost in customer acquisition. The social proof provided by your satisfied customers through their online reviews attracts even more people to your brand.

How to Earn Local Guide Points and Level Up

Some information that has a higher impact for Google Maps users like being the first to add a new place to the map or writing reviews, will now earn you more points. As the company also announced today, guides who get to level four will now get three months of free access to Google Play Music and 75 percent off rentals in the Google Play Movie store.

• There are 120 million local guides, spanning 24,000 cities and towns.
• I would occasionally stray from the straight and narrow in my efforts to learn more about how Google Local and Google Maps worked.
• Google Local Guides could potentially encourage scams by incentivizing people to share positive information on a business.
• It should be noted here that the actions that Guides carry out aren’t restricted to those who register for the program.

Anyone is eligible to join the Local Guide program – and if you contribute reviews to Google Maps already, you might as well get some recognition for it. Local Guides are also called upon to verify information contributed by businesses is accurate. Google depends on a community of dedicated volunteers all over the world to keep Search and Maps updated with current information about businesses, places, and local attractions. This is the most popular way to monetize your Google reviews, as it is easy to set up and manage. You simply create an ad campaign and place it on your site or blog. Once clicked, the ad will take you to a page where you can view the results of the sale. Google Local Guides are a great way to get started with Google Maps, but they don’t have all the features of a full-blown map app.

How do you score points on Google Maps?

Multi-locationManage SEO, listings and reputation across multiple locations. EnterpriseTake control of online visibility – for brands and agencies managing 100+ locations. Google’s Local Guides program is set up for adventurous volunteers that best courses for remote jobs want to share their local knowledge or travel experiences with others that might be like-minded and enjoy exploring. Just go to the website, register and get started by leaving reviews and photographs of the places that you have been.

Or Facebook, but many people search Google Maps for nearby restaurants and shops, or places for entertainment, gas, or even an ATM. Google features Google Guide reviews first, and Guides earn points with each review posted. Google Local Guides can help you attract new interest in your business.