The Perfect Google Maps Feature If You’re Walking Alone
Google Maps and Apple Maps are constant companions for more people and help them find their way around all kinds of interesting places and some pretty dull ones too. But there is a very big problem with using your maps app in an unfamiliar place: they can make it look very obvious that you’re not from around here, and that you don’t know where you’re going.
That’s a worry for anybody, but it’s particularly worrying for women and other marginalised people who have good reasons to be wary on unfamiliar streets.
The good news is that both Apple Maps and Google Maps have features that tell you where to go without requiring you to look at your phone at all. The Apple option uses the Apple Watch, and the Google one works on your phone – not just Android phones but iPhones too.
Get Silent Notifications In Google Maps
Google Maps makes it easy to get vibrations instead of audible notifications. All you need to do is tap on the volume icon in the app in walking mode and then choose the Muted option. This will give you two different vibration patterns so you know exactly where to go. Imagine these as Morse Code messages:
- dash-dot-dot: turn right
- dot-dash-dash: turn left
Brilliant, isn’t it? Just remember to put your phone somewhere you’ll feel the vibration – a pocket rather than in your bag.
Get Silent Notifications In Apple Maps
If you have an Apple Watch, you don’t need to do anything: you’ll get vibrations through your watch automatically whether you’re walking, driving or on public transport unless you’ve turned this feature off in the Watch app on your iPhone. Once again there are different vibrations depending on what you need to do:
- dot-dot… dot-dot… dot-dot: turn left
- dot-dot-dot-dot-dot-dot-dot-dot-dot-dot-dot-dot: turn right
If you don’t want these vibrations when you’re not walking – they drive me daft when I’m in the car – you can switch off vibrations in the Watch app: My Watch > Maps > Turn Alerts.
Contact Us
If you would like to put your social media requirements in the hands of a company that will take it forward, please contact Footprint Digital on Tel. No. 01883 372488 today.
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Creating An Immersive Experience For Your Business
Did you know that when searching for businesses, consumers use mapping products 44% of the time?.* As well as that, on average, 41% of these place searches result in an on-site visit.*
Choosing the right restaurant, bar or hotel can often be tricky, particularly if you haven’t been there before. With the updates to Google Street View, you now have the option to help build a level of trust by letting potential customers experience your location before they arrive.
Creating An Immersive Experience
By offering an experience that is immersive and fresh, a virtual experience can help to play a key role in drawing inspire greater confidence among prospective customers and visitors.
Google quotes a survey** on their own website which highlights the positive impact that can be achieved by incorporating more images and offering a more immersive experience on your listing.
The parameters of the study are as follows:
- An online survey was conducted with consumers who had searched online for a restaurant or hotel within the previous 30 days (using any device).
- A total sample of 1201 respondents was collected between July 21st and August 2nd, 2015.
- Different versions of a local business listing (one for a hotel, the other for a restaurant) were created to include basic info, photos and/or a virtual tour (the same media were used to create each version).
- Respondents were asked to view one of the different versions for each business (in a randomised order). Each respondent viewed:
- 1 hotel listing + 1 restaurant listing; and
- 1 listing with a virtual tour + 1 listing without a virtual tour.
Note: Presentation of alternate listings were randomized evenly and consistently throughout the field.
- After viewing each listing, respondents were instructed to rate their interest in booking a reservation.
- Ratings for alternate listings (with a tour versus without) were aggregated to understand the impact of virtual tours on interest in the featured business.
With 44% of consumers using map-related products all of the time, this is an area that must be tapped into if you would like to take a step ahead of your competition.
Further Information
If you’d like to speak to us regarding any of our services, including the creation of 360-degree images for your website and Google Maps listing, please give us a call on 01883 372488 or contact us via Facebook and we’ll be happy to talk to you through your options.
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**Download overview [pdf]
Introducing The Basics of Google My Business
Did you know that features like ‘Google’s Local Search’ results have been created to help provide a list of nearby businesses offering the products/services relating to your search? This in turn helps to highlight further information relating to each specific business in the listing including addresses, business hours, categories, contact details, reviews, images + more. If increasing the visibility of your business in the local area is crucial to ongoing success, creating a Google My Business listing is absolutely essential.
Google My Business (GMB) – is a rarity in today’s world because it is a FREE tool to use. Absolutely perfect for any business owner looking to manage their online profile and showcase their products and services, GMB offers a very effective method of increasing your local exposure.
If you have any questions about the importance of Google Maps listings for small businesses and how they can be used to help you, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us on Tel. No. 01883 372488.
Once a new listing has been created and verified (a process of confirming that your business details are correct), a Google Maps location will be generated which filters seamlessly into the traditional Google Search results for easy access and increased searchability.
Introducing The Basics of Google My Business
A few tips include:
- Choosing The Correct Categories: Google provides an extensive list of categories from which you can choose. Simply choose the most relevant option from the available choices as your primary category and then choose as many as you can that relate to your products/services.
- Use GMB As A Social Media Channel: You can make your listing more attractive by adding posts, videos, images etc which can be posted through the GMB dashboard. Turning GMB into a Social Media channel, the most recent posts will be added to the bottom of your GMB listing during search results and images may also appear in Google Image search results.
- Encourage As Many Reviews As Possible: It is not possible to overemphasise the importance of reviews. Simply ask your customers to review and rate on your listing. Online reviews play a crucial role in helping to separate competing businesses and the chances are, the more positive reviews on your account, the higher your listing may rank and the greater confidence new customers will have that your services are reputable.
Further Information
If you’d like to speak to us regarding any of our services, including our online marketing services, please give us a call on 01883 372488 or contact us via Facebook and we’ll be happy to talk you through your options.
